A Holiday Update from Zeus

Happy Holidays! Zeus is excitedly anticipating Christmas. Well, not really, he actually snoring really loud on his bed right now after a busy weekend. But, maybe he is dreaming about what will be in his stocking!

Zeus successfully passed level 2 of obedience training and have been to a couple of level 3 classes. Something tells me that we will be there for a while. Last week Zeus along with most of the other dogs in the class refused to do anything -- even the most basic commands. "Lay down? What? I'm not familiar with that...could you give me a treat please?"

This touching article by the author of Marley & Me, John Grogan, was in the newspaper yesterday and reminded of how we feel about Zeus. Yes, you have physical and behavioral challenges, but we are in this together and love you just the same! "Some dogs are put on this Earth just to love you."

Zeus's Birdie Friends

Zeus loves to watch the birds out of our sliding glass window. When I was unpacking Christmas decorations I found these stuffed birds that tweet when you squeeze them and though that he might enjoy them. Zeus doesn't like them in his bed, but he loves to hear the noises that they make!

Zeus is pooped

Zeus was so exhausted after doggie day care this weekend that he woke up from his nap, took his blanket to eat, and then headed right back to bed! He loves going to Pampered Pooch! Apparently he has a Weimaraner girlfriend named Princess.

Zeus is coming along in his training. We are at a comfortable 30 seconds leaving him alone. Will we ever get to a minute? Last week Zeus made a lot of progress in terms of being a more independent dog. Then Sunday, complete set back. We had a winy, anxious, upset dog on our hands -- he even slept in our room after a week of choosing to sleep in the living room. We just couldn't figure it out after last week went so well. Then, the light bulb went off. On Sunday we gave Zeus a bath and had to take off his pheromone collar. I forgot to put it back on and realized last night that this is probably what made the difference! At least we know it's worth the money now. It back on him right now and hopefully will kick back in quickly.

Zeus goes to Iowa

Lucky Zeus got to tag along to Iowa for Thanksgiving to my parents house (thanks Mom and Dad)! He had a fabulous time getting lots of attention and looking out all of the windows at the lake, ducks, and geese. It was a busy weekend -- we went shopping for a Christmas tree, looked at the Canadian geese migration and went for lots of walks! By far, his most favorite activity of the weekend was making his rounds through the house to see exactly where everyone was and what they were doing. This was particularly funny in the morning when bedroom doors were shut and he would stick his nose in the corner of the door to find out what he could hear! There is a huge open field next to the Methodist Church Camp in Okoboji and we let him off his leash for the first time. Not only did he do great, but he absolutely loved it! He stuck pretty close but got a bit more freedom than usual.

Zeus also had a big accomplishment last week by passing level 1 of obedience training! Now we are on to level 2 this week. His behavioral training is coming along well and he loves his wrap! It's like a sleeping pill. I put it on and poof, he's asleep!

Dr. Pachel (Dog Whisperer) Comes to Visit

Today was quite the productive day! We had scheduled an appointment for animal behaviorist Dr. Pachel from Twin Cities Veterinary Behavior to come for a visit in December. But, he had a cancellation and came this afternoon to help us with Zeus's separation anxiety. Thank goodness!

Zeus cooperated very nicely and showed off a number of his attention seeking behaviors. After observing Zeus, Dr. Pachel went through a variety of techniques that we can work on with him and we formulated a plan for moving forward. A number of his recommendations were aimed at reducing Zeus's anxiety and all ready this afternoon we have seen some results. During the first part of the visit, Zeus consistently tried to get attention from Dr. Pachel and myself for reassurance. Dr. Pachel "swaddled" Zeus with an Ace bandage and his body visibly relaxed instantly, he kept a bit of space from both humans in the room, and then went to his bed and fell asleep! I guess this makes the dog feel secure with something touching them, kind of like swaddling a baby. He also recommended using a pheromone collar that emits a similar pheromone as a mother dog would give off, this also provides a calming effect. I put the collar on Zeus after Dr. Pachel left, wrapped him up in the Ace bandage and he has been sacked out every since!

