Resq TailsThe trials and triumphs of rescued dogs

I’m just messing around with some of the pictures that we’ve taken in the last months or so, and just had to share this one of Rogue. I just love her little face!

I’ve decided that sometimes all you can do is shake your head and laugh when things don’t go as planned. As you know, we started Rogue on fluoxitine and alprazolam 7 weeks ago. Well, I wasn’t seeing much improvement in her reactivity and so I contacted Dr. Overall again to update her and see if we needed to make adjustments in her dosage or in the medication itself, or if this was just typical.

Well, come to find out that the dosage that we’ve been giving her of 1 mg. daily of the fluoxitine was wrong. Turns out that was a typo and we should have been giving her at least 5 mg. daily, if not 10 mg. So, after I found that out, I tried to contact the vet here and he’s out of town till next Tuesday. Ughh! At the prompting of my friends at Sheltie Rescue I called the vet’s office again and asked if one of the other atttending vets would consider changing the dosage of the prescription, so that we don’t have to wait till next week. Fortunately, they were nice enough to do that for us, and we’ve picked up the new dosage today.

I’m trying to look at this as a really long ramp-up time on the meds, instead of just viewing the last 7 weeks as being wasted, but I’m only partly convinced. LOL Hopefully in the coming weeks we will have some progress to report. I hope!!!

Well, another year has come and is nearly gone already. I don’t know where the time goes anymore! It’s been a year full of great accomplishments, a big loss, some continuing struggles and new beginnings. Wow, we really crammed alot into a year! LOL

Zoe earned her MACH, to become the first Sheltie in Utah to have that title. She also qualified to go to the AKC National Agility Championship in North Carolina in March, and we’re really looking forward to that trip!

Twist tried his paw at regular obedience this year, and in his first Novice Obedience class, took first place and earned the High in Trial at the Utah Sheltie Specialty! Woohoo, Twist. He went on to finish his CD in September. Now we’re working on moving into Open Obedience!

Raven took a break from competing in agility for most of the year, but she did try Rally Obedience at the Utah Sheltie Specialty, and she qualified first time out. She’s entered in an agility trial in Jan., so we’ll see if the break from competition and the training we’ve been doing have paid off. In the meantime, she says that she doesn’t mind just chilling out and chewing on a bully stick.

2008 was a great year for Penny! She got to try out for a tv commercial, and even though she wasn’t chosen, we had a great time! Of course, now she thinks she’s a star and we’re just staff that here to serve her. LOL

We said goodbye to Jessie this past August. It was an unexpected loss, and she is greatly missed!

Our attempts to help Rogue overcome, or at least manage more successfully her anxiety issues…continue. The last year has allowed us to meet some wonderful people. I feel really grateful to have found such great support and guidance as we work with Rogue. We hope that 2009 brings more progress for Rogue.

As for Lucy, she’s enjoyed another year of being Lucy. There’s really not much more you can say. To Lucy it’s not the end of one year or the beginning of another…it’s just a wonderful day to be alive!!!

Lastly, I guess it’s time to admit that the little foster girl, (formally known as Lucy), has found her permanent home, with us. I knew there was a reason we hadn’t done any fostering for several years! LOL For obvious reasons, we’ve changed her name. My husband got to re-name her, and he’s chosen “Layla”. I looked up the meaning of the name and it’s “dark beauty”, so I guess he did a pretty good job, for just pulling a name out of the air…he doesn’t overanalyze naming like I do. Hehe. I don’t know that I’d describe her as a beauty just yet, more of a cutie at this point, but I’m sure she’ll grow into the name.

So, I guess that about sums it up!

I hate winter, but I love to take pictures of the dogs playing in the snow. Here’s some from Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy!

We finally got snow today. Not that I want snow, I hate winter, but I know we need the moisture. Anyway, before it started snowing today it was the most miserable windy morning, so we decided to stay inside and play where it was warm.

