Tongue Out Tuesday - When the Heat Breaks

As we mentioned yesterday, it was sweltering here last week. Finally, on Friday a storm blew though which helped break the heat.

Lady has taken Friday afternoons off for the summer. She was sitting in the driveway assembling patio furniture listening to the thunder. As the storm came closer she could hear us upset in the house so she moved inside. She got in before it poured and poured. Thunder crashed. Valium was administered. Valium was not effective as at 2:50 our power went out.

We were very upset. Lee was walking around trying to destroy things. The leash inside was tried. Finally, Lady and her Kobo ended up in the closet, Lee pressed up against the wall and Lady sitting pressed up to her. Phod was in and out, drooling on Lady. This seemed to help. Lee was able to settle, and Lady was able to lay down, squished up against Lee and have a floor nap.

The power was restored about 3.5 hours, but not until the Man had gone to get gas for the generator and started it. Seriously, the minute he clicked start, it all came on.

While it was not the most fun afternoon, we were grateful for the break in the heat. That evening Lady could wear pants and a hoodie.

Mischief Monday - Coping

Dear pals,

I am now off my meds and feeling so much better. I am eating and being myself. It makes Lady happy.

Anyway, we had a bit of a storm last week and I did ok. Lady was at work and Man was at home, and I found comfort peeing on the bed in her office and rubbing my nose too much. 

It was able to be washed but it is a little lumpy. Piggy thinks it is comfortable. Lady said if we don't like it she can get us a new bed at Costco.

Lady says if this is as bad as it gets, she can live with it.

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Thanks to Zoolatry for creating this for us to share. 

PS Blogger is not letting us comment again. Sigh! 

Mischief Monday - Not So Good

 Dear pals,

As you know my Lady is medicating me. While it is helping my anxiety (I am not freaking out when their is fireworks for example) but I am not always eating. Lady and Man have been giving it to me every other day like they were weaning me off and I eat 24 hours after. There is one exception I will eat the topper and if there is whipped cream and syrup on it. So Lady is going to talk to my vet this week and see what we should do. I am keeping it interesting. 

Mischief Monday - Very Little

 As we mentioned last week, we made the decision to put Hailey back on Prozac. We had a thunderstorm one night and she peed on one of the dog beds, but no other destruction. We will call this a win.

To help her on Canada, because we knew there would be fireworks, and then Saturday night as we actually got to go out and we knew there would be fireworks, we also gave her a Valium. In both cases, there was no destruction.

We are not loving our girl on the Prozac. She isn't eating as much and she is extra sleepy. We can't tell if it her adjusting, her also having Valium or something else. We are going to give her another week or so, without Valium and just the Prozac, to see if she is more herself. If not we will be talking to our vet. 

Because she is in human drugs, this cracks me up. 

Mischief Monday - Rough Week

It has been a rough week here for my anxious dog, Miss Hailey Bug. We have had power outages, thunderstorms and fireworks. While we were hoping the occasional Valium would be enough to keep our calm, we have had to make the decision to also return her to prozac after a year and a half off it. She just gets herself so worked up, she can't regulate. She must destroy things while she is hyperventilating. 

Friday night was particularly bad as the neighbours had fireworks in the field across from the house, and there was some rain. As the Man had to get up to work at 5:30 on Saturday morning, I took the night shift.

We started in our closet, where she managed to get into the sewing kit before I joined her. We then ended up in the basement in the bathroom. Everything has been removed from this room. I pulled in a chair and held my Kobo in one hand and pet her with the other as she shook and tried to go through the wall. I just kept redirecting her.

After about an hour, I was tired, so I took the cushion off the chair and moved to the floor. I knew we were making progress when she sat on me. Not the most flattering pictures of either of us, (I am not sharing the worst lol!) but a true look at what living with an extremely anxious dog can look like.

After about another half hour, I think the combination of the fireworks clearly being done, and the meds, she had settled enough that I could move to the couch. This is where I slept with all the lights on while she went back upstairs with the Man. I stayed here until about the time Man had to get up for work, and then I moved back to the bed.  

Earlier in the week, after the power had been out for a few. hours and it was slightly windy and we think she thought the sound of me pulling up the garbage bin was thunder, she pulled things out of the garbage in my office to destroy them. You can click HERE (hopefully) for the video. I am in the process of changing my email address (it will now be kten19ATmeDOTcom) so am having issues syncing all the things! I will get it all sorted out.