These are just two simple tips that we received in addition to a number of behavioral techniques that we need to work on. I am feeling much more positive now that we have a solid plan on how to move forward. I know it will be a lot of work and we need to be consistent, but at least know we know what to do. Thanks Dr. Pachel!

Zeus Goes to School

Zeus started formal training classes on Wednesday night at the Animal Humane Society and did a great job! We should be able to pass level one next week. The only thing that he was unable to do was focus on us for 5 seconds. We have been working on it and I think that he has it down now! The Humane Society uses clicker training and it has proven very useful. As soon as we get out the clicker, Zeus knows that the turkey dogs are coming! He loved being with the other dogs and a couple of times he got to be the example dog for the class. Whenever the teacher picked someone else to be the example, he was just dying to be up there too!


This picture is of Zeus before we left for training class. It's important to make a good first impression.

We went to the vet today for a follow-up EKG. Things were looking much better. He still has the occasional premature beat, but hasn't passed out in a couple of weeks. We going to wait a few weeks before he goes in for a follow-up. He also gained a whole pound this week! We are well on our way to fattening him up. Could it be the turkey dogs?

His desensitization training is going well too. He is getting more comfortable with me putting on my coat, shoes and keys and doesn't respond every time.

Grant

Zeus loves my brother Grant who came to visit Sunday and Monday. He ensures that he has a constant view of Grant and spends a lot of time sniffing his things and getting cuddles. Zeus didn’t like that he had to spend the night in his crate in the bedroom when Grant was sleeping in the living room! He cried and waited at the door for a few hours and then woke up at 5:30 to go see him in the living room. Sorry Grant! Here is a picture of Grant in the car when we picked Zeus up from doggie daycare (Pampered Pooch).

Holiday fundraisers and desensitization

Last weekend Allyn and I took Zeus to the Annual Posing Paws event to benefit the Minnesota Valley Humane Society. For a nominal fee, they let you choose a holiday setting and have a professional photographer take a picture of you and your pet. This also happened to be the first day that I used cut up turkey hot dogs as a training treat for Zeus. Turned out they were like crack for Zeus and he spent most of the photo shoot with his butt to the camera trying to get turkey dogs out of my pocket. Allyn and I had to restrain him facing the camera in all of the pictures. We ended up with some pretty cute shots. Here are a few of them.

He didn’t like the antlers.

Today I am working on desensitizing Zeus to me getting out my keys, coat, shoes and purse. I have been picking up my keys and putting on my shoes and coat and then sitting back down. The first few times he got up and got excited or upset, but we seem to have made minor progress because he hasn’t gotten up on the last few tries. My goal is 50 times by the end of the day.

Bringing Home Zeus

On October 24, 2008 my husband and I adopted a 6 year old boxer named Zeus from the Animal Humane Society in Woodbury, MN. After sharing many stories with family and friends, I thought that a blog would be the best way to share updates with people we know, and people we don’t know! Here is a picture of Zeus the first night that he came home.

Zeus is a sweet, gentle and sensitive dog. Our first week went well and then we encountered a couple of challenges. First, Zeus had several scary episodes where he lost consciousness and had seizures. After an emergency vet visit, Zeus was diagnosed with a ventricular heart arrhythmia. His heart was beating uncontrollably fast and beating prematurely causing a lack of oxygen to the brain and subsequently, seizures. Thanks to the great vets at Gehrman Animal Hospital, we have him on two medications and his condition has improved dramatically! We are going for weekly EKG’s to track his improvement and response to the medications. Apparently, this is a common issue in the boxer breed and can be hard to detect, which is why it was probably not picked up on at the Humane Society examination.

Zeus has also developed some separation anxiety. I work from home and he has become very attached. After he unlocked the apartment door twice when left home alone and several long episdoes of crying and barking, we have enlisted help! I ordered several books and with the support of the Humane Society, made an appointment with an animal behaviorist in December.

We are committed to helping Zeus become a happy, healthy, well-adjusted dog and I will keep you posted on our journey. He has brought an incredible amout of joy into our lives in a very short amount of time!