Greater Swiss Mountain Dog
Anxiety Help
Monday, March 8th, 2010 | Indigo | No Comments
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, we’ve been trying an herbal tonic, specifically Calm Down Herbal Tonic, to work on Indy’s anxiety around people. We’ve been putting in her food pretty steadily for over a week leading up to our block’s progressive dinner party on Saturday hoping for a calmer reaction to people.
Did it work?
Honestly, I’m not sure. She’s previously met all the people who were at our house. But with the exception of two of the people, she doesn’t see any of them with any amount of regularity. They came in, she barked. The proceeded to the kitchen to eat and drink and pretty much ignored her. (Nice thing was, we didn’t even need to ask them to ignore her. They just did it. SMRT!) We only had people over for about 40 minutes, so she never really had a chance to get used to them and calm down completely, but she did stop barking as soon as they walked away. She wandered around with her ears back in nervous position and sniffed bums. Every once in a while she’d start barking a little, but would stop with a reassuring word from Dan or myself.
I can’t decide whether or not it helped. It definitely wasn’t the miracle cure I was hoping for, but I knew that wasn’t a realistic expectation. But was the improvement due to being hopped up on an herbal solution? Or was it the people completely ignoring her? I just don’t know. It’s worth trying again at another event, so we definitely will give it another go.
Stay tuned!
IKC Show
Tuesday, March 2nd, 2010 | Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | 1 Comment
We had a fun weekend! Well, I did. I went to the IKC show at McCormick Place in Chicago on Saturday. It was nice to attend as a spectator only, (well, sort of) so I didn’t have to stay all day. IKC is a benched show, meaning you must be there by the time you show, and you can’t leave until the end of the day (4pm, I think) or until you are dismissed, whichever comes first. I went to see friends, support the Swissies who were showing, and of course, shop!
The Swissies got the short straw somehow and had to show at 8am. I was there around 7:15am. I’m not entirely sure how that happened.
Here’s the very handsome Robert.
Here are a few more. Robert is in the middle.
Of course I found some cute non-Swissies to photograph…
This guy was showing in the ring right after the Swissies. Can you say adorable?
Gorgeous Dobe!
And this is Lars. Lars and I became very good friends.
I asked his owner if I could take him home and she laughed. I don’t know if she realized I was serious. I was. Can you tell I have a thing for blue Danes?
I know I wasn’t the best photographer on Saturday. I was slacking a bit. I spent a fair amount of time shopping without the camera. And of course, I had to talk to people–that’s a big part of the fun for me. I love love love talking to people about Swissies. Can you tell?
TTFN!
Let them eat cake!
Friday, February 26th, 2010 | Beowulf, Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | No Comments
Birthday’s require cake. And lucky for us, the Barkery makes them. Great, because I’m not entirely sure how to make a dog cake. (Note to self, look into cake.)
Indy was a goof for a change. She daintily picked at it in her bowl…
Then proceeded to spread it all over the floor.
Don’t worry, she cleaned up after herself. No crumb left untouched.
We shared with Vasey, of course. Her name was on the cake too! I’m not sure she’s ever had cake before. But she was happy to eat it.
Beowulf being the pig that he is decided to show the ladies how one should eat cake. By putting the entire piece in your mouth at once.
His silly ears get in the way of the pictures. Darn ears.
Finally, we tried to pose the girls for a picture. They were not really in the mood…
Well, maybe just Indy wasn’t…
Happy Friday!
Happy Birthday to the Landhof “I” Litter!
Thursday, February 25th, 2010 | Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | No Comments
Indy and I would like to wish all of her litter mates a very happy 2nd birthday! And I’m wishing Indy and Vasey, who is still staying with us, an extra happy day. And you should too.
We will have cake from the Barkery, of course, and extra belly rubs for all. Including Beowulf. He’d just get angry and pee somewhere if we didn’t give him love, too.
Sisters
Monday, February 22nd, 2010 | Beowulf, Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | No Comments
There’s nothing better than sisters, right? Ms. Vasey has been staying with us since last Wednesday. Her first few days were quite hectic because she was adjusting and we still had Basja here. She’s pretty much adjusted now, and she’s having lots of fun.
