JMFS

That's the one! Thank you. :)

Super quick, Adrienne - separation anxiety and confinement anxiety, are those the only terms for the varying levels of separation anxiety? I feel like you've used another term before. I'm typing up the email to the potential trainer now and want to get the correct terminology.

Pet Professional Guild: https://petprofessionalguild.com/Find-a-Member You might have to widen the search if you're in a smaller town. The closest for me is 20 miles away. From experience I can tell you if you don't want to rely on management alone (feeding him away from other dogs, ensuring there's no food or toys around when other dogs are around, etc . . .) a behavior modification trainer is the way to go. Adrienne will be able to help you with a lot of it, but to Really get it nipped in the bud safely you'll want to have someone there in person. I went through it with Momo and after 8 years of trying to handle it on my own it was like night and day after having a trainer help me. $2k is a steep price for sure imo. I'm in Florida and my trainer charged $600 by the time we were done with a 5-week in-home course, meeting 1x per week. Much more manageable and worth every last penny!

A lighthearted look at what dogs are thinking when barking: Supernatural: Dean Acting Like a Dog I started it at the part where he starts acting out his interpretation of a dog so folks don't have to listen to the supernatural things and the little dirty language. :) The GSD they have in this is So handsome. This scene always goes through my mind when the girls start barking at whatever through the window.

That's what I was thinking. She tends to be able to hold it longer in any laying position. I was thinking there may be less pressure on the bladder, but your theory about the nerves is viable as well. I don't think Proin has a loading dose but she sure does Seem to be less thirsty (even left her water last night) with fewer trips between drinks. I upped her from 8 to 10 oz as a result. As long as she gets her 60 - 65 per day she's good and she'll certainly let me know if she needs more. It's a relief to know it's Something and not just me being bad at potty training! She's doing a new thing with ringing the bells persistently and then doing nothing outside. I'm wondering if she's misunderstanding the bells or if her body is sending her signals but the Proin is in effect or maybe it's even rehearsal from being accustomed to 14 - 17 trips per day. So many what ifs with this girl! Her primary care vet approved the Proin / Incurin combination. We're going to change one thing at a time and the goal is to get her on the Incurin because I really dislike the side effects of Proin. Sudden death with screaming terrifies me! Normally if there's going to be a reaction she'd have had it by now, but simply having her on a medication that can do that concerns me for her future health. It's only been out for 10 years so senior dogs who have been on it since puppyhood are just now entering their senior phase so long term effects aren't known, but should be in the next years.

Routine is a big influence in their lives. :) If I break our routine it seems to throw Esther for a loop the rest of the day. Does he take his meals in his crate? That could be another way to make it a happy place. That's good ignoring works better because it will make the training easier. Talking to him could make him think if he barks or whines Just a little bit longeryou'll cave in. he gets a gold star for being so well behaved today!

All of mine just got a dog version of vanilla orea cookies for being nice and quiet. <3 Adrienne, modifying human behavior one post at a time!

So no eptopic ureter - it's been definitively ruled out. Here's the report: Ultrasound Findings: Urinary tract ultrasound was performed. The urinary bladder is pelvic in position and oblong in shape. No evidence of bladder echogenic luminal material, calculus formation, or wall thickening is noted. No sonographic evidence of ectopic ureter formation is noted. The kidneys have good corticomedullary differentiation with normal cortical echogenicity; the kidneys are normal and symmetric in size with the left kidney measuring 5.75 x 3.08 cm in size and the right kidney measuring 6.23 x 3.05 cm in size. No other urinary tract sonographic abnormalities are noted. Conclusions: Pelvic oblong urinary bladder. No sonographic evidence of cellular bladder luminal material, calculus formation, or cystitis change. No evidence of ectopic ureter. Normal sonographic appearance of the kidneys.

