Saturday, February 27th

We have a follow up appointment on Monday and Ken is going with us. Since putting the new collar on Toby, he has moments when he least afraid of Ken. He will now be in the kitchen with us and willing takes treats from Ken.

Yesterday when Ken came home, I did my 'Daddy's Home' routine, which Buddy loves and Toby with his tail wagging joined in!!! He went up to Ken at the door, instead of running to his room, and allowed Ken to pet him. At dinner he and the other dogs milled around, waiting for us to finish. Ken gave each of them a treat and Toby was right in the bunch.

One reason I'm having Ken go to the appointment is for coaching on how he should interact with Toby when it's not centered around the kitchen and treats. For example, when we're upstairs he will sometimes let Ken near him and others walk out of the room. This morning was a good morning and Ken was able to pet him.

I did ask Ken to be more verbal with Toby when he was around. I feel it might make Toby uncomfortable when Ken is around, walking into a room to talk to me, but not communicating with Toby. That has seemed to make a difference. It's baby steps of bonding.

A new thing Toby is starting to do is come up to me and nudge me to get my attention and then running to the door to let me know he wants to go out.

Also, I noticed that Toby is becoming more verbal. He will bark when someone new comes into our home along with Buddy - like an announcement - and - more 'comfort talk'. By that I mean moaning and groaning when he stretches, moaning and groaning when he gets his head and ears scratched. As if he's saying ahhhhh, that feels good.

Thursday, February 25th

I put a new DAP collar on Toby on Tuesday. On Wednesday, he came in the door without question for Ken at breakfast time! His morning routine, which has been iffy throughout the last week, has improved, but the biggest improvement came after the new collar. It's either the Prozac kicking in - or the collar works very well when strongest.

Toby seems to have pretty much overcome his fear of going out the door, although he prefers the door in 'his' room. He continues to go to the door and look out (french door with windows) when he wants to go out.

Saturday, February 20th

Just a little note: I was sitting here watching Toby initiate play with Buddy. He was doing a little bitey face and then grabbing a toy and teasing Buddy. Then Toby went to the door to signal he wanted to go outside and both dashed out the door for more play and tuckbuttruns around the yard.

When he came back to the door, I opened it and he dashed in, ran in a circle and dashed out again. This was done several times as if he was teasing me!

Nice to see this animated play.

Friday, February 19th

Busy week. Toby is slowly gaining in most areas. The act of going out the door is now just a matter of fact. He's more relaxed on most of his walks, which have been with me. (Ken hurt his

neck and isn't able to)

Ken has continued to be more verbal with Toby and although it hasn't made a huge difference, it's starting to make some difference.

We have also agreed that in the morning, when Ken let's Toby out - instead of having me come down to call him in, let Toby come in when he's comfortable. That is working. Ken waits until Toby comes to the door and opens it. Toby is still eating his breakfast in the hallway outside of the kitchen which is where he's comfortable. He won't eat much some mornings, but it's a relief to see him eat at a normal speed and with his tail up.

We're planning a trip up north in three weeks and would like to take Toby and Buddy with us. It will be a big deal as it will be a big change for Toby. We'll have to see where his 'safe' place will be. It's a small cottage so space is limited, but it's a place we spend a lot of time at. We will use the Xanax as necessary. We do a lot of walking up there so we will keep him busy and exercised.

Noticed this week that Toby is not looking at the ceiling anymore and he's not as aware of the lights from the sun reflecting. Also, he isn't as reactive to loud noises if something falls or slams shut. He is very, very brave if Ken has some food. I've asked Ken to let Toby come to him for treats. Most times Toby will stand there and eat it, sometimes he'll run and take it to 'his' room. It's Ken's form of lure training. When Toby makes the effort, he gets what he wants and Toby is doing it at his own pace. I'm letting Ken be the person with treats - I try not to use them and generally use praise for his bravery.

Sunday, February 14th

Had a training epiphany after re-reading some of the handouts I received. Our 5 year old grandson spent the night with us so I made sure I was downstairs during feeding time for the dogs. Toby was okay being in the kitchen for breakfast because I was there and took a few bites of his food. After that he did not want anymore.

When my daughter and son-in-law came to pick up Noah, we were sitting at the kitchen table talking and Toby came in to join us. Actually, he never went to 'his' room while they were there. I'm not sure if he thought we were eating and was just looking for some kind of treat or not. Anyway, he was happily going from person to person, including Ken. Ken, as always was rubbing his ears. It's then that I realized that Ken needed to be giving Toby his own verbal cues or rewards for coming up to him and asked him to come up with something so Toby would have a verbal reference/praise sounding something to connect with. Ken did and Toby's tail started to wag. Throughout the morning, Ken has been practicing this and it's making a little difference with Toby, especially when Ken comes into 'his' room. Toby doesn't move to the corner, or to me. He will allow Ken to talk to me and will even go up to him to sniff with his tail up.

Going out the door without a mad dash is still going good. Although yesterday a jet went over the house while he was outside. He stopped, looked up at the sky and his tail went down. I was watching and opened the door for him. He didn't run in like a maniac, but the sound was definitely a concern.