Mischief Monday - Lee vs the Storm - by Lee

It was a dark and stormy Wednesday night/Thursday morning. At approximately 12:20 am, I became aware that we were going to die. I alerted the people.

Too tired the next day

Lady heard my alert and got up. She opened doors, blocked the guest room which I was trying to dig my way through, turned on lights. She settled on the couch.  While I was pacy, I was able to settle as the world was right enough.

Then the worst of the storm hit shortly after 3 am. I went into full alert. I tried destroying the crate (which I was not in, but it was blocking the guest room). I destroyed some toilet paper. I ripped up my bed. Lady tried to get me to settle but I could not.

Add caption

Lady brought in reinforcements.  She went and got Man, who was in bed with a scared Phod on his head. I don't know what Lady said because I was destroying things, but the Man got up. He came down, told me I had made a mess and now it was time to go to sleep. He moved to the couch. I settled down and sort of slept until the morning.

This blanket is very ripped up now. Good thing Lady bought it at a thrift shop for me!

Lady was very, very annoyed that I would only not believe the world was ending unless the Man told me. While she was  annoyed, she also realized it won't be her that has to get up with me.

Lady is using what is left of the semi-destroyed roll! 

In spite this bad night (that lead into a crazy 2 days, which Phod will tell you about tomorrow), Man and Lady still aren't putting me on meds. I like being off them best, they like me off them best and are still able to be home most of the time. This may change as things open up.

Lady says she can't tell who won this, me or the storm . . . . It is a draw I think!

Catching up on my beauty sleep! 

Mischief Monday - Fear Shared

As you all know, Hailey has some pretty severe anxiety, that in the past has resulted in her being medicated. Currently, while we are home 99% of the time, she is not being medicated. We had a thunderstorm Friday night (she gets an 7.5/10 with how she did, she did have a moment where she was scratching the door to get me out of bed, even though Man was up) and Saturday afternoon we had another one (also an 8/10). She tends to be pace, she will bark a few times, but she is not causing damage. 

While her anxiety has always been big and noticeable, our boy has slowly learned to be afraid from her. He is just afraid in a much quieter way. He has never liked the vacuum or the power going out. Now he doesn't like thunder storms or the Man leaving. 

On Thursday, the Man took the morning off to go to Costco. He was gone for about 3 hours. Phod tried to hid in the corner of my office. Clearly he was very upset. During the storms, he wanted to be with us or hiding in a corner. Those of us who know him, know he is stressed, but others may not notice.

It had been suggested we try playing the storm sounds to help desensitize Lee to them. Now that we have a fancy new sound system, we gave it a try. Hailey initially looked up, thought about it, realized it was not real and went back to sleep. Phod was the one who was stressed. He looked for comfort and was very alert. Now it could be that he just doesn't like the stereo either!

At any rate, we now have 1 very anxious dog and 1 sort of anxious dog. It is like the fear is shared between the 2 dogs instead of just being trapped in 1!

Project Hailey - Decisions and Off leash by Lee

Hi friends,

As you may recall, from about April to October I take prozac to help me with my anxiety with storms and fireworks. You may also recall that a few times, when I have been home alone during a storm, I have gone through the wall. 

This picture cracked the Lady up

Lady and Man had a long talk and they decided for now, since they are home all the time, they are not going to put me back on it. Obviously, if I seem too distressed (meaning I keep them up all night freaking out), or the world becomes more normal, they may change their minds. They have a couple weeks of pills left from the fall, so they can start any time. They made this decision because I am more fun and crazy and more me off the pills. 

In other great news, the Man has started some off leash training with me. Short sessions, with lots of cookies. It is nice to not be attached to those who are too slow! So far, I have been good and listened pretty well. We will see how it goes. 

I really love having my peeps home all the time and having them follow my schedule! 

Project Hailey - Loving My Winter Girl

It was a rough summer for our girl. As most of you remember, at the end of June, she went through the wall again during a storm while we were at work. This led to us playing with her medication. It sort of felt like she was our Goldilocks - 20 mg of prozac was too little (she will still go through the wall), 40 mg was too much (she will do nothing but sleep),  but 30 mg (and the occasional Xanax) was just right!

She remained on 30 mg until the end of September. At this time, we decreased her dose to 20 mg.

We did this because we thought the kennel would have more success giving her 1 pill (she needs 2 to get 30 mg) and because we like to take her off it in the winter.

She remained on 20 mg until last week, when we reduced her to 10 mg.  (We are now currently looking at fading that out, and we can talk more about how that goes in a later post. She had a hard time with that last year!)