If he's not chewing them up, our Dachshunds absolutely Love to burrow. Dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers. Their little bodies are torpedo shaped and their paws are almost like seal flippers so they can propel themselves into badgers' tunnels. I don't know if this is specific to Abbi, but she has one super duper fine tuned sniffer. Two things we've done is a) blankets - she burrows deep into them, the more blankets the better. To the point I worry about her suffocating but she pulls them back over her or digs in deeper if I flip them back to give her fresh air. b) snuffle mat or any other treat hiding game. There are lots of beds on the market that have cave or tunnel-like qualities that might work for him. The donut bed is Abbi's absolute favorite. This is the one we got: https://www.chewy.com/furhaven-calming-cuddler-long-fur/dp/281286 Here's one another one we have: https://www.chewy.com/furhaven-microvelvet-snuggery-gel-top/dp/205680 A different version: https://www.chewy.com/ethical-pet-sleep-zone-cuddle-cave/dp/216013 I wanted to give this a try, but she's so arthritic now she can't get in or out: https://www.chewy.com/frisco-cave-covered-cat-dog-bed/dp/140613 All our dogs chill with us on the couch, even at dinner time. They learned, over time, that they weren't getting any food and eventually they start ignoring us eating as we're ignoring them while we're eating. What you Could do, and Adrienne will correct me if I'm wrong, is put the bed on the couch and put him in that bed with a treat, preferably a long lasting something so he makes a positive association with that bed. Once he takes to the bed you could move it to the ground and slowly move it to where you'd like him to be when you're having your couch time. That's how I moved Gertrude off our bed. Her hair is like needles and there's So much of it - I couldn't take it any more and she had to go to the floor. Not to mention it doesn't matter if it's an 8-lb or 80-lb dog. They Will hog the bed. Abbi is 10 lbs and gets 3/4 of the bed, much to my chagrin! Gertie leaves her alone, but the husband feels better with her near him; Esther is in her crate because she won't settle down otherwise. When you rescue him from the crate, how long has it been and are you interacting with him in any way while he's there (even a "shhhh" or poking your head around the corner counts). Do y'all put him in the crate straight after playing? He'll get into the Kong eventually. All three of ours lost interest quickly until they figured out how to work them. You might try putting easier treats in there to start and if he's not into peanut butter you can totally do plain yogurt, natural apple sauce (no sugar and no xylitol), his kibble moistened (maybe even moistened with beef or chicken broth to make it extra special), pumpkin puree, pureed veggies if he likes any (ours like carrots and sweet potatoes), maybe even a smear or two of baby food (just check the ingredients - they're getting Way too fancy these day and the husband bought some with leeks which are not good for dogs). Just expect a few more potty trips if you go the veggie or pumpkin routes as they're high in fiber - excellent for if he gets stopped up, though.

It gets better on the trainer. He's going to "drop her a line" himself to let her know I'll be in contact! Whew. :) Estriol is what he's recommending so I've sent that to Esther's vet to ask if they'll approve it through Chewy along with titrating Proin up to 54mg per his recommendation. You're so right - we're at almost $1,000 to get an "I dunno" answer. The money isn't a problem, it's the solution to money ratio that's disheartening. He didn't seem concerned about the 8 oz every 30 - 60 minutes depending on output (she outputs, I input) and was curious whether it was helping. It does cut down on the accidents as it puts us on a predictable schedule, but at the same time with your warnings I'm constantly watching for signs of dehydration. She's no longer licking the grass or pulling on the leash to get to puddles so I'm taking that as a positive sign that she's getting enough. The Strangest thing about this is she can hold it through the night and hasn't wet the beds in months. I give her water up until midnight, then enough to wet her whistle before bed, then the husband gives her 8 oz between 7 and 8:30 am so I can sleep. So the longest she goes is 7 - 8 hours with a small drink in between. I would expect a truly incontinent dog to wet the bed so maybe it's only when she's standing? Like laying down pinches off the flow? I have no idea and am grasping at straws at this point. Petra's behavior is what the girls do when they have "fish butt" aka full glands. They'll hop up out of a sound sleep and start licking. Esther did that when she was younger with peeing, but it hasn't happened in some time.