Saturday, February 13th

A few interesting things we noticed today. If Ken is having a snack, Toby will stand next to him and even touch his leg with his nose and wait patiently to see if he's going to get something. But - as soon as the snack is put away - Toby takes off and keeps his distance.

Buddy is getting better at coming when we call. We believe this is because Toby's recall to come in is so good. Something good is rubbing off on Buddy.

We had time today to walk both dogs together. Normally if it's just Ken, Toby will walk off to Ken's left side. Because of the snow, the sidewalk space was limited and Toby was willing to walk along side Ken or in the lead with Buddy. He would look back at me occasionally, but seemed to be enjoying himself for the first time. We had to go in the street for a portion of the walk and we actually started to see Toby prance a bit.

There is a neighbor with a very aggressive Pit Bull that is always on high alert and pulls on his lead whenever he sees other dogs or cars go by. (The owner has had this dog since a puppy but refuses to work with it). We saw her coming up the street near the corner we were going to turn at and a few houses from where they live. Normally the owner will turn and go the other way, but today decided to pass by us. Of course, Mr. Pit Bull was barking and pulling which normally would make Toby freeze. Today he actually barked and got animated like a normal Airedale. Fortunately when I gave him the 'leave it' command, he settled down.

When we finish walks, it's always treat time. Toby took his treats along with Buddy in the kitchen and didn't run to his room as he would in the past.

Baby steps.

Thursday, February 11th

Toby is now on his Prozac everyday. Not sure if it means much, but he isn't eating as much as he was. The good news is, he eats at a normal pace. There is no gobbling of the food and his tail isn't tucked under. If Ken isn't home from work, he will easily come into the kitchen for dinner - if Ken is there, we move his bowl just into an adjacent hallway so he can't see Ken. But mornings are going okay. I think he's just accepting that Ken gives out breakfast and it's time to eat. But - he's only eating a little bit and doesn't seem to be so hungry.

Doors. Going out the door is now more normal for both Ken and I. Toby isn't doing the hold back and mad dash out. His recall is excellent - unlike most Airedales. Now he's even going out by himself. He goes to the door and stands there - looks at me - looks at the door. That's his signal. We'll have to work on getting him to bark. This is a big improvement.

Toby was warming up to my friend who does our floors. She is a dog savvy person and he seemed to like her. Well, that was until this week. On Tuesday I was at class and he did not want to come in for her as he has before. So I don't know why that has changed. She was here today for a while and he acted like he barely knew her!! He has been around her since he came to live with us. She'll go with the flow and does praise him for his 'bravery' and is ignoring him otherwise. Wonder what's up with this.

Sunday, February 7th

Toby starts tomorrow getting his Prozac once a day. He is still struggling with Ken. One day he'll go up to him and sniff - or go to get a treat while he's reading the paper - the next will opt to go lay in his room and ignore Ken. I'm not starting the Xanax when Ken comes home until the Prozac is a daily dose.

This past Thursday, I had a birthday dinner I needed to go to. Ken said Toby slept in his room while I was out. Buddy needed to go out and Toby got up and went with him. Normally when Buddy comes in, Toby will. But - and probably because I was gone, he would not. After about a half hour of Ken going to the door to see if he wanted in, he called me to let me know. I was ready to call it an evening when Ken called to say that Toby decided to come in.

We are still working at ignoring Toby when he acts unsure and praise him when he does something positive.

On Saturday, I had about 15 people at our home for a meeting. I gave Toby a Xanax as prescribed and he did quite well. Ventured out of his room to 'mingle' and sniff people. After

the meeting started, he just went and layed down in his room. I don't shut the gate and he lays in the doorway so he can see what is going on. It has been a hectic few days, so there isn't much to report. Mornings are going better for Ken - Toby comes right in to eat breakfast and Ken doesn't have to leave the door standing open and disappear!

I'm learning that changes are not cut in stone. But there are little 'bits' of progress.

Tuesday, February 2nd

This is a recap of the last few days.

Sunday, Jan 31. We had planned on having our children and grandchildren over after an event we were taking them to. Toby had his Prozac in the morning. When we arrived back home, we let Toby and Buddy out while everyone was arriving. It was clear after a few minutes that Toby was a bit overwhelmed by the 7 adults and three children - although they were all being fairly quiet and respecting Toby's distance. The grandchildren were asked to walk and use their 'inside' voices. At that point I gave Toby one Xanax. I knew the family would be here for about two hours so this was going to be a good test of how Toby would/could react. By the time we sat down to dinner, the Xanax had time to get into his system. It was nice to see him able to walk in the kitchen and 'nose' about the table and see who was with us. From then on, Toby did not run and hide in his room.

Mornings are still the same with one change. When Ken lets the dogs out first thing, Toby would hesitate to come back in. This morning, Toby came to the door, instead of sitting a few feet away waiting for Ken to open the door and walk away and let Ken know he wanted in. Ken did not have to walk away! He still runs upstairs to see me with great enthusiasm, but will calm down quickly when I ask for a 'good snuggle' - and his head goes down on my lap for ear scratches.

Today was third day for his Prozac. One small thing I have noticed is he has stopped looking at the ceiling like he's hearing something unusual.

We did a little more work on 'lure training'. Honing my skills.

Toby is also staying outside more - but just watches Buddy run after his ball. Not joining in yet.