Coco, Week 2

Coco gazing towards the sunset.  Or the neighbor's dog.

Wow!  Where did that time go?
Well, I can tell you.  I volunteered to be adoption coordinator for Coco's parent group, Born to Run Global Sighthound Rescue, and to help set up some documentation and file-keeping ... and several days later, here we are!

Let's catch up.

Friday last, Pogo went to the vet for most of the day, so it was a lot quieter at home.  Coco, Brilly and I walked the property, did some quiet training, shared lots of loving and I tried to get some work done.

Saturday was a day of cleaning, then H's oldest daughter and her family came over to make holiday treats and hang out for the day.  Coco met our 3 year old grandson, and was very interested!  I had penned the dogs into a sort of cul de sac at the end of the hallway where Coco's crate is, where there were plenty of dog beds, and Coco could be in her crate our out as she chose.  She chose in, but when I picked up quiet (at that moment) young Henry to see them, she darted out with a look almost of recognition and joyous interest.  A surprise for us all!  She sniffed his hand, gently waving her tail.  Later, Henry's dad brought him over for another visit, but with dad along, that didn't go over quite so well, and she stayed in her crate.  It's consistent with her wariness of men.

As the day went on, and the sugar built in their systems, everyone got a noisier and noisier.  Coco stayed in her crate.  I took them all out in the yard once, and went in to sit with them a couple times, but she was definitely a bit overwhelmed by the high energy.  In the late afternoon, we all went out to walk off the wiggles, with young Henry riding his dad's shoulders, and just full of noise and fresh air: a very tall, loud, two-headed man-monster!  Coco and I had to hang back a bit, and I was feeding her as much kibble as she was willing to take from my hand.  I was pleased that she took any, since if she was absolutely terrified, she wouldn't.  At one point, our other grandson, a great big teenager, couldn't resist stomping on a frozen puddle, and that was about the end of that.  Over-stimulated, it was a bit of a struggle to get a little past that moment, then turn around and go home again.  We did get a chance to work on serious leash work, though.  That turned out to be something for her to concentrate on, and it seemed to help get her past the fear she'd built up.

The leash-training I'm doing with her consists of using her harness, connected both at the ring at the front of her chest, and the martingale-type loop on her shoulders.  When she tugs or lunges, I can use the two connections like reins to redirect that energy, or to simply stop.  Not moving forward until she stops pulling, praising for a loose leash, all help to make the point.  Another even more useful technique, and much more efficient teaching tool, is to suddenly change direction, circling into or away from the dog, keeping the leash very short at all times.  Being unpredictable means she has to pay attention to me, rather than anything else, and it really works!  By the time we made it up our long driveway, after much zig-zagging, circling, and backing up, she was calming down and not pulling or lunging nearly as much. Once everybody had gone inside, leaving us alone, she settled back down in seconds, and we walked very nicely around the barn before heading back into the house.

Coco, and Pogo, handling the wait very well

Sunday, we decided to drive them up to nearby Blaine, to walk in the marina park.  We missed our exit (chatting away about something compelling), and had to circle back through the border crossing, which meant sitting in line for a good 20 minutes.  We finally did have a nice, if somewhat shorter, walk, which she thoroughly enjoyed, trotting along, even sniffing, going potty ... being pretty much a normal dog!

Here are a few pics from our walk.  My husband was walking her and Brilly, not too worried about leash manners.

Stepping out, happy girl!

Posing pretty!

Like herding cats!

You can see that Pogo (the guy on the left) is wearing a back-pack.  It's got two liter bottles of water in it, which gives him much more of a workout.  Believe me, he needs it!  6 years old, and acts like a 2 year old!  Brilly (the guy in the middle, wearing his jammies in public) was much more interested in smelling something on the grass than posing.  Coco, though ... like a super-model, eh?

Exploring the frosty yard in the early morning

Each morning, brings us another level of happy-dance.  Yesterday, she actually put her front paws, ever so gently, on my chest, while she swung her head back and forth, mouth wide open in a gleeful grin.  She loves coming into the studio, getting very silly and pushing into the group to get her share of happy rub-down until everyone settles down for a nap.  She's still not confident in the yard, though she's improving there, as well, trotting around with more interest.  Still, if the other dogs bark at something of interest, or start dashing around, she becomes unsure, and will pace uncertainly before heading to the gate.  

High-stepping through the frozen grass

Coco discovers playing with a toy!

Up until today, she's shown no interest in any of the toys available to her, even when shown them and invited to play.  Today, though, in the safety of the studio, I rolled a tennis ball towards her on the floor by her bed, and she actually perked, sniffed towards it, then actually shifted enough to take it in her mouth, and back to bed!  She played with it very gently, mouthing it, and sort of rolling it between her paws, even allowing me to take it and give it back to her a couple times before losing interest.  She's probably never thought of objects as toys before, so I call that progress!

She's learned to cue up for trick or treat (training games), and can catch a tossed treat like a pro.  Most of the time, anyway!  She is getting very good at waiting at the door and gate, and pretty good at "out" and "in".  Not so good at "back", and still no luck with "sit" or "down", but I haven't really been working on them.  She has learned to take kibble from my fingertips while keeping up a pace on a walk, and enjoys seeing them tossed out in front of her to snatch up as we go.  Treating while we walk in potentially scary places helps to add good associations, and give her the experience of safe enjoyment instead of wariness and fear.  After the scary walk with the grandkids, she was reluctant to walk on our street again, but the treating helped to overcome her scary associations with good ones.

We got an opportunity to work on the two-headed man-monster fright when we took another car ride (she now heads for the car every time we walk past it!) to Hovander Park.  I had given her a small dose of herbal calming liquid, since the day before, our walk was so overwhelming, and I wanted her to be able to experience this one in a quieter frame of mind.  There's a lot to see at this park, as it's a very popular dog-walking area, with trails looping around meadows, along the river, and around the restored farm buildings, including some pens that, in this season, house only a couple rabbits, and some turkeys, duck, geese and chickens.  She was very interested in everything, even getting past the man-monster with relative calm, aided by some kibble.  The turkeys were interesting and novel, and the lone visible rabbit warranted sticking her needle-nose into the fence (safely several feet from the unperturbed rabbit). 

 

Watching a little dog on the other side of the field

Coco, what's this?
Good sit, Pogo!  And with the backpack on!

Outtake: Hey, you guys, let's pose.  Over here.  Hellooo!

Prancing along, feeling good!

Coco has an infection in her feet that is being treated with antibiotics and a small dose of prednisone.  Since she came to me, it's been quiet.  Until a couple days ago, there was nothing to see between her toes but some silky fur.  Then, a couple nodules, and a little weeping.  Bummer.  So, a couple soaks of the affected paws in some warm water with epsom salts, and we're looking good.  More soaking tonight after dinner.  Until we're clear for awhile, that will just be the rule.  She's not exactly keen on it, but she'll stand quietly with her foot in a bowl as long as you pet her.  She particularly likes the sides of her neck rubbed vigorously.  

That's it for today!  The cats are beginning to yell about dinner, as is my stomach.  Stay tuned!  The adventure continues.