The world is now white

The difference in my girl with 10 mg compared to 20 mg, is very clear. On the lower dose she is far more food motivated. She begs more. She drools watching you eat more. She counter surfs more. She is in the dishwasher more. Basically, you would think we did not feed her. Interesting to note, we had to remove her slobowl when we increased her meds because she was eating so slow, she would get tired of eating and not finish her dinner. It was just too much effort. As of yet, we have not had to return the slobowl.

Other noticeable behaviour changes. She is far more cuddly (although the fact it is much colder, it was -25C/-13F this morning may also be a factor in this, but even before this week, she didn't just spend her evenings hiding). She is also more easily excited. She jumps more. She barks more. She has more life!

While I love my winter girl more, I know that being medicated through storm and firework season is what is best for her and our pack. She deserves to feel as relaxed as possible. It is not safe for her to be so anxious or to engage in such dangerous behaviours as going through the walls. We all deserve not to hear her bark endlessly out of fear. 

Having Lee be more Lee, is one of the only good things that comes out of winter!

Taken yesterday. We had a record breaking snowfall on Monday. It is now here to stay I fear. 

Terrible Tuesday - Poor Lee

Last week was a stormy week. I did not give Lee her Xanax on Tuesday before I left for work. We thought she had done ok until later in the evening when I walked into the downstairs bathroom (aka her fortress of solitude) and discovered the fortress bed and some rags had been chewed up. While I sighed cleaning it up, I did tell her this was a level of destruction we could live with. 

She had her Xanax on Thursday, and still ripped up the rags I have put in the garbage (she took them out of the garbage). We still call it a win! 

A Hailey Update

While I was at the clinic with Phod, I was able to discuss how Lee was doing with our vet. At the time, he said we keep Lee on her 30 mg of prozac, even if she seems a bit stoned, for at least another week and we would talk about it then. He also prescribed Xanax, to be used when we can't be home, but a storm is coming. 

I did ask him about cannabis, and he said that there are no products designed for dogs, and no studies on use in dogs. While he is interested, he can't recommend it. He has had clients try and and they report success. He said if I was interested "I was on my own." So for the time being, we will not be exploring this for Lee. We will try things that are vet approved.

While our Xanax is meant for emergencies, I did not feel comfortable giving Lee a new drug and leaving her alone all day. Saturday night, while we were home, a huge storm rolled in (the type that takes the power out for a short period of time). It was the perfect time to test it. After a few minutes, she was able to go to her fortress of solitude (aka our downstairs bathroom) and curl up on the bed there and ride out the storm. While texting with my vet the next day (I don't know what I will do when he retires), he said that is probably the best we can hope for.

He also wants us to keep her on the 30mg for at least another week, so we will. Probably a good idea as we have 3 days of thunderstorms in the forecast. The wall repair should be done this week, we don't need to add another hole.

So that is where we are with our girl. I hope this will all help!

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As a pet owner, the best thing I have done is teach my dogs to tolerate me "shoving" pills down their throats. It all started with our Loki ,who at the height of his disease needed 15 pills a day. We had tried all the other methods, and he would spit them out. These were drugs that were keeping him alive. I recommend to everyone, to teach your dogs to tolerate it because it will help you assure they are getting medication they need. 

Not So Mischief Monday - You've Come A Long Way LeeLee!

Taken mid-party

If you had told me  a year ago that I could host a party with 18 guests, 7 of them being children under the age of 11, and Miss Hailey Bug would be calm and great, I would not have believed you. However, I am thrilled to report that my girl made me sooooooo proud of her on Saturday when such a thing happened. Yes, she did bark a little when people arrived, and she barked a little more at the people she didn't know. However, it was not obsessive and it was not really bothersome.People were not scared of her. She actually spent the parts of the party she wasn't waiting for kids to give her chips etc. in a pose very similar to the one above. She just slept in different places. She never hid. She never appeared scared. She was very relaxed It was amazing.

We aren't sure if it is age, her meds, exposure or a combo of all 3, but my Lee has become an amazing dog. People who don't know her now can see why we love her so. We couldn't be prouder of her!  (We will overlook that she spent part of her pre-party morning trying to dig a groundhog out of its hole). 

Winter Is Coming - by Hailey

As you all know I have an anxiety disorder. Lady tells people I am a little crazy, but I am not crazy. She is crazy for not realizing that fireworks, wind and thunder are likely going to kill us all!      