I get it. Every once in a while I would grab Esther to keep her from getting into something and all that puppy skin is the only thing I'd latch on to. She has So Much Skin! So so much. Last night she snapped at my daughter and all I could think to do was lean over (Esther and I were on the couch, kiddo was behind it) and cover Esther so she couldn't get my kiddo. Bite me, but do Not mess with my child. Don't care if she's 23, I'm a mama bear. I felt badly about it, but my daughter doesn't have insurance and I don't want her hurt so restraining Esther was where my instinct went. Bite me. I at least have insurance! Kiddo should be more mindful now about her movements. Esther's never done that before, but the hovering, the phone, and the movement scared her and she's a fighter. /sigh Back to Mr. Loki - just wanted to share that you're not alone. We're going to have mishaps and we're going to do things wrong. That's why we have an Adrienne. :) Now I'm off to bookmark that article! As with you I never shook Mo's scruff, but I grabbed him by it and did the alpha roll (wonder why we had issues, hmmm).

So, I did mention that but yet they did Not find errant ureters. What they Did mention was the bladder is tilted towards the pelvis. He suggested trying estrogen in case it is spay incontinence since the Proin isn't helping. He said we could go up in dose on the Proin, all the way up to 74 mg per day, or even split the difference and add 19 mg by splitting a pill. I'm not keen on the Proin as the side effects can be horrendous, or fatal, and going up in dose is a bit scary. I'm going to speak to Esther's vet about it and see if we should do only the Estrogen if the Proin isn't helping. Off to read up about tilted bladders. I guess I'm glad it's not surgery in her future, but at the same time there's no definitive answer and thus no course of action other than "try this." He did mention a rarer form of diabetes, "insipidous," that we could test for. I am keeping the Nov 30 appointment just in case we need more indepth imaging / CT Scan. I don't mind going out every 30 minutes Too much. Yes, it's tiring, but eventually a rhythm is established. My stress is that I struggle to get on / stay on task so my work is falling behind. I'm my own boss so at least there's that, but at the same time, my husband and brother-in-law depend on me to keep on top of things and I feel badly for letting them down. I've also been called out recently for being snippy to the husband because I'm frustrated. 😳 But! Boy howdy, 250 mg of trazadone sure does make for a calmer Pester, er, I mean Esther. It takes about 2½ hours to hit her and then she's cool as a cucumber. She was growling quite meanly at a little scruffy older dog who was there. It wasn't a playful growl. They let us go into a room with her in case other folks walked in with other dogs and I think that worked quite well. She could hear the voices and dogs but she was well under threshold (thank you, trazadone) and simply cocking her head to listen. She was all grrr with the tech until she sniffed his hand and then she was okayish with him. Best of all, she took the muzzle with barely a pawing at it. I think we formed a positive association with doctors today. I also think no masks helped immensely. The older couple with the scruffy dog was sweet. They were very curious about Esther and asking all sorts of questions and surprisingly understanding about her lack of socialization. I daresay Educated about it! That's a rare find. Bonus item #2 is that he recommended the Leah gal (not the same as I was thinking about going to) and she's on the PPG site. The doctor you and I looked at ended up being kind of gimicky like Bark Busters. She sent me this blanket email response with all caps and bold and whatnot, which was a bit off-putting. She was going to charge a travel fee (180 minute round trip / 150 miles or so) in addition to $275 / hour. If she were our only option I'd do it, but when we have local folks (Letty Towles was recommended by Esther's vet and is $75 / hour and has a dog park here named after her, for example) the doc's is a hard number to crunch down on. I'd pay you that much because I Know we'd be in good hands, but not her! ;)

