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Hi ! I must admit I didn't go through the whole history of message I missed, but it seems from the last I read, the times are not easy In spite of being able to do anything, I can still have a little word : GAMBATE !!!! (yes, I'm an anime fan !) After the storm comes the sun !

Oh, dear...I am so sorry. I am reading through and feeling your pain and can't stop thinking how unfortunate the timing of all these events. On the positive side, I am glad it didn't turn out being DVT. There has been an increase of dog-to-dog aggression cases (along with the infamous big surge of separation anxiety) with the recent pandemic and people adopting more dogs and adding them to the household. On top of that, less socializing (or socialization of the wrong type) having a snowball effect. A veterinary behaviorist has reported in a forum last month that female -to- female fighting is still ranking number one and topping her workload. So there you are with recovering from the flu, with a torn calf, 4 weeks of recovery, medications that make you sleepy, on a no exercise regimen, Esther coming back home, Monkey being sick and wanting to be taken repeatedly out, then being behind work -life is not fair! One positive though, you have a very supportive husband! That's interesting that they said no issues with the TV when she was boarded. I am not totally surprised though. Sometimes, behaviors don't transfer over in a different setting. That's one flaw of board and training (and one advantage of having trainers come to the home so they can observe the behavior). I am covering some possible reasons this may happen: -It could be the honeymoon effect. We see this happening the first few days, weeks and even months, where dogs are on their best behaviors, but then later they fall back into exhibiting them. Next one may say "but won't the honeymoon effect happen at my home?" Not likely, since you are battling a place with a strong reinforcement history. -It could be the trainers were providing oodles of exercise and mental stimulation. This may not always replicable in a busy household. -It could be there were other more engaging activities that made the TV less salient. It could be they had other dogs she likely was very eager to interact with and play with them or other animals on the farm, and the TV was too boring in comparison. Side note-I am of the belief that board and training works best when we can mimic the dog's original household setting and add things that dog owners can then rather easily replicate at home. If we allow them too much space, too much interactions or levels of exercise that owners cannot replicate, once home, the contrast can affect them negatively and the dogs are likely to revert to their usual behaviors. -Now, that treadmill training can come handy if you're unable to walk her. -It could be the trainers were very thorough and micro-managed her. In other words, as soon as they noticed the slightest sign of her intent to do something undesirable, they swiftly intervened. After some time, this can have a suppressive effect, with the dog giving up in doing certain things or even trying certain things. -It could be they had a smaller TV or there were too many other things going on for it to grasp her attention. Maybe they watched it in the evening when she was tired. -It could be there was no need for attention. If the reaction to the TV is attention-driven and she was entertained enough for most of the day, she may have felt fulfilled enough to not need it. As the saying goes, (this is an Italian saying so translating it) extreme maladies may need extreme remedies so at this point, maybe it's time to go to more significant interventions. Here are some ideas (pass them to trainers so to make sure you're all on the same page). -Replicating what the trainers were doing (I would ask them all the nitty gritty details, tv model, size, resolution, frequency of being turned on, did she ever show any minimal signs of it and it was extinguished right there?) -Placing the TV behind a indoor doggy gate or inside an exercise pen so she can't get that close (this may lead to barrier frustration so careful with this). -Try using a smaller TV -Try using a TV that is hung high to the wall -Timing TV time with her rest time and letting her rest in a separate area or in a crate (with a stuffed Kong) -Taking smaller steps (see below) Ideas to reduce reactions to visuals: Dimming the TV. Most TV sets have an option of dimming the TV so that images are darker and less intense. Every model will have their own instructions to follow. Adding distance. Keeping your dog at a distance from the TV can help keep him under threshold. You may have to place your dog behind a baby gate or use a tall pet gate that she can't jump over. Placing some fabric. Taping a piece of fabric over the screen can reduce the saliency of the images. One may use different fabrics gradually moving to more and more transparent ones. Using a Calming Cap: a calming cap like the Thunder Cap can block a dog's visuals so to reduce reactivity and help keep the dog under threshold. Strategies To Reduce Reactions to Sounds: Lowering the volume. Simply reducing the volume of the triggering sound can help better keep a dog under threshold. Adding distance. If your dog is in a separated area at a distance from the TV this can help keep him under threshold. You may have to place your dog behind a baby gate or use a tall pet gate that she can't jump over. Adding some white noise. A fan running while you watch TV can help buffer a bit the noises. Using noise-cancelling devices. There are several products meant to make noises less salient to dogs such as the Happy Hoodie or Noise Cancelling Head Phones for Dogs. Here is an example of a case I worked on not too long ago: Roxie was a 2-year-old Pitbull who recently started barking at the TV. This dog barked at the TV when other dogs showed up or barked. Knowing what the exact trigger is is very helpful considering that predictability allows a certain level of control over the trigger. It