I thought it would be fun to play a game that our friends over at A Dog’s Journey had posted about a while back. I don’t remember what she called the game, but she did a fun video of her dogs playing it and you can find the link to the video at her site: http://adogsjourney.blogspot.com/

It’s pretty simple, you just need a muffin tin, some tennis balls and treats, and you’re ready to play. My dogs have played a few times before, but when we first played the game, I put treats in each of the muffin holes and put the tennis balls on top.

After they’d played a few times, I only put treats in selective muffin holes, and let them dogs use their wonderful sense of smell to find the right ones. It’s fun and easy to play and gives the dogs something to do on a stormy day. Here’s some pictures of the dogs playing…

This is Rogue, patiently waiting till I tell her she can start. Isn’t she a good girl?

Everyone got to play…

Even the foster baby! She is such a smart little girl, figures new things out in no time!!!

She couldn’t figure out why I had to keep taking pictures though…that wasn’t helping her find the treats any faster. LOL

It’s been so long since I’ve posted it probably seems like we’ve dropped off the face of the earth, but we’re still here. Just busy!

We’re closing in on week four of Rogue being on the Fluoxitine and Alprazolam. I am still really anxious to see progress, but it seems slow in coming. Every once in a while I think I notice something that is a different reaction, or at least a smaller one. However, for the most part, (I’d say 95% of the time)…things are continuing as they were before. In instances that I can predict will be stressful for her, we have upped the dosage of the Alprazolam to the full .25 mg. pill as we couldn’t see any effect giving her the half pill. I don’t know that we’ve got it really figured out yet, as sometimes she seems more relaxed with the Alprazolam and other times she is even more cranked up, almost like she’s trying to fight the effects. I hope this latter reaction will fade as she gets used to the feeling.

Everyone else in the crew is doing fine and loving the cooler weather for walks. Well, except for Zoe and the foster pup, they both would prefer the warmer weather and like to sit in front of the heater or the wood stove. Zoe runs inside in the mornings after she takes care of business, and insists on snuggling up under the covers with me. Even though it’s getting cold, we still haven’t gotten any snow that’s stayed on the ground for more than a day or so. I’m wishing now I had left the agility equipment in the field a little longer LOL.

The male puppy that we had staying here, Dakota, was adopted by his permanent family just a day or two after we brought him home. We’re thrilled for him! He was such a sweetheart! I know the new family is just going to love him. The little girl is still here…and we’re loving her

I guess I spoke too soon. Yesterday was not a good day for these two. No sooner have I written that we were seeing some slight improvement in the tension between Rogue and Zoe we had a flare up again.

It all started about 4:00 yesterday afternoon. I was putting on my shoes to take the dogs for a hike and my husband walked from through the kitchen heading towards the hallway to the back door. I don’t know if Rogue was watching me put on my shoes and then he was closer than she expected when she noticed him or what, but she freaked and was scrambling as fast as she could to get out of his path. That’s when Zoe jumped in and attacked her. I don’t know if Zoe thought that Rogue was moving toward her and perceived it as a threat or what, but she had Rogue down on the ground before I could stand up.

I got them separated, looked them both over (no visible injuries), gave Rogue a 1/2 tablet of the Alprazolam and when things seemed to settle down a bit we went for a hike. I misjudged things again, thinking that the exercise would calm everyone down. It did seem like it until we got back home about 5:30. We were walking from the truck to the house and Zoe pinned Rogue under the car. Again I got them separated and again no punctures, or visible wounds, but Rogue was pretty shaken, so I gave her another 1/2 tablet of the Alprazolam. I couldn’t see an effect on her appearance or behavior either time that I gave the Alprazolam, so I think I’ll have to try the higher dose. Things seem a little less tense today, but we’re keeping a close eye on both of them. I’m re-reading the protocol for interdog aggression because I usually find that when something goes wrong, I’ve overlooked something that might have prevented the situation in the first place.