I saw her picture and OMG she's Gorgeous! I know GSD are super smart so she's going to need something to tire out that brain. Have you looked at the brain games section? One of my favorites is Hide N Seek with treats around the house. Esther's on the leash as well a good portion of the time, for similar reasons, and so we can scoot her outside before she has an accident (she's at least semi-incontinent). That can make Hide n Seek a little challenging, but for the most part we haven't had issues as long as there are treats to find. Joy could be put in another space while this is happening, or you could do it in an enclosed area for Maisy at this age. As she gets older and learns the game you might find you need to use a larger area with tougher hiding spots. Jazz up and Settle down is another favorite. That's where you get her excited then Boom, calm. I can't do that one right now with Esther or I'll have a mess to clean up, but with Gertie (our 4-yr old) it's a fun game to teach her how to put the brakes on that excitability. For a GSD the flirt pole comes to mind. She likely has a fantastic prey drive and that would be an excellent way to work some of that physical energy out while satisfying that drive. I know Adrienne will have more, but that points you in a good direction to get you started. :)

Gosh, it's already been 2 weeks?! My husband called Abbi's vet and we're getting records sent to him. He can do a dye contrast test and has a radiologist who can look at results sooner than November 30th. That's the soonest anyone will see us, and University of Florida won't even schedule us, telling us people are calling daily to get appointments. It's awful! :( It pains me to think of how many animals aren't getting treatment because of this. That's just the appointment to get tests done. If there's a surgery then that's going to be 2022, I'm sure! The Proin isn't helping, but I'm still giving it in hopes it might - I'm desperate! I'm giving her 6 oz every hour and taking her out every 30 minutes, but we still get accidents. With the water diary she averaged around 60 oz of water so I did a little math and 6 oz is more than enough for the 12 - 14 hours she's awake. More if they're active outside, of course. I keep missing phone calls from the vet because our service is spotty. They called on the 6th and I didn't get the message until the 16th. I'm starting to think perhaps one ureter is properly attached and one is not. She sometimes knows exactly when she has to go and she rings the bells to be taken out (attached). Other times she just starts pacing around and that's when the leaks happen (not attached?). I say leak but it's more like a spray and she lays it down Everywhere she trods. A water / potty schedule helps with that a lot. So I guess the update at the moment is that we're in a holding pattern until Abbi's vet and Esther's vet are coordinated (I'm not sure what the status is on the x-rays - they didn't send those to me, only the medical history / notes Husband just got off the phone with Abbi's vet. We're meeting with him tomorrow morning so maybe I'll have news. Thank you for asking - I didn't even realize it's been so long since the last update!

Also, just in case she does start taking the ball out. Amazon recommended this to me a moment ago (it's awful - they encourage me to spend dollars!). https://smile.amazon.com/NEATER-PET-BRANDS-Stainless-Steel/dp/B015G2DU80/ref=pd_rhf_ee_s_pd_crcd_4/137-7611886-3650752?pd_rd_w=ORPDn&pf_rd_p=ecb2692f-0365-4eca-a102-58ef51a608ce&pf_rd_r=JX79F13M4JSG02RETW5W&pd_rd_r=a2a0dec4-212c-43a6-8c88-7755bf2b48b0&pd_rd_wg=xqrg3&pd_rd_i=B015G2DU80&psc=1

The Mentos / empty gum container of any brand work Great. I can even fit them into my waistband for hands-free training. I have one stuffed with Smarties for myself, lol. Q-tips, cotton balls, paperclips . . . they hold many things. They're great for protecting small items when traveling, too, with their rigid design. I suppose they'd work for kiddos' lunch boxes, too. I sometimes use plain Goldfish as treats for the pups and yep, those fit great in the containers as well. I don't use them often because of the sodium, but the girls sure like them. The only drawback is they're not airtight so things can go stale or dry out, and liquids wouldn't work well. Though you Could do presoaked cotton balls or rounds if you needed alcohol wipes or some such. Easy enough to control spoilage by filling them with only what's needed. Conceivably one could poke a hole in them to loop a wrist tether or caribiner. Or heck, put them in a treat pouch so you don't have to clean the treat pouch. :D And they fit into drink holders nicely. Another idea for the biting - if you have galoshes / rain boots / wellies you could start the training using those to protect feet. Even if she got a good nip in, you wouldn't feel a thing. :)

Every once in a while Mo would move the ball out of his bowl, but for the most part he was so focused on eating he simply moved it around.

