From the History Blog, the oldest known photo of a pet. I wonder how they got the poodle to stay still for as long as that exposure must have been…!
In other news, Eowyn’s thyroid levels came back just a touch off on the first panel, which made them run a second and much more sensitive panel that came back absolutely perfect. With medical reasons for her behaviour ruled out, that brings us right back to … her behavior. 
Well, I took Eo in for some Lab work and a CAT scan and they put her in a cage and let a yellow labrador and a orange tabby in to examine he… *ducks*
One of the things that came out of the Lee Mannix Behavior Seminar that he stressed over and over again is that a “problem” dog’s behavior is often a result of three things: A problem with their food, a problem with their health (Thyroid, organ function, unmanaged chronic pain, etc.), and only after ruling those things out should behavioral modification be tried.
Since Eowyn has done her best to usurp Henry as the number one behavior problem in my home, I took her in last week for a followup to her hip surgery and
Pain: Well-managed.
Organ function: Normal, spot on.
Thyroid panel: On the low end of normal. Further lab work required.
I should hear back next Wednesday on the 2nd round of tests.
Lee did mention that Innova may be a little too high-octane for a dog that’s very sedentary, and I agree. When the first labs came back normal, I switched her to Henry’s Wellness Simple to see if that makes any difference… she won’t suffer for a couple of weeks of bland food. 
Eowyn had her hips operated on two months ago (just in time for Christmas, lucky her…) and then spent five weeks on crate rest before I allowed her to move around again.
Right now, she still has some pain when she moves, but she’s been up and around and walking for three weeks. I’ve noticed a marked decrease in reactive behavior. She’s still very food/resource aggressive, but she doesn’t snap all the way to aggression like she used to… she now very noticeably warns before she bites. She doesn’t display much (if any) aggression towards cars anymore on our walks … this is a very recent development, but I’ve been doing everything I can to encourage it!
Also, the “interrupts” that I tried to train into her last year now suddenly work. Telling her to “come” or “down” will now result in her coming or laying down, instead of continuing whatever reaction she was in the middle of. Turns out it wasn’t so much that the behavior specialist I saw (Dr. Kay Stephens of Puppy Love in College Station) was wrong in how to train her, it’s that she was wrong in her evaluation of why Eowyn was reacting the way she was.
And here I’m just happy to have my puppy back!
Since Eo was a puppy, I’ve bathed her in my shower. And let me tell you, you’ve never SEEN as miserable drowned rat as Eowyn when she’s wet. If it’s possible, she flat-out grimaces as I replace her carefully assembled perfume of dead toad, bird poop, and grass clippings with a nice hypoallergenic oatmeal shampoo…
Oh, baleful glare...
When I was in kindergarten, we would sing a song any time we were doing something that we didn’t want to do. It made the work go faster, and it kept twenty or thirty rugrats focused on the task at hand. My favorite one was the cleanup song. I still remember it — Clean up time, clean up time, let’s clean up this mess. Clean up time, clean up time, do our very best!
To keep Eo’s attention on me, and not how much she wants to be running through the rest of the house shaking, I sang Eowyn a little song and call her funny shower names. I made up the lyrics randomly during one shower — She’s a puppy and she’s soapy and she’s good, She’s a puppy and she’s soapy and she’s good, She’s a puppy and she’s soapy, and she’s looking kinda dopey… She’s a puppy and she’s soapy and she’s good! I can’t remember what the original tune is from, but it’s not hard to figure out. And she’s magically transformed from the usual “EoMonster!” or “My Big Girl!” into a magical treat known as a “Soapapuppy.” (Look for it on the menu next time you’re at a mexican restaurant.)
I realize that those of you out in blogland can’t quite get the full treatment from just the lyrics, but I sing like a pack of dogs howls — loudly, and VERY far off tune. But somehow, the song keeps Eo (and now Henry) thinking that bathtime is a fun experience where they get lots of attention and a really, really thorough rubdown. When I sing our shower song, neither of them try to escape from the tub. That’s no small task with fifty or seventy pounds of wet, soapy mutt!
Update/Edit: I just realized that the tune is to “If you’re happy and you know it”.
It’s been a month and change now since Eo’s last hip surgery. With the wonderfully warm weather that we’ve had this weekend, I decided to take her off the Tramadol (painkiller, opiate) that she’s been on since the surgery. She seems to still get around fine, and the pretty consistent movement as I’ve worked in the garden has helped her greatly. She’s not back to 100% yet, of course, but for seven weeks post-op she sure isn’t doing bad.
Eo was so helpful this weekend when I was potting plants.
By the way, I should point out again for people who don’t know me — I’m not a vet, but I’m very involved with my dogs’ medical care and I know as much as possible about the different drugs, treatments, needs, and the background to the behavioral modifications we’re trying to make. Don’t take anything I say about medicine or veterinary stuff as gospel.