                                                                          

Because I have a history of being very destructive (I have only put one hole in a wall, I don't see what the big deal is) and of barking all night, from April-October I have to take Prozac. (To be clear, I get my meds from the human pharmacy, it is the generic form of Prozac, the same drug humans get).

A coworker recently asked Lady why I wasn't just on an as needed med. Lady explained they had discussed this but since there are fireworks usually 5 nights a week, and you can never be 100% sure if/when a thunderstorm is coming and to be home the 2 hours before to give the meds, daily meds are best for me.

My Prozac does help. We had a record number of thunderstorms this year and I only did a little damage one day and only needed peeps to be up with me 3 nights. They were impressed.

Now is the time of year that I go off the meds.  You can't just stop them, you have to ween me off them. Lady has a schedule mapped out on the calendar. This is the only few weeks my peeps see any side effects or changes in my behaviour. I am starving all the time (which is funny cause a side effect of the meds is suppose to be hunger, but for me, they make me slow down my eating). I am also a little more excited about things, like to see my people. But as you may have seen on Friday's post, I still get to be off leash.

While I won't miss having a pill shoved down my throat every day, I will miss the cookie I get after it. I will be pill free as of next week for a few months. 

Mischief Monday - Rain, Rain, Rain, Go Away

I am Canadian, so while complaining about the weather is a hobby and expected, we actually have some things to complain about. Since February we have had above average amounts of precipitation, and in many cases have broken records.  In May we had flooding in our area. In June we tied the record with 18 consecutive days of rain. We blew the previous record of 4 consecutive days of thunderstorms away with 8 straight days of them. On the nights we haven't had thunder, we have had fireworks.

All this rain and thunder has been very stressful for our Hailey Bug. She was coping ok. She had tried to break into the guest room as we shared last week when we were out.

This week, clearly enough was enough for her and on Thursday night, she wouldn't settle. We tried putting her in the closet which usually helps. Instead she destroyed her bed.  She could only settle once I moved from the bed to the couch. After being up for an hour I slept on the couch from 3 until my get up time at 4:40. Friday night, the Man had to move to the couch around 3 and was there until we all got up around 7:45.  For some reason once one of us is downstairs with her she settles.

There is more rain in the forecast. We are all hoping the record setting thunder is behind us and the humans can spend an entire night in their bed!

Hailey and the Kids

My sister and her kids, Troy aged 1 and Maggie aged 3, came and spent the weekend with us. I admit I was a little nervous given Hailey's general dislike for kids. Historically kids have been a big source of stress for her and she has barked a lot. Recently Maggie has decided she does not like dogs which I feared was going to make this even more complicated.

Hailey blew all our minds with how wonderful she was. Yes she barked when they first came in and a couple other times. But other than that, she was great.  When it was stormy and she was nervous, at one point she actually tired to herd Maggie to safety. 

We were able to capture some great Hailey moments.

Hailey and Emma happily accepted Fruit Loops from Troy (wouldn't normally encourage eating such things but thought it was a great way to help pair Troy with reinforcement). She was super gentle with him. (There were 3 adults there to make sure everyone stayed safe - My sister taking the picture, Uncle Chris above and just outside the picture behind the girls me). 

Hailey guarding Maggie as she learned to play pinball. 

Phod of course was wonderful too, as we expected. I realize I didn't capture any pictures of him. He was a little confused why Maggie would cry when he was near her, but he was gentle and respectful and really wanted her to be his friend. 

We were all thrilled with how well it went. Tomorrow I have a friend coming up with her kids, so let's hope this trend continues. 

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Happy 4th of July to all our American friends. May you have a safe and relaxing day.

Project Hailey - Update

It has been a while since I have given an update on how Miss Hailey Bug is doing with her medication.

Last week her anxiety was tested on both Wednesday and Thursday when autumn storms rolled through our neck of the woods. They were accompanied by lots and lots of rain. Our yard had huge puddles on it. It was also accompanied by lots of wind. Wind is a bigger anxiety provoker than rain.

Wednesday I worked from home and Hailey paced a lot and had trouble settling, but no other anxious responses. Even though it was very stormy overnight, she slept well. Thursday, I had to leave the house late morning. When it was time to go, the wind was very strong. Before I left a branch had come down in the front.

I was very nervous leaving her, so I put her  in her "hug" (aka Thunder Shirt) and hoped she would be fine for a few hours until the Man was home.