helps pave the path to behavior modification since the sight and sound of dogs barking can be presented in a less stimulating way. Roxie was therefore exposed to a recording of dogs barking using a video from YouTube played from a computer (without any visual) starting from a low volume. Every time, the sound of the barking dog was presented, a tasty treat (piece of roasted chicken) followed. This was repeated several times until Roxie developed that "where's my chicken" look. She simply turned her head in our direction upon hearing the dog barking versus reacting. After several trials, the volume was increased gradually. Once she was fine with that, the same exercises were moved to the living room in front of the TV, but still using the audio recordings and now tossing the chicken on a mat. Next, videos of dogs were displayed on the TV (without audio) using a thick cloth taped to the TV screen first. Roxie was kept on leash at a distance from the TV next to the mat. The same exercise was done, feeding chicken every time Roxie spotted a dog. Once we got that "where's my chicken" look we used a gradually thinner cloth and did the same. We then graduated and used the thinnest cloth and then started adding some audio starting at low volume first. Finally, we removed the cloth altogether and played at regular volume. We used baked liver rather than chicken (liver was at the very top of her favorite things!) for this last part to more effectively compete with the saliency of the dogs barking. If at any time during the process she reacted, we took that as a sign that the stimulation level was too intense and would take a step back in the process. After several trials, we were able to have her go lie down to her mat upon seeing/hearing a dog barking and rewarded her and then we established a new routine of keeping her busy with a stuffed frozen Kong (her dinner meal made of kibble mixed with canned dog food and frozen) when the owner was watching TV in the evening. The more a dog doesn't react to the sights/sounds (despite hearing them in the background), the more we establish some level of habituation, where the TV stuff starts getting more and more boring and ho-hum.. so not worthy of paying attention to. If she is 90 percent great with the food, that 10 percent is likely what is keeping the behavior alive. The power of an intermittent schedule. Sometimes, I get to practice the behavior and other times not. Since there is some level of instinctive prey drive (to want to chase critters like the rat), we can only manage/redirect and do what we can to make the behavior less desirable. Weaning off treats, is something that needs to be done gradually. From a continuous schedule (giving a treat for every behavior), we then go to an intermittent one (although we may need at times to go temporary back to continuous when there is a new challenge/raise in criteria) where a treat is given every now and then, although we still must provide some "reward' as positive feedback under the form of praise, pats or a life reward. You are correct, we don't totally abandon treats. We need to have them for emergencies, and then maintenance sessions. What we do totally abandon though is the sight of treats, that is, we stop showing them in full sight, but this is normally done very quickly to prevent dependency and the common cliché' of "show me the money" or "my dog won't do anything if he doesn't see the treats." More about this here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/dog-listens-treats/ and here:https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/polishing-up-training/fading-food-lures/ and here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/polishing-up-training/fading-continuous-rewards/ With the Haltie, it is easy to become dependent on it-I mean both us and the dogs. There's a big difference to control the head of a dog and controlling the neck. That's why horses wear head halters instead of collars. We can control even large animals with halters. I can understand how upsetting it may be knowing that they didn't give her the RR and they switched her food! I had something similar happen as well (well, maybe even worse!). Rant starts- Einstein as a puppy contracting Valley Fever (a *gift* from Arizona), and I boarded him on purpose at a vet hospital because I felt he was safer there. I gave them a tot amount of 7 pills for his 5 day stay there (with a couple extra in case of a late pickup for some reason). Imagine my face when I go home and go to give him his pill and all the 5 pills are still there! I was so angry because I gave them the bottle, told them the directions and boarded him on purpose in an animal hospital so he could receive the utmost care and they forget to give him his pills! He was even diagnosed with valley fever there so they had his records and I know they look at those records every day when dogs are boarded as the put notes in there about how much they eat and over all health during their stay. Rant ends- I agree with Leah, any food/dietary changes need to be discussed. At least, they should have tried to stick to the same food! I can't imagine how frustrating it can be going through all of this and being sick on top of it. I wish I could help you more. There *might* be chances that in November I may make a trip to Florida for a couple of months. I am overseas right now working on a project so who knows, maybe I can swing by depending on where I go. It's always a good approach to make decisions when one can think clearly. Right now, you are overwhelmed with so many things! When we're "over threshold" like this, things appear very complicated and we can't think straight. Especially at night! Ever happened to you to feel like things are irremediable at night and then in the morning everything seems much easier? I can say the difference is "between night and day"-how's that as a pun? I hope the trainer that will come to your home can see how she behaves in your home setting so to offer some deeper troubleshooting. I am sending you best wishes for a speedy recovery and big supportive hug. 🤗