Tuesday, March 30th

We are now at 60 days on Reconcile. Something is changing in Toby. Although seemingly small things they are huge to us.

The last few days, Toby is eating his breakfast, in the kitchen without me there. Normally, Ken would have to move Toby's bowl to Toby's room to get him to eat. He would try it in the kitchen, but no eating for Toby there. This morning Ken put Toby's bowl down - not where I normally put it by the door. Toby kept going up to Ken and just looked at him as if he was trying to say something. After a couple times, Ken moved Toby's bowl to the spot I use and Toby ate his breakfast!!!! It was as if Toby decided he would eat, in the kitchen with Ken there - IF - it was in the right spot.

In the mornings, Toby does his run upstairs to greet me and will follow me down when I'm done doing my morning routine. Monday, when I went downstairs, Toby did not follow me. He fell asleep and when he woke up, must have decided it was okay to stay up there with Ken. This morning, Toby did the same thing, did not follow me downstairs. Instead, when Ken went to the bathroom to take his shower, Toby followed him and layed by the door until he was done. It's odd that all of a sudden, it's okay for Toby to be around Ken. Going for walks at night is now 'their' routine, doing the Daddy's Home happy dance is 'their' routine. Toby now runs to the window that faces the driveway to watch Ken come in, just like Buddy.

Maybe it's going to be a process of elimination for Toby. One by one he'll analyze the people in our lives and when he feels a trust, will accept them.

Friday, March 26th

Update: Toby is taking his Reconcile (Prozac) daily. We haven't used the Xanax because no one was visiting this week. Robin was here on Tuesday for a couple hours while I was out and Toby wandered around the house with ease. He would not take any 'high value' treats from her though, until I came home. I'm training him to go on a long lead, reinforced with hot dog discs (his fave) so Robin can use it if she needs to let him out.

This has been a week of subtle changes for the better. Toby is actually happy, and animated when Ken wants to walk he and Buddy. Instead lowering his tail when the leashes come out, he is now jumping around in a little happy dance. When Ken comes home and I do the singsong 'Daddy's home, Daddy's home' - he runs to the door with Buddy and will stay to get a pat on the head. At dinner time, he will eat his whole meal, by the door, IN the kitchen, with Ken sitting there. All of these things are just becoming the routine for Toby.

I still notice a sense of calm when I put on a new DAP collar.

We had one incident. On one of our warmer days I had the door to the patio open with just the slide away screen door on it. Toby did not see the screen and ran into it. The door opened with a big noise and he ran wildly outside. Coming back in that door, which is the door to 'his' room became off limits. Of course I thought it was going to set us back. But, with coaxing with hot dog treats got him to use that door within a few hours - as opposed to a few days.

I've tried the DAP spray in the car, but it doesn't seem to make much difference - but we're not giving up.

Toby still has times when he acts startled at noises, but he's not as reactive. In the past he would run for his room and now he'll just stop in his tracks and look around. This evening on his walk, he noticed the bright moon in the sky and kept looking at it. He also watches jets fly overhead sometimes. I've only had one other dog that did that.

I'm starting to feel like some of our hurdles have quietly gone away. Still more to overcome, but not so overwhelming.

Sunday, March 14th

This was a 'good' week for Toby for the most part. He had a day at the spa and that was probably the most stress for him - that he reacted to.

I did give him a Xanax and sprayed to car seat with DAP. When I got the leashes out for all the dogs, he was all bouncy and excited to go 'somewhere'. Toby did fine throughout the whole bathing and grooming until it was time to do his front feet. That is when he started mouthing the groomer to get her to stop. I gave her permission to use a soft muzzle if she felt his discomfort was escalating. She did use it one time and he was fine with her for the rest of his trim. The groomer said Toby is definitely more confident and not the shy dog he was. She described it as being more of a pushy Airedale.

When people come in and out of our home, Toby is now coming to the door with me. Interesting observation: If I answer the door, he's fine. He seems to have more comfort when people come in our front door and even will come up and sniff them without his tail tucked. If someone comes to our back door and lets themselves in, he will start barking. Good news, when Ken comes home, he comes through the door from our garage, and Toby is now joining Buddy to welcome him home! He'll pause to make sure it's Ken, but his tail stays up. There is a sense that Toby is settling in to our home routines. If Toby was thirsty, he'd go to the water bowl and dart out of the kitchen avoiding anywhere Ken was. That has stopped.

We are working on simple obedience and 'tricks'. It is hard because the natural progression is to have a dog come, sit, and then down - or - come, sit, shake paws. Toby still will not sit.