A top of a tree came down while she was alone and there was no destruction. We were thrilled. I guess the meds are helping. 

I had spoken to the vet and he said she needs to stay on her meds for at least 4-6 months and then we can look at reducing the dose. We will think carefully about this because while I don't love her being medicated, I do love the idea that she can cope with extreme fears better. And she is still Hailey. Except for coping with storms better, there is no difference in her behaviour. She is still her crazy, loveable self!

Mischief Monday - A Windy Night

While I am sure the dogs think the mischief award goes to me this week for being neglectful at visiting blogs etc. etc. (we had a busy weekend), I think the mischief award goes to Hailey.

This is a story that was told to me by the Man because I slept through it.

It was very windy Saturday evening. Hailey did a great job at remaining calm throughout the evening. She didn't even hide in her serenity palace (our basement bathroom). However, after the Man went to bed, she decided she needed to be in the upstairs bathroom barking. Interesting to note, not a window was open in that room.

The Man coaxed her to the bedroom, where she went to one window and waited for him to close it, and then the other. I am impressed she showed the Man what he needed to do to make her feel better. Then she went into the serenity closet and slept the night away.

This is the first time since she has been on prozac that she has been upset in the night. The intensity of it was lower and we were able to fix the problem for her!

Hailey's Pill Update

We are 12 days into the use of Prozac with Hailey, and while the vet said to give it a full 30 days, I thought I would updated how things are going now.

As shown on Tuesday, Hailey takes her pill like a champ, so no problems there.

The vet had said the drug could make her very hungry and to date we haven't seen that. In fact, for the first time since she entered our lives, we have seen her leave food in her dish. Phod, who has had a slight cutback in his food, is liking this and sometimes sneaks the rest of hers.

She seems to be a bit sleeper, but that could be because she is more relaxed and not hiding all the time.
She is not just going to hid at 8 pm every night. 2 nights, she actually slept on the couch.

However, when there was thunder earlier this week, she hid. She hid when we had fireworks. We had people over, including a 2 year old and she barked a lot (she actually settled in the crate for 2 hours and when she was let out she was ok). She is still showing some anxiety. We haven't had a really windy day yet to see if she is fearful of the wind. We haven't had a night of obsessive barking.

Is it working? She is being quieter about being anxious. She isn't having a panting fit in the kitchen every night.

We will give it another 2 weeks and decide if the changes in her behaviour are worth having her on meds. It is not the cost of the meds (it was $40 for the month), but more my belief in that we shouldn't take meds we don't need.

The Look of Fear

Last Sunday was a sort of stormy one for us. I, as always, was excited for a good storm, and slightly disappointed it wasn't actually much of a storm. 

Hailey on the other hand was not happy. She was extra unhappy that the Man left the house. He seems to bring her more comfort than I do. She didn't go into her cave but spent much of the day in the games room on her recliner. When Man did get home, she was glued to him (and constantly in the way while he was making dinner).

Tuesday night was windy again, and Hailey found comfort being locked in the closet, so we all got some sleep. 

Phod's vet appointment is in a week. Hopefully our vet will have some helpful suggestions. 

Another Horrible Night

The wind struck again Tuesday night. Hailey was a mess. Nothing we could do seemed to help comfort her. We tried her in the room, in the bed, in the closet, doors opened, windows closed, doors closed, thunder shirt on etc. etc. I even took her outside (she did have to poop around 2 am because she had been so scared earlier she wouldn't go).

I did finally find a solution. After our trip out, I went to the games room. This is the room near her basement cave (aka the bathroom and laundry room). I "slept" in the recliner for about 3 hours. She didn't bark or pace during that time.

At about 5:30, I really needed to go back to our bed as my back was sore. She started the barking and pacing until the Man got up around 6:30. Then she was better.

I have Wednesdays off (I am working compressed hours which means it is harder to visit you all on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, but I get 3 days off a week), so I was trying to get some of the sleep I lost. As soon as the Man left, the panic started again.

It seemed that today, she could only be calmer if one of us was up with her. As I write this Wednesday morning to prepare for tomorrow, she is asleep in the chair beside me. Phod is off sleeping too because she kept him up.

I don't know what we are going to do with her. We need to be able to have the windows open in the summer. Phod goes to the vet in a  few weeks for his check up. I will speak to our vet about it then.

This video was taken Wednesday morning. She is fairly calm in it, but you can see she is demanding comfort, that clearly doesn't help.

I can't wish the wind to stop because if it does  we will boil in our a/c free place.