Snow Day!

It sounds like we got a lot less snow than our more southern friends. I'd say we got about six inches and it looks like it's slowing down. We actually have a pretty good amount of snow on the ground, but some of it is left over from the last snowfall. Since the older snow has a layer of ice on top, Iris can walk on top of it. It looks like we have barely anything on the ground.


A certain red dog has been stuck in the house for a little too long. There's a little field in right outside the condo so we went out to get some exercise.

snow + long line = very happy red dog

All of the tracks in the snow were made by Iris. Think she had a good time?

Four Weeks

The goal was to get Iris to go 2 months without any seizures. That was one of the big reasons for starting her on Phenobarbital. Since her seizures started, Iris has averaged about four weeks between clusters. She's always been in the the 3-5 week range, usually right around 4.

Since starting on Pb, she managed to go four weeks to the day between seizures. Actually, it was four weeks almost to the hour. She passed the four week mark by about 2 hrs. Damn it. The low dose of Pb didn't buy her any more time. The two seizures she had on Sunday morning (last weekend) were a little longer than "normal" for Iris. I gave her Valium during the second seizure and she came right out of it. No more seizures after that although the Valium made her really out of it for the rest of the day. At least Valium actually does something.

I held off on acupuncture while we were gradually increasing her Pb dose (to help with the ataxia she gets from Pb). I wanted to only change one thing at a time in case she suddenly got worse, but now her med dosage is consistent so acupuncture is our "next step". I want to give it a shot before we increase her meds yet again. Since Iris' seizures started, none of the medication changes have increased the time between seizures. She was going roughly four weeks before we started her on meds. It's definitely time to try something else.

Snow Herding

Between getting Iris' seizures under control and getting my car issues sorted out, it's been two months since Iris' last herding lesson! I didn't realize it had been that long. Goes to show just how crazy life has been.

I thought we were going to get snowed out of our lesson, but we ended up getting a lot less snow than they predicted. Hooray!

Hey! I thought moving north meant more snow!

We got there early so we could watch some of Julie and Bug's lesson. It's been a while since I've seen Bug work and he is really fun to watch. Plus, I always learn a lot just from watching. There was another CWC there for a lesson too (the red dog was out numbered by the short dogs!), and he was very vocal while he worked. It's always really interesting to see how different dogs have different "styles."

When it was Iris' turn to work sheep, it was really hard to motivate her. Initially, she seemed interested but after getting corrected for lunging at sheep a couple of times, she pretty much checked out. The first time I brought her in the pen, I had her on a long line and the goal was to keep her moving and encourage her to fetch sheep. With the long line, it's easier to get her working again when she starts to check out. We've done the same thing during the last couple of lessons. The second time I worked Iris, we focused on driving and trying to get Iris motivated. I think she was pretty much fried for the day.

I've been thinking a lot about the lesson and I admit it, I was a little discouraged when we left. It seems like Iris used to have a lot more interest in sheep, did great at the Jan Wesen clinic, and since then she's really quit on me. Sometimes it seems like she does want to play, and then sometimes all she wants to do is glue her nose to the ground. It feels like she is a lot more stressed out than she used to be. Stressing my dog out wasn't the reason I got started in herding.

I think the problem is that Iris doesn't really understand what's expected of her (hence all the stress sniffing). I was thinking about it, and Iris tends to shut down if she's wrong. In agility, I'd lose her if I screwed up a sequence too many times. She'd start to get stressed. If I do any shaping with her, I have to be really careful about raising my criteria too fast or else she'll quit completely. Bad handler, the only feedback she was really getting during herding was "don't lunge at sheep like a crazy dog." From Iris' prespective what was she supposed to do? Ignore the sheep?

I know Diane said this to me during the lesson. MANY times. I need to remember to praise my dog when she's doing it right. If I'm excited and happy, she'll be excited and happy. Iris is extremely sensitive to my mood. I have to remember this! Iris loves verbal praise. The other day, I was working on "go to mat" with her and I was just using a click/treat as the reward. She was able to go all the way across the room to lie down on the mat, but she was very slow. Without thinking about it, one time when I rewarded her I told her what a good girl she was, petted her, and said "are you reeeaaaady? go!" She bounded over to the mat and slamed into a down. I know some people like to use purely a c/t as reward, but it doesn't work for my dog. She likes being told she's brilliant! It's only a reward if your dog thinks it's a reward! I think praise needs to be part of the reward for Iris.

So that was my little epiphany last night. If a "good girly!" can completely change Iris' demenor during a simple training game in my living room, then of course it would matter to her during herding. How many times did Diane try to tell me that? Too many to count! I tend to be quiet in general, and I'm not always good at giving Iris verbal feedback. Especially if I'm trying to think about what I'm doing at the same time, I forget to talk to her. I had the same problem in agility. If I remembered where to put my feet and where to hold to my arm, I probably forgot to actually say "tunnel."