Raccoons are definitely smart little things and their paws are tiny. They don't actually have thumbs but do have 5 digits which makes them a bit more nimble than cats or dogs. With their paws being less meaty and their bodies being somewhat fatty they may not have as much trouble. And haha at the picture of that bobcat. What on Earth is that thing eating?! Bon bons?! It's so plump, lol. The rocks did the job even with that enormous Mastiff. Mo wiggled into their yard once and thank goodness we all had a sense of humor about it and the Mastiff was a gentle giant. The trick was to wedge them under the fence teepee style and then stuff a bunch of smaller rocks under that frame. I suppose odor deterrents might work as well. Maybe citrus rinds or vinegar or citrus rinds And vinegar? Test each item first, naturally, to ensure that Shiloh wouldn't eat them and is indeed repelled by them. Dogs are unpredictable about scents. What might send one running could lure another in. The girls are Really funny about the spray bottle. I whip that guy out and Everyone stops in their tracks. Even the husband because yep, I'll spray him, too! When Mama wants quiet, Mama gets quiet, dangit! 😆 He might actually get sprayed more often than the dogs. Oddly, counting to 3 also works on the dogs. We don't know why, but my theory is that I must sound more serious when I'm counting than when I say "bed." Bring out the sprinkler, though, and the pups are all about playing in it. I equate it to being splashed in the pool. We're in the water, why does getting splashed bother us?! So as not to hijack Shiloh's thread, I'll leave it at that. :)

Pro tip: washable pee pads! Our puppy is incontinent and we ran the grocery store out of pads (I'm sure shortages had something to do with it, but it sure feels like it was us!). Chewy has these: Green Lifestyle Reusable Dog Pee Pads and I'm really happy with them. The girls walk all over them and I'm not very good at claw clipping. Despite that activity the pads are holding up very well and the size we got holds up to 6 cups of water. They were out of the 6 pack so I bought 2 of the 4 packs and we have pretty full coverage with that as well as a couple to rotate in when she hits one.

Adrienne, what's your thought on the sprinkler idea? I've always been curious about it, but I recall you mentioning the bottle / can trap on a counter (where the dog causes bottles / cans to crash down, thus scaring them away from counter surfing) being ineffective. I'm wondering if the sprinkler method (despite being difficult to implement for the average non-engineer sort) might be similar in helpfulness. I could see it being effective if a) the dog likes water and b) it's used as a game to lure the dog away from digging. The rocks! Yes, I filled Mo's holes with rocks. He and the sweetie pie Mastiff next door were trying to dig to each other. I walked out there one day to see this Gigantic head sticking under our fence with pleading eyes, lol. It was a rental house so all I could do was fill it with sticks and rocks. As an aside, if you have to order fill dirt than that's a massive amount of digging, holy cow!

Oh no! I haven't an answer, but your titles always give me a chuckle. A while back when Mo was digging it was suggested I set up a sprinkler I could turn on out of his view. When he went to dig I was to turn on the sprinkler. Not sure if that's advisable now, but even if it is I didn't have a way to implement it. The only other suggestion I was given, other than the sandbox, was to fill the holes he dug with things of no interest. Twigs, leaves, his poop. Then fill the sandbox with much more interesting things like toys. That was to entice him to dig only in the approved area. I didn't get to implement that, either, but it sounded viable at the time. That's the best I have. I get the feeling Shiloh is going to need a bit more than I have to offer! Wait! One more idea. Ensure there's nothing drawing his attention to the forbidden areas. I read your post again and saw the mention about moles. Insects like cicadas could get his attention and maybe something like that is what he's digging to get to. Now I'm officially out of information. :D