This is what goes on most days.
And a little of this.
Throw in a touch of this.
At least 30 minutes of this.
Still more of this.
And then a smidge of this.
And then a pinch of that.
Fun!
Herbal Relief?
Thursday, February 18th, 2010 | Indigo | No Comments
I’ve mentioned it many, many times. Indy is nervous, skittish, scared…you name it. But really just of strangers. And mainly in the house. It’s not as bad if we’re away from home. I’ve tried the Cautious Canine class and all sorts of training on my own. It has definitely helped, but I’d like to be able to have people over that she doesn’t know extremely well without having her bark at them the entire time they’re here.
So I’m trying something new.
I bought an herbal supplement for her. It contains fully concentrated herbal extracts of Skullcap, Valerian, Chamomile, Ginko, and Passion Flower with several flower essences for emotional balance in a solution of 10% glycerin, 24% alcohol, and 66% spring water. I was just give it to her starting the day before we have company, but then I thought better of it and I’m going to try it a little more long-term. She gets about 20 drops of it in her food 2-3 times per day.
She’s been on it for a few days (although I’m just now realizing that I forgot to give her the evening dose) and I haven’t really seen a change. But in all fairness, we haven’t had any people over. Just dogs.
I’ll let you know how things go over the next several weeks.
Dog Park Fun
Monday, February 15th, 2010 | Indigo, Litter Mates and Swissy Friends | 2 Comments
Today marked Indy’s first ever visit to an off-leash dog park. The weather was decent (20s) and we didn’t work today, so we packed up Indy and Basja, since she’s still here, and went To Katherine Legge Memorial Park to meet Indy’s sister, Vasey. It isn’t always off-leash, but has certain hours for the dogs. They get a little shorter at the end of the month (sad).
I wasn’t sure how Indy would behave – I’ll admit I was a bit concerned about her recall ability and hoped that Basja’s influence would help. I was pleasantly surprised how good she was. She actually came when we called, which was great. She got the hang of it pretty quickly, and was nice to all the dogs out there.
It’s really best if I just show you, I think
Basja kept finding balls throughout the park. We’d sometimes catch her with 2 in her mouth.
And then the rampaging started.
Then we were joined by Bentley the puppy.
His human was glad to have big dogs for him to play with.
Indy chased him for a while.
I just love Bentley’s face here.
Indy looking all pretty.
They made other friends, too.
Nom.
I’m not sure Basja needed to jump over this dog. She could have just stepped.
And then, once again, the photographer’s hands got cold.
I must mention that I was very pleased with our experience at the park. We’ve avoided them because of some not-great experiences in the past, mainly with people not watching their dogs. But everyone here was involved and careful. I think we’ll be back.
Role Reversal
Thursday, February 11th, 2010 | Beowulf, Indigo | No Comments
As I mentioned the other day, we have Basja the Dane staying with us for a couple of weeks. Her human mentioned that she might not eat every meal, especially at first, and I believe it’s resulted in a role reversal of sorts in our pack.
Indy, the chow hound Swissy (well, not in comparison to a Beagle, I guess) has been skipping meals. Seriously. At first I thought she wasn’t feeling well or perhaps there was something off with the food. But then I examined the situation and determined that Dan’s assessment was likely right. She is unsure of her place in the pack now because she thinks Basja is here to stay, and it’s affecting her eating patterns. Or she’s emulating Basja. Or she sees Basja’s model-like frame and decided that she’s too heavy (she’s not) and is going anorexic. Either way, she eats when she’s hungry, so we’re good.
The odd thing is Beowulf, mister picky eater who normally takes 10 minutes to eat 1.5 cups of food, has been chowing down. He’s eating fast. Seriously fast. And then he tries to go to the other bowls, Indy’s in particular, to help out. Dan suspects he’s trying to go all beefcake for the new lady in the house. I don’t know what’s up, but it’s rather amusing.
I wonder how things will change next week.
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