I decided it was hypocritical to have written a book about separation anxiety, yet have a dog with separation anxiety that I had not tried to fix! Cassie has the shoemaker’s children syndrome – so busy he had no time to make shoes for his own kids! Cassie had no shoes! Continue reading →

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The girls were alone for about 2 hours today before Dave got home. I over-did standing on the knee and wasn’t in any shape to do Relaxation Protocol this evening. However, when I came home there was no barking or pawing. Dave was home and said there was whining. Still this is better than full fledged barking and carrying on.

Video 31

The girls were only briefly alone this evening. Dave was home and I came home late from class. Cassie barked like crazy again. It’s interesting that when they were alone all day the day I had surgery, there was no barking. Cassie has been on the treadmill for the last 3 days in a row, more than I would like. But I had to get her some exercise. It’s not good to do the treadmill too much because it artificially shortens their stride and can cause muscle imbalances. And with the AKC National Tracking Invitational coming up, she needs to be at the top of her form!

Today’s video worked on building duration out of sight. I chose this because I’m still on crutches and it was the easiest thing to work on.

Recovering from surgery, no training again.

Surgery on knee, so no training today. The girls were alone for a long time today. We were gone from 8:15 am until 6:00 pm. Surprisingly, when we entered the house, there was no barking, which I would have expected after a full day alone.

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We went tracking in the morning, then girls were with me all day. I only did a brief training session today, just a few minutes. A little Relaxation Protocol and some out of sight.

Video 30

The girls were only alone in the evening today. There was some mild barking when we came home.

Started today’s video with straight Relaxation Protocol. Then moved on to out of sight by the back door, and made some noises. Cassie always has the distraction of Hope wandering about while we are working.

Video 29

The girls were with me all day today.

You will notice a Scat Mat in the background. The only time I use this is when I bake and have cookies cooling on the table behind her!

I did a little backwards work, then started working on out of sight.

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The girls were alone quite a bit this afternoon and evening. Cassie is still reacting when I come home. I worked on straight Relaxation Protocol, gradually increasing the difficulty, but did quite a bit of backwards work.

Video 28

They were again alone for several hours. I didn’t get home from class until 10:30. Cassie again reacted strongly. But Dave said she did minimal pacing tonight. Perhaps she is starting to return to the level she was at before my injury. Unfortunately, I am having arthroscopic surgery on Monday and hope she does not lose ground again. I know we will not train Monday, but I may find a way to do something with her on Tuesday.

Today’s video started with more backwards work. She did much better with this today. Half the session was backwards work, then I incorporated some front facing work but also some out of sight. When I went out of sight, I did it in the room that only has one entrance, so she knew I couldn’t go anywhere else. I went into the room and closed the door. The first time she was fine. The second time, Hope pawed the door and Cassie had a hard time settling after that, but finally did. The last time, as I was leaving, she stood up. I came back into sight and waited for a down again, then left. Again she stood up. Again I came back into sight and waited for a down again, then left. The third time I got out of sight and closed the door, she stood up, but stayed there and eventually laid down again.