Although I have yet to pull the muzzle out as it causes a huge spike in his stress level, we have avoided any and all situations where we would need it. We go for walks very very early, very late or on a wide open grassy trail where I can see the bike, the man, the rollerblader, the dog etc. coming from a mile away. This gives us plenty of time to get WAY out of the way. When we are far enough off his trigger, he is fine. Sits for treats, ignores the trigger and continues on his merry way. We have not had a single instance of barking or growling. That behavior has also disappeared from our few car ventures as well. Do I think our problems are solved? Absolutely not. But I do think after a few months of this, it will be possible to successfully introduce one new thing at a time and have him react within reason.
I have removed all dog park visits as per The Plan. No more going to work and getting treats thrown by the guys. We still run but only on the open trails I have found and for a lesser distance. We have increased our distance drastically between scary things and us when we do come upon a potential stressor. At home, I have compensated for a decrease in exercise as a result of avoiding busy places, by giving at least one meal a day in a kong or busy buddy toy. I hide the kong somewhere in the house so he has to go sniff it down and find it. He also gets either a raw bone, a bully stick, a frozen turkey neck or a novelty treat like a quado bone. He here is with the quado which he loves:
That would be the sideways look he gives the camera which he is not always fond of, especially when he has something yummy in his mouth! All of these chewables, stuffed kongs etc. keep him occupied, working, tired mentally and physically and they give us something productive to work on. I can teach find it without stress because he is so excited about finding a treat filled kong or his purple busy buddy spaceship.I also spend a designated block of time with him lying with me (on me!) on the sofa and he gets pets and loves which is the best I can do until I go to TTouch. I also brush him once a day as he loves this and finds it very relaxing.
Today, we were off to the rent-a-park dog park. It was a fantastic place for the boys. Fully fenced, grassy, woodsy, a small pond and plenty to investigate and explore including gazing in awe at the llama and two resident dogs on the other side of the fence. Baby couldn't even find it within him to bark at the llama, so stunned was he! With Samson, Hudson and Keila to keep Baby company, it was doggie heaven. Here I am doling out treats to all the boys. Unfortunately, Baby is obscured by me but you get the drift...positive reinforcement at its most basic!
I think we all would have been slightly more comfortable with either coffee, gloves or a heater! The ground was frozen as was the pond although the white one of course, felt the need to walk on the ice and fall through into the mud up to his elbows. He was quite a sight with his long brown socks!Once home, we implemented the relaxation therapy which I felt would be most beneficial today given that he was tired and with my parents and Marcia present at the dog park, marginally stressed. We broke out the old DAP bandana, I put a few drops of Rescue Remedy in his water and to my dismay, the relaxing happy dog music, Through A Dog's Ear which makes me feel slightly suicidal as it sounds like a funeral dirge. He was out within 20 minutes. Do I think this stuff works - maybe with negligible results. However, just like reducing his protein intake, if there is no negative side effect, I figure it is worth it to try it in case I am totally off base. So we will make this a routine part of life for now. I ordered a DAP diffuser which I think is probably the most important of the three pronged approach. Too bad dogs don't exhibit the placebo effect!
I have also reimplemented the scent desensitization with my dad. I really think it helped as we did it for a couple weeks when I first brought Baby home. Just to reiterate in scent terms, I have put a tee shirt my dad worked out in on his bed. Poor thing, I hope he can sleep! I do believe this technique actually was very effective and next I'll move on to a guy at work once our months of de-escalation are over and see if it makes a difference once I introduce them from a distance.
I also found on line, after much research, an affordable raw diet supplier. Even better, they are in Seattle so if I can support a local business, it's an extra bonus. They are MUCH cheaper per pound than anything in the pet store and they deliver to your door for free. Awesome :) They are called Darwin's Natural Pet Food and I was impressed by their website and their dedication to healthy premium raw foods. For about $120 I can order enough food to last a month which is about how much his dry food costs me per month. It will be delivered to my door and this will allow me to feed a majority of his food as raw and be supplemented with a small amount of dry rather than vice versa. With enough on line research, you can find just about anything at vastly reduced cost to what's in the pet store.
Finally, thanks to M who sent me the links to two Maremma lists. How the heck did I miss these in all my research? Don't answer.... I signed up for both and am waiting approval for one and am approved for the other. The one I have been able to access has been enormously helpful. Another sigh of relief as I read about what other Maremma owners experience, meet people who really understand these remarkable dogs (most are, not surprisingly, in Europe and Australia/NZ), to find out that Baby is behaving like a normal Maremma most of the time and that I am less apt to put all his issues into the abuse basket. They are a very supportive group of people and for me, it is a psychological gold mine to have a group of people who understand and love these dogs instead of the norm where people ask me why I didn't just get a lab? Answer: I already have a lab! Even at 9 yo, he is a handful! Here are the lists:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/MaremmaSheepdog/
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/Maremmas/
My group therapy :)
So The Plan goes forward and I can already see a difference. My desire to do everything at warp speed colored how I initially handled Baby. Now I am learning there is no hurry, it's only been 2 months and we can slow down and smell the flowers.
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