Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Plan of Attack

One of the big drama's in our life this summer has been Emma and everything that has been going on with her. It all stemmed from her separation anxiety. So while we are conservatively treating her wrist, we are working on her separation anxiety. Today we went to see a veterinarian who specialized in dog behavior problems. It was really helpful to meet with someone who is an expert in these issues. She identified many things with Emma that were not evident to me, her owner for the last 8 years. At one point she was talking about her being relaxed. She identified signs she was demonstrated that she wasn't relaxed.

So here is our plan of action for Emma:

1. Increase her medication
2. More exercise, swimming
3. Yawn, when she is showing signs of being tense, be relaxed, yawn
4. Protocol for Deference : she must sit for anything
5. Video her
6. Protocol for relaxation
7. Massage her when she's calm
8. Play classical music for her when we are away.

I'm feeling much better about everything. It's nice to have a plan from someone who's seen Emma and who is an expert in dog behavior.

Till Tomorrow

Jenn

3 comments:

Goofball said...

good luck with it!! I hope it helps quickly

Susan said...

We will all have to change how we interact with her. Sounds like some good ideas.

Lori Aitken said...

If there's one thing I know for sure about Emma it's that she loves you as much as you love her and her capacity to learn is limitless.

I think your Plan of Attack makes a lot of sense and has great potential. I can't wait for more updates as the days and weeks go along.

We're thinking about all of you, each day!