The car hit me at high speed from my passenger side in the middle of an intersection. Yesterday, while driving to the store, I came to a 4 way stop and even though I have gone through countless gazillions of 4 way stops before with no problem, I have now been sensitized to anything approaching from my right. Even though the car on my right was going about 5 mph and obviously intended to stop, for a brief moment my mind deceived me and I was convinced they were going to plow through the intersection and hit me in a recap of Monday morning. I was not intellectually convinced. I knew consciously this was not going to happen. But my body did not and my subconscious made my heart scream and beat at about 3000 beats per minute, the adrenaline ran through my veins and I slammed on my breaks in anticipation of the impact which never came. Though an evil look from the other driver did come.
So now I understand better how one bad event can screw up the years of "good" events or non events that came before. I see how hard it must be for TWO's thinking mind to deal with his reactive mind and although he does not have this kind of introspection, the end result is basically the same. My patience has been given an even longer rein now that I am in the same boat with him in this realm.
As a result of the accident, TWO went to visit my parents for two nights so I could lie in bed and feel sorry for myself. As nice as it was to have a break from dogs and come home to a house with only a cat haunting it, it was terribly empty and lonely without my boy in it. I could hardly wait to get him back and when I did arrive to pick him up, I was greeted by a squeaking, crying, wiggly little ball of ecstasy, thrilled that I had not in fact, left him there forever. (And it's not as though he isn't treated like a prince.)
He did really well and I can see immediate, direct results from my parents having read all the material Dr. Sung gave me and applied it to their interactions with him. He targets very well now and seemed more at ease than in the past. No barking or growling and less pacing. I have continued with his wraps and T Touch which he has adjusted to quite well and clearly enjoys. We are working on low key games like Touch and Find It. I ordered a Mutt Mat for him so we can work on the Control Unleashed exercises. More on that later.
I had to back track a little and redo our clicker training with trimming nails. I'm sure a non-dremel approach is not as comfortable but I am good at the clippers and never get close to the quick so we just have to practice handling feet. I click and treat for every kind of body touch I can think of so he is comfortable with being examined. We have also been working on sitting with pretty ears as instructed. It can be REALLY tough to get him into a relaxed position and the only way I can induce it right now is to throw treats to him. It could be a false positive since he follows my hand down right before I throw causing his ears to go forward but since he loves the game so much, I'll take what I can get. I have limited our training to these things for now as I don't want to overwhelm him.
Today I ventured out to the house/land of a friend of Hudson's hydrotherapist. She has very kindly volunteered to allow TWO to run around her land with her three dogs for free as needed for exercise. So I went to check out the property and get some tee shirts from them so we can work on scent desensitization. It's a quiet area and he will love the space and freedom to run. I think it's an ideal way to expose him to a couple more people who will be "regulars" and are dog savvy. I intended to bring him with today but due to his two days at the parental palace, I thought he had had enough stress for now so I left him at home. He is lying happily wrapped and brushed on the sofa right now listening to suicide dog music.
This is a great book that was recommended by M, Lori, my T Touch instructor and a host of on line talk groups. The author is Leslie McDevitt. I got it from my library but there are so many great exercises and suggestions, I am tempted to buy it rather than violate copyright law and try to photocopy large portions of it. One of the key principles is something she calls the "Look at That" game where instead of trying to keep the dog focused completely on you while his trigger is visible, you actually allow the dog to see the trigger and reward him for doing so. Thus the trigger is transformed into a cue for good things i.e. scary thing = click and treat. She has some great counter intuitive but incredibly sensible, logical ideas for how to deal with reactive dogs. So I have been devouring the book (how much is actually being absorbed into my Percocet brain right now is a whole other question) and I would highly recommend it for anyone with a dog at all as most dogs are reactive about something. As soon as I have the mat, we will begin the mat work and Dr. Karen Overall's Relaxation Protocol.
And that is our story at this moment in time. Finally...
Red means stop. It is not a shade of green. It is not ambiguous. It is not subjective. It is not open to interpretation. Thank you for your cooperation from those of us who have the green. 
1 comment:
Red does mean stop.
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