The plan for next lesson is to start with sheep. We'll do the same thing with the long line and fetching and trying to get her motivated. Then Iris will get a break and the second time she works, we're going to try ducks. Starting on sheep will give Iris a chance to get some of her energy out, and switching to ducks should hopefully change the game enough for her that she'll want to keep playing. And I have to remember to tell her she's perfect!

Pink Elephants

Iris had a rough couple of days last weekend. Eleven seizures in 36 hours.

She started seizing every couple hours Fri night. I got her in to see her regular vet first thing on Saturday morning (lucky us! Her regular vet happened to be the vet available to squeeze us in), and we decided to start Iris on a low does of Phenobarbital. Iris didn't tolerate a high dose well last time we tried it. Also, she got a Valium injection while we were there. Usually the side effect of Valium is drowsiness. Not so for Iris. She gets really loopy and off balance, but not drowsy. Not quite on this planet mentally but not ready for dreamland either.

We decided to start Iris on a very low dose of Pb to help her adjust to it (about 1/3 of what a dog her size would start on if starting on only Pb). She'll also stay on her full dose of Keppra so that we can keep her on a lower amount of Pb. In 2 weeks, we'll double her Pb (so 2/3 of a "normal" dose).

The Valium on Sat bought Iris roughly a 6 hr break from seizing. Dr K sent me home with a couple doses of Valium, which bought us another break from seizing but still didn't interrupt her cycle. She was back to seizing as soon as it wore off. At that point, I gave her a higher dose of Pb and that seemed to do the trick. No more seizures since Sunday morning, and I've weaned her back to the very low dose.

Interesting enough, Phenobarbital doesn't make Iris drowsy either. She's been very out of it mentally, and at the beginning of the week she would not relax. She was very sniffy, sniffing everything in the house multiple times. Acting very nervous, pacing, panting, not sleeping through the night. Jumping at little sounds. She was so mentally out of it that she was having trouble with basic commands and housebreaking. Iris never has accidents in the house, but unless I was taking her out every 2 hrs, she wasn't remembering to go outside. Pb makes her thirsty so she was drinking more water than usual which wasn't helping. Also, Iris really looked like she was hallucinating? She was very worried, eyes darting around the room looking at nothing in particular. It was taking her longer to recognize people/things. I'm pretty sure she was seeing pink elephants. Or maybe heffalumps and woozles.



Thankfully, Iris seems like she's finally getting back to normal. Last night was the first night where she didn't look like she was hallucinating and she was actually able to relax on the couch while I worked on a project. We both got a good night's sleep.

This was by far her worst round of seizures yet. I'm not sure what triggered it. I've been without a car for the last couple weeks and have been running on my roommate's schedule. Her schedule is a lot less consistent than mine meaning Iris' schedule was really varied. Did that throw Iris off? Or my roommate had been working on an art project on Thurs. Did the glues from that set her off? I wish I knew.

For now, the plan is to keep Iris on both Pb and Keppra in hopes of keeping her on a lower dose of Pb long term. The goal is to go 2 months without any seizures, and at that point we'll think about lowering her meds, probably the Keppra dose. I've also been doing some research on acupuncture. Some dogs have pretty positive results, so I think that's going to be our next step. Does anyone know a vet who does acupuncture in the area that they'd recommend?

Seven Groups

I've seen this on a few different blogs now and figured I'd play too.

IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE A DOG FROM EACH CKC/AKC "GROUP," WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND WHY? (excluding your own breeds)

Group 1- Sporting
Group 2- Hound
Group 3- Working
Group 4- Terriers
Group 5- Toys
Group 6- Non Sporting
Group 7- Herding

Sporting - I had a tough time with this one. From a purely visual stand point, there is definitely a reason that Wegman's breed of choice is the Weimaraner. I can't think of a breed with a better coat to photograph than the short silver coat of a Weim. However for a breed that I'd want to live with, I have to go with a Vizsla. Makin and Tessa are great ambassadors for their breed!

Hound Group - After living with a scent hound, I would have to pick a sighthound (sorry Henry!) instead. I've meet a couple of Rhodesian Ridgebacks, and they have great personalities. I think it would be fun to try lure coursing someday. Also, I really like the look of Salukis but I've never had the chance to actually meet one.

Working Group - My first choice would have to be a Portuguese Water Dog. I came very close to getting a PWD after I lost my Wheaten. I love their personality, and I really like dogs that have some coat. Right now I don't think I have time to manage a PWD's coat, but I do enjoy grooming so maybe someday. I really like Siberian Huskies as well. I love dogs who are smart with an independent streak! Maybe that's from growing up with a terrier. I've met a few Bernese Mountain Dogs who are awesome dogs, and I saw a few of them at a herding clinic. They were really fun to watch!