Is it when you have socks on, bare feet, or is she indiscriminate? Mine is Obsessed with socks. When I'm putting socks on, her wet nose is right there to soil them straight away. If I leave a sock on the floor, it's in her mouth. As soon as my socks are on she's investigating. No clue what the fascination is. I ask about shoes because if she still does it with shoes on you can do the "pretend I'm a tree" method and stop all movement and reaction. Eventually she'll determine feet are boring and move on to something else for you to ask about, lol. If it's bate feet then I know it's tough to remain still as those sharp puppy teeth are scoring your skin. If that's the case you can attempt redirection. When she goes for your feet, distract her with a toy or a treat. I chew a Lot of gum and have Mentos containers aplenty. Rather than toss them I give them a wash and voila! Treat container. I have one in every room (out of reach of furry creatures). When Esther does something I want to redirect I bring out the treats. For feet that might mean tossing the treat away from you so she has to leave your feet to retrieve the treat. If she likes toys you can use a toy instead. That's a boiled down version of what redirection is, and it's one of our most powerful tools.

You got that right! Oiy! It's been 4 months now and I'm exhausted! We have a unique situation with a medical condition so please don't take my experience as your future, lol. Is he on a routine / schedule? That can help with the overstimulation. It's a lot like a toddler who needs a nap but doesn't want to miss anything but is too grumpy to participate but too excited to sleep. If you have a routine for eating, potty, play, rest, it can make things go a lot smoother because then the pup knows what to expect. At 9 weeks you're not anywhere near adolescence so, if it were me, I would establish a routine now to make life easier when he does hit that age of piercing his nose, spiking his hair, and wearing combat boots. 😆 Especially because he's going to be powerful and Big. I was going to show you our schedule as an example but holy crud it's a mess due to the number of trips we have to take and the fact that Esther doesn't really sleep. 5 - 10 minutes of training or play should be sufficient. Any more Might be overstimulation, you'll learn to read his signals to figure out when he's getting too much. Settle down (Highly recommend this one: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/high-school/jazz-up-and-settle-down/) I don't know your work schedule, or his sleep schedule, but you're basically working through eat, potty, sleep, play at regular times so he knows what's coming up. If you're not already on a schedule you'll begin to see him anticipating the next item. For instance, Esther is Totally thrown off if I go straight out of the bedroom instead of hooking a right to take her to go potty because she is expecting to go to the back yard (sometimes there might be a package out front). When we first go into the office they both go into their kennels to wait for food. After they eat Esther might get a treat toy and water or she might come to the desk area for her water with Gertie and me. Gertie goes straight to the beds, Esther picks up a toy and entertains herself for about 20 minutes before her next potty break. If I'm Really lucky she'll take a nap.

Congrats on your upcoming bundle of barks, er, joy! 😆 Dachshunds are pretty smart pups so I don't think you'd have an issue when he gets older. There's a section in the training for putting "potty" on command that would be useful for this. https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/advanced-potty-training/potty-on-command/ That comes in useful if there's a designated area for him if you ever travel with him. When nature calls and he's in that field, it will happen even if potty isn't on command, lol. Having it on command makes it easier so they know it's what they're supposed to do in that area. I'm not sure if it's the breed or my husband's "training" but his Dachshunds were little devils about going inside so I highly recommend the command route and routine. Routine is one of the most powerful tools we have with helping dogs live in our world of rules. :)

To me it sounds like attention seeking because she was ignoring him and unless Adrienne says otherwise it's pretty darn normal for a pup. :) I know there's a thread around here where someone had a young kiddo who was also active (typical, lol) and their dog kept jumping on the child. You might try the search if you simply cannot wait (that's usually me) and use child, kids, children as keywords or maybe even clothes. I seem to remember it mentioning tearing the kiddo's clothes. That was over 3 years ago so I Could be misremembering, but it's tickling the back of my brain.