BUT - I noticed something that needs to be looked at. The only time I ever see Toby in a sit position is sometimes he wakes up and eases up into a sit. He looks awkward because his front legs are very close to his body and he doesn't adjust to get more balance. More importantly, I noticed that when he lays down, he swings his whole hip and legs to the side and lowers his body that way. This is exactly what our old girl 'Crabby Abbey' would have to do in order to lay down because of two severe cases of luxating patellas. We took her in, at 5 years of age, as a foster, to go through her two knee surgeries and she stayed with us. The surgery relieved the pain, but the scar tissue and perhaps years of just favoring her knees, she still did the same hoisting of her hips to lay down. She could never sit - and depended greatly on her front legs to do so much. Pain can make dogs crabby (hence her nickname). Like Toby, she did not want anyone - doing anything with her front paws. She was with us to the age of 14 and we adjusted to it for her.

Toby now eats his meals in the kitchen, by the door to the patio and is going in and out there with more ease. Perhaps the Prozac is starting to work. There is just a more general calm about him and less lowering of his tail and/or backing off. It was a good week for more walks around the neighborhood which he seems to like more. I'm slowly adding more distance and more new streets to the routine to build up his confidence and muscles. I worry about his knees, but want to do it to build his confidence. In the backyard I continue to try to get him to engage in direct play. He doesn't know how to fetch when I throw a ball for him, but will still burst into short tuckbuttruns. I did catch him playing with some toys inside which was great to see.

Friday, March 5th

This week we have worked on using treats to go in and out the door, which Toby looks forward to. I've used Xanax a couple evenings when Ken comes home, but it isn't as effective as me giving out 'high value' treats when standing near Ken. With this I can initiate Toby being near Ken to get attention and slowly move away - with Toby staying and enjoying it. His tail will remain relaxed and not tuck under. I also did this with Robin, who is at our home every week and Toby is responding very well. It's almost as if I give him the reinforcement that being near Robin is okay (and rewarding) he's game.

It seems that after our meeting on Monday with Dr. DePorter and Ken in the room, Toby may have decided that Ken was part of his circle of 'safe people' when faced with strangers in a strange situation.

Over the weekend I'm going to have Ken try the door exercise and see if that makes any difference. Also, I am going to figure out a way to have fresh treats upstairs in our bedroom. There is a glimmer of hope, but we still need work on his being comfortable with Ken and I going in and out with the morning routine.

This morning I walked back into our bedroom, after our morning routine of Toby jumping up for his 'good snuggles' and then his laying down for a rest after eating his breakfast. I expected to see Toby asleep next to the bed...instead, there he was standing with his front paws on the bed with his head on my pillow doing his good snuggle!!! He must have been devising a plan to steal the pillow or lost in thought because he did not hear me.

Also, I ordered the DAP spray and it should arrive today. I'm going to try it in the car just sitting with him and giving some of our high value treats.

Monday, March 1st

We had a check-up appointment with Dr. DePorter this morning and many things were clarified for us and I was given very specific training to work on with Toby.

I went shopping to buy some 'high value' reward treats for Toby so both Ken and I can have them available while we work with Toby.

The weather was beautiful so I took both Buddy and Toby for a walk. It was uneventful as we didn't run into anyone. When we got back home, I took both outside to play in the yard. Buddy played fetch while Toby watched and sniffed around. I finally found a large ball that Toby could see clearly and tossed it for him. He would run towards the ball but keep going in a wild tuckbuttrun around the yard. He did this several times and seemed to be completely happy with the exercise - not going after the ball.

Later we tried the treats conditioning at the door, going in and out. Toby did quite well with this and followed me around for a while after looking for more treats. I also fed him at the kitchen door and he ate at a normal rate without a care.

Generally, the dinner time with Ken home went okay. About an hour before I expected Ken home, I gave Toby some Xanax. Toby was with us the whole time and didn't show much stress. Then, after dinner something changed. Toby and Buddy went outside, but when it was time to come in, Toby stalled at the door to listened to the melting snow hitting the eaves above. He did not want to come in the door at all, which was a first for me. I immediately grabbed some treats which he stretched and took from me. When he balked, I stopped for a minute. Then I got down to his level, held out the treat again and he came right to me. It was odd, but then again, the pinging noise was new to him. (It makes me wonder if he was left in a crate for a long time and not exposed to 'normal' living).

The evening ended on a high note. Ken came into my computer/studio and sat down to talk. Normally Toby would move closer to me. This evening, Toby, with a relaxed tail, walked over to Ken for some ear scratches! It was a pleasant surprise for both of us.