Terrier Group - I do really like the terrier group. Such big personalities in little dog bodies! I think my top choice would actually be one of the taller terriers. I really like Irish Terriers, especially since they don't need as much grooming as a Wheaten or a Kerry Blue (although maybe someday...) I like JRTs a lot as well.

Toy Group - I'm not really a small dog person. My ideal size for a dog is around 45 lbs. Not too big, not too small. That said, if I was going to get a small dog, it would probably be a Papillon. I actually did look at a Papillon (who was large for the breed) at a shelter before I looked at Iris. I admit, a small dog would have made more sense in an apartment but I just really like the herding breed personality the best.

Non-Sporting Group - I had the hardest time with this group. I think I would go with a Keeshond. I do like their personality, although I would worry about all of that coat in the summer.

Herding Group - There are too many herding breeds I like! I'm not certain which breed other than Aussie would actually be my top choice. I like Kelpies a lot, and they might be my second choice right now. If I was going to get a bigger dog, I think I would go with a Belgian Shepherd. I like Border Collies, but I've never actually spent much time with a BC. I'd like to actually get to know the breed a little better. What is funny, almost everyone who asks me what breed of dog Iris is asks if she's a BC. Strange! I think it might be that the general public thinks every medium size herding dog is a BC? Another breed I'd like to learn more about is the Pyrenean Shepherd.

Herding Lesson

Last Sunday, Iris has a herding lesson with Diane. It was Iris' first lesson with Diane (same location as the Jan Wessen clinic). It was GREAT! I think we've finally settled on a herding instructor. :-)

Julie and Bug also had a lesson, so I got to watch them work as well. Sometimes I think you can learn just as much from watching someone's lesson as you do from having your own! It was one of things that I really liked about the "group class" feel of the last herding instructor we worked with and definitely something I don't want to miss.

Diane had me work Iris on a shorter line initally, walking her around and asking for stops and downs, having her change direction, and having her "walk up." When I dropped the line, Iris was full of piss and vinegar and quite happy to chase sheep. We sort of worked on getting Iris to bring sheep to me. Something Diane said that stood out for me was to let Iris bring me the sheep. I feel like I should be doing something, but that's not really the point of herding. The dog is supposed to be doing the work!

Because Iris wanted to rush the sheep, Diane had me loop the line around Iris' chest making a sort of no-pull harness. Also, when Iris would lunge, I'd change direction. I think she figured it out pretty quickly. Diane had us walk up to sheep and then try to keep the sheep in a corner. Trying to keep the sheep in a specific place really helped me see where I (and my dog) needed to be in relation to the sheep. It's easy to get sheep to move; it's much harder to get them somewhere specific!

Diane pointed out that Iris definitely wants to work on Iris' terms. She is quite happy to bust in like the kool-aid man and run sheep around, but as soon as I stop her from acting like a nut, she doesn't want to play any more. Then she'd rather sniff around, check out the sheep in the other pen, chase butterflies, whatever. She'll herd sheep all day long if she can herd her way. As soon as I ask her to herd my way, she doesn't really want to play anymore. This is very typical of Iris.

Diane had some good ideas about keeping Iris in the game. She had me put Iris on a very long line, so I could keep Iris moving around the pen when she'd try to quit. Even though it was a challenge to juggle the long line, rake, dog and sheep, it helped a lot. No more quitting Aussie! After that, we worked on driving the sheep around the pen. Diane had me keep Iris and the sheep moving and just tried to get her excited about the sheep. Since Iris seems to border between being really excited about sheep and then not wanting to play at all because she thinks my rules are no fun, I thought it was a good way to end the lesson.

After our lessons, Julie and I were chatting with Diane. Julie wants to try for Bug's PT in the spring. When Diane asked what my plans are for Iris, it caught me completely off-guard. I'd pretty much written off trialing Iris because she can be so reactive and gets so stressed by crowds, dogs, etc. I hadn't actually thought about doing anything with herding other than lessons. I didn't even expect Iris to work at the Jan Wessen clinic. I was very aware that the number of people and dogs could shut her down, and that was ok. However, Iris had no problem working! I was very pleasantly surprised. So I guess the other pleasant surprise is that Diane thinks Iris won't have any problems with a herding trial. Based on how Iris did at the herding clinic, I think Diane is right. She seemed to think Iris would be ready for something (HT? PT? She wasn't specific) in the spring.

Blanket

The blanket wasn't even in her crate to begin with.


My retribution is that if she breaks it, she wears it. Think she'll behave herself tomorrow?

Someone is under-stimulated... I might have to start running her instead of walking her before I leave for work. And maybe leaving her crate further away from my blankets.