It’s one week today that Rogue has been on the Fluoxitine. Overall, I haven’t noticed much difference. But , there have been some small things that I have noticed, it’s just not consistently. Every once in a while, Rogue will be watching me, but it’s not with the hard intense stare, it’s a little softer. I would love to see that expression more often!

The other thing that I’m really happy with is that sometimes she seems to be doing a little better with Zoe. Once my husband even remarked that she had walked up to Zoe and then turned around and walked away. I know that may not sound like much, but for Rogue that’s progress. I really hope that as she feels less anxiety that the tension between them lessens too!

I also tried the Alprazolam this Monday. I was taking Twist and Raven down to Parowan to go herding for the last time this year, and thought that I’d take Rogue along just for the trip, not to herd. I gave her 1/2 a tablet two hours before we got there, but when I got her out of the car, she was just as anxious as she always is. I can think of a couple of reasons for this. In the consult it said that I should repeat the 1/2 tablet again a half an hour before the anticipated event, and I forgot to bring the tablets. (The meds can’t work if you don’t remember to bring them along to give to her.) The other thing could be that the 1/2 tablet was the low dosage, and she said that we may need to experiment with that to see what she needs. So…I got some good information to work with if nothing else. I was hoping to try this again this Thurs. when Raven and Zoe’s agility class is scheduled, but it got cancelled.

So, that’s about it for the first week…

Twice this week when we were walking in the hills by our house we’ve seen a small herd of deer. Both times it’s been between 10 and 20 in the herd. I had my camera the other day, we didn’t get too close, but you can still see them.

We also got to see birds, and of course jack rabbits. Those are the dog’s favorite! I’m not fast enough with the camera to get a picture of them though. LOL

Here’s some shots of the dogs enjoying the walk.

I wish this nice weather that we’ve been having would continue. Sure has been great for walking!

I’ve been really bad about keeping up on posting lately. Alot has been going on, but I’ll try to recap this last week.

I was hoping to hear from our vet in Salt Lake on Tues., after he got back from vacation, but unfortunately, I never did. I called the office again on Wed. and then promptly missed his return call because I my silly phone on vibrate and didn’t hear it! (Could’ve screamed when I figured out what I’d done). LOL Called the office again, hoping that he hadn’t already gotten busy with other clients, but I was too late. I made one more attempt on Wed. to get ahold of him, but he was just getting ready to leave for a housecall and didn’t have time to talk to me then either. Ughh! So, we set up an appointment for 8:00 am on Thurs. Finally, success! We talked about the fax consult for Rogue and he agreed to call in the prescriptions for her! Woohoo!!!

So, we are now two days into the new medication. She is on 1 mg. of fluoxitine a day. I haven’t noticed any changes yet, but I didn’t really expect any this soon anyway, and at least she’s not having any negative reaction to the medication. At the first of next week I’ll try the alprazolam too and moniter her reaction to it. I need to give it to her when I can watch and see how she responds, so that I figure out what dosage will be best for her. For right now we are going to use the fluoxitine daily and the alprazolam as a preventative, (like prior to an anticipated event that might be stressful), or interventional help, (like a storm beginning while we’re not at home).

In the meantime, we are also continuing to work on the Relaxation Protocols that we had been doing before, and we are also working on some other protocols, one being the Protocol for Deference. It is designed to help the dog learn to be calm, learn that they can ask questions of people and learn that they can get guidance about what is expected or what will happen…if they just sit calmly and provide themselves with the ability to take in useful information. This is a huge change from how Rogue has been up to this point. She is definitely seeking information, but I’ve never provided a really clear way for her to get it. I really think that this is something that all my dogs and myself are really going to benefit from.

I also decided that I wanted to try to keep a video diary of how this whole process is going. I decided to video Rogue doing her Relaxation Protocols, (so it may not be the most interesting video for most people to watch) LOL, but I chose it because it should allow me to make a comparison of how she is able to relax in a structure that she is familiar with before and now that she is on medication.