One thing that’s apparent is that a month of inactivity leading up to the surgery and a month of inactivity recovering from the surgery has left her with some remarkable atrophy in her rear legs. Her favorite position is sitting down with most of her weight on her front legs; she’s built like a bodybuilder on the front half but has nothing but loose bone and sinew on the rear. We’ve been walking nightly in an effort to rebuild this, but haven’t been putting any serious distance on. This weekend, I started working in the yard on my garden, and I’ve been letting her pick how much she moves and putting her away when she gets crabby or frantic.
The other thing that’s been rather obvious since the surgery is that she’s MUCH less crabby. She hasn’t gone after Henry with the intent to cause serious harm in a while. (Yes, this used to be a big problem. And it’s the reason she was inactive for a month before the surgery and the reason we did it so soon after the first one.) To Henry’s credit, he’s learned how not to provoke her, and he’s even been initiating play recently by bowing and pawing at her — she’s seemed to enjoy playing with him when she’s in the mood, but I’ve been stopping it before it’s really gotten “started” in puppy terms because I know that she’ll hurt herself if I don’t.
I haven’t been posting much about her because “Yeah, she’s on crate rest… still on crate rest… in her crate” makes for boring blog entries. It’s nice to have some progress to report. Indications are good that she’ll make a full recovery and will go on to boss everyone around the house for many more years.
I’ve (finally) got pictures up on Flickr of my visit with Miles’ pack. (Previously: A day with Ridgies.)
I made a post on my tech/personal blog about my techie and personal goals for 2009, but it’s time I sit down and take a hard look at what I want to do with the dogs.
Henry unexpectedly came into my life in July, and has been the bane of my pocketbook and social life ever since. On the other hand, he’s been such a rewarding personal experience that I’m loath to quit while I’m ahead — and I refuse to dump my problems on someone else. Henry’s goals for 2009 are:
Eowyn turned 2 this past year, and she also had both hips operated on. After her rehabilitation period this year, we’ll hopefully be able to start training out some of the dog and food aggression that she’s picked up along the way. Experimentation with painkillers has shown that her tendency towards aggression drops markedly when she’s not in pain. (Go figure.) My goals for her this year are:
Here’s to a happy new year for you and yours!
I spent a day with Miles, who I know via the motorcycle community I hang out in. I’ll post more pictures later, but Miles and his wife breed Ridgebacks (and they are one of the good breeders — unlike the several Ridgeback puppy mills you’ll find in Texas). It was great to see his pack and watch the dynamics of how they work together, respond to different situations and train, and the variations in coat and markings that you find within dogs just out of his own litters.
Below is a picture of Miles and his two females. I’ll post more pictures to my Flickr gallery shortly.
Speaking of which, if you’re looking for a Ridgeback and you’re in Texas, I would advise talking to the people at one of the many rescues in the state for their opinions on different breeders (and yes, they know them all). The people at the Texas Independent Rhodesian Ridgeback Rescue and at the national Rhodesian Ridgeback Rescue who have experience with breeders in your area and can guide you to responsible, ethical breeders that will make sure you have a healthy and well behaved companion.
Eowyn’s second Femoral Head Ostectomy is done, and she’s recovering at Boonville Animal Hospital. The doc called a little while ago to tell me that the surgery went much better this time and she should have an easier recovery. Woohoo! Merry Christmas, Eo. Sorry, I promise that you’ll feel much better soon!
We’ve got two crates in the house for Eowyn, and I’m thinking about adding a third. Each comes with all the modern conveniences — water, a nice soft place to lay down, enough room to turn around in, a Nylabone or two for those immediate chewing needs, and a door that closes and latches.
For a little bit of review, Eowyn has two problems: Dog/Food Aggression, and Hip Dysplasia. The more research, reading, training, and practice I do with Eo, the more I realize that these are very closely connected, intertwined, interlinked, cause-and-effect, systemic issues and NOT discreet behavior problems that can be treated empirically.
There’s currently one in the bedroom, where we all sleep, and in the kitchen next to the table, where we spend most of the rest of our days. She eats in the crate, she naps in the crate while I cook and eat dinner, she’s in the crate when Henry and I are working on obedience… all the usual stuff.
Magically, she has no problems eating in the crate when Henry’s eating his dinner two feet from her. No growling, signs of aggression, stiffness in her posture, whining, barking, or other vocalizing, no lunging and gnashing — nothing. If she is out of the crate and I try to feed him, she will attack him for his food. What’s the difference?
The seat of the pants doggy psychologist in me says that she feels threatened because of her hip pain. She can’t back up a warning (growling, baring teeth) because it’s patently obvious that her hips are bad, so she just attacks without notice. With the crate between her and the other dog, she doesn’t feel like her food supply is threatened. It’s her comfortable place that other dogs don’t go into.
The usual approach from here I guess would be desensitization. I’m wondering if I can’t just AVOID the behavior for now and just not allow her to make any mistakes for now so that she “forgets” the aggressive stuff, and then after her hips are fixed, start working on the actual desensitization work with a chance of it getting results this time…