The Zoom Room!

For the last few years every time I've fostered a new dog I fantastized about taking the dog to agolity. I'm not sure why exactly, I guess it just looks like a lot of fun. And the two dogs I had prior to 2010 [Duval- our pit bull who has no interest in anything that requires activity, and Alex, who was just old and cantankerous ] just weren't good candidates.

Roo and I have visited the Zoom Room Hollywood a couple of times in the last year and have always enjoyed ourselves. So, when she started acting territorial while on our x-country trek, I decided she needed to enroll in a class that would challenge her both mentally and physically, as well as expose her to working around other dogs. Agility was the perfect fit. So I signed us up for an agility 1 class. Yay!

Day 1 of class was Sunday. We arrived early, and there was another class wrapping up in the training area. So, Roo had to hang out in the store, while the other class attendants arrived. This was good practice for her, though I started to worry I was going to use all of my treats keeping her focused on me before class even began! There was a litte Jack Russell terrier who barked at her as soon as she walked in. We managed to stay away from him long enough to remain calm. However, I noticed a couple with some huskies waiting outside the door, and had a feeling there was going to be a little trouble.

I love huskies- always wanted one in fact. And I bet they are awesome at agility. But I also know that huskies have a certain energy that a lot of dogs find difficult to handle. Sure enough when class started, those two dogs had a tough time handling all of the other dogs around. Which meant Roo had trouble, as did another mixed breed dog. And the Jack Russell was just being a typical Jack Russell. :) So out of 6 dogs on class, 5 of them were on and off losing it. Fun!

It was the class from hell and I truly felt for the poor trainer, who had lost her voice earlier in the day. Fortunately for Roo and I, they offered to move us into Monday's class which was much smaller. We attempted to sit through Sunday's class, but after 20 minutes, it was clear that having one less dog might make it easier. The gals at the Zoom Room said they have never had a class like that- usually it works out that they have one or two reactive dogs in a class, but not a class full of them!

So, we came back Monday night and joined Bonnie, a black and tan standard Dachshund, and Mouse, a Papillon/Terrier mix. We all admitted our dogs could be a bit reactive, but the 3 gals did very well together.

Roo loves the attention she gets in Agility Class! Actually she is a bit of an attention hog and would prefer to spend more time kissing up to the instructor than me. But when I ask she does what she is told. She is learning to sit and focus on her table. She LOVES the A frame and even tried to jump ahead and do the dog walk following the A frame even though we don't learn that til next week (show off!) She is OK at the poles- it will take time. And she was fine with the short tunnel and the tiny jump that we did.

The A Frame did get her all wound up when the other dogs went over- something about their scrambling feet and excited-ness got her barking, but we worked through it just fine.

When class was over, she did not want to leave..for real. Her noise anxiety surfaced and she did not want to go outside where she knew the traffic was noisy. And we had to push past a couple of people waiting for the next class.

Great news though- so far today (the day after class) she has not been afraid to go out for walks. She has come to the door 3 times already today- no shaking in her crate at the sight of the leash. We'll see what happens tonight....

And we look forward to class # 2 next Monday!

Roo's Noise anxiety

Hi everyone! Well, it has been a while since we posted. We completed our cross country adventure....all the way from Los Angeles, CA to Belfast Maine and back! It was a wonderful trip and Roo exceeded my expectations all the way. She was amazing in the car (though she did start to look a little depressed towards the tail end), she was well behaved off leash in the countryside, and she adjusted well to new surroundings. Her only downfall was that she did become a bit protective of her new home turf and was not so nice to a doggie friend. But it was a learning experience.

On the way we did get to try out the Thundershirt during a few short storms. I found that it worked by calming her down and putting her to sleep. And that was all I could ask- I'd rather she sleep through a storm than tremble.

Our first week back in LA was great. She went to the dog park and was happy, playing fetch, going after long balls, none of the former fear issues that had cropped up in the month prior to our trip. But then, it changed. All it seemed to take was a couple of poorly timed low level crackling sounds which could have been firecrackers or bubble wrap, and she became scared at the park again. She was hiding in her little bunkers under the picnic tables (dogs have dug deep holes under these tables and they are the perfect size for Roo to hide in. However, she would come out for people she knew, and a few throws and we'd be back in the game. Then her noise fear started to pop up in walks in our neighborhood, which hasn't happened before. When this happens there is nothing I can do to make her turn and focus on me. She just wants to get to the end of her leash and run as fast as she can back to home or the car- or anywhere she can go indoors. If we are nowhere near home this gets tricky, as it is not fun to try to make a scared 40 lb dog heel. On one or two occasions, I picked her up and carried her for about a block until we could turn onto a quieter street. But that is not ideal. And then it got worse. There actually came a time when I asked if she wanted to go for a walk and she ran into her crate and stayed there shaking as if a walk was the most horrible thing in the world. This broke my heart. It seems to happen more towards the latter part of the day- in the morning she is still feeling good and will go for a long walk.
So, today was our first day out on our little networking route since my return two weeks ago. It's taken on a whole new meaning with this new problem- there is quite a bit more at stake here. The great news is, she is happiest going into stores. But walking in between the stores, the tail is often down and any small thing will set her into fear mode. Our first stop today was Chipotle on Sunset- where we met up with a sitter to exchange keys. Anytime there is a person who wants to say hi to her she is happy- friends are very helpful! Next stop was Tailwaggers. She got lots of treats from the friendly staff who were very concerned about her problem. Unfortunately I realized when I parked my car that I had spent so much time packing my bag full of business cards and doggie treats that I forgot my wallet! So we couldn't do any real shopping.

We drove away from Tailwaggers and parked at West Hollywood Park. My intention was to walk through the park and then over to Petco. All was going well, she stopped to say hi to a young boy and was happy as a clam. But then I needed to get her attention, and she wasn't listening, so I did something I have always done- a very light tap on the side of her back leg. Apparently I must have timed it to coincide with a sound she didn't like, and this sent her into fear mode. We slowly worked our way back to the car and drove to Petco.

At Petco, once again she was in her element. She was absolutely adorable with a chihuahua puppy- so sweet and gentle ( I haven't seen her interact with small dogs much so this was great). Her tail was up and we did several laps around the store so she could feel confident again.

Then I knew we still needed more exercise. The dog park was out. Franklin Canyon was a maybe, but there had recenely been a lot of echoing hammer sounds due to home construction in the area, so I decided to park across the way at Tree People and take the short upper trail (which I learned has been dedicated to Michael Jackson) just to get a little extra exercise. For the most part she did well here. There was one small sounds which seemed to briefly upset her, but she walked calmly on the leash and I was pleased with that.