PTSD in dogs

Mid pant nerves; she stopped panting to listen to footsteps.

Elsa had her recheck last Thursday and received a 4 paws up from her Veterinarian.  Thankfully this whole mouth/face thing is over with; although she will be a long while to completely heal her mouth.  She is feeling much better and is back to herself, almost.  

PTSD - Post traumatic stress disorder.  

About a week before Elsa's recheck, I was anxious to have a look at where her tooth had been removed.  As I went to lift up her lip I noticed that she had some anxiety about it.  I quickly changed my mission into a nice short gum massage and a snuggle.  She has PTSD over the mouth pain that she suffered from this whole thing.  I believe that most of the issues came from being at the emergency Vet. that first day.  I was not happy with the attention that Elsa got and I know that they opened her mouth way too many times, just looking.  

So we are working on good mouth things.  Since Elsa was a very little puppy I have worked on her mouth.  It started with a tooth that was not coming in correctly which meant that I was in her mouth all the time.  From that we went to mouth massaging, teeth brushing and scraping.  She has never minded me in there at all, until now. 

All dogs are different and each will response and react to stimulus individually.  This means that some dogs will let things slide; not giving much concern to anything.  While dogs like Elsa who are extremely intense with a heightened awareness; will not let things go unnoticed.  Things that happen in life have very different lasting impact on each individual dog.  

Her issue is a small one but it is there so I will work on it.  She doesn't act out or anything; it is more a feel and her eyes that tells me she is a bit concerned.  With some great things happening as far as her mouth we will be desensitizing and counter-conditioning.

desensitize - introduction of triggers that cause unwanted response at low level then slowly increasing .    

Counter-conditioning - conditioning a positive response to a particular stimulus where a negative response once was with the use of  'good things.'  

This is where the massage comes in first; short and gentle gum massage followed by treats immediately.  Maybe a quick tooth brush with coconut oil which Elsa loves.  

Highly concerned ears.

We will also be working on her PTSD with the Vet.  Elsa has always been excited to be at the Vets and would follow along happily if taken to the back.  Not anymore.  Since this last ordeal linked to  pain she had her tail tucked as far as it could go for much of her visit.  She still had some wags for the techs and vet on greeting but the tail went under when they wanted to look at her mouth.

I hate to see this but it is very, very typical.  I don't know too many dogs who like to go to the vet after having to stay for a procedure.  Linked with the pain and the stay; Elsa is now concerned about the Vets.  I discussed this with my Vet and told him I'd be bringing Elsa over often to sit in the waiting room.  He then said "sit, have a coffee and ask the girls up front to give her treats."  I like my new vet a lot.  

Elsa's behavior would be classified as "great" from post people.  She is no where near as freaked out as Tilley and Luke use to be.  Luke's response was to be as scary as possible to keep everyone away.  This of course scared everyone and I had to do a lot of extensive canine behavior explanation so that the techs and Vets understood what was going on.  Once he was in the room he was his usually pussy cat self.  Tilley was so afraid to be left at the vets that she very clearly wanted to crawl inside of me.  She sat quietly trembling; clamoring on me and trying to get out the door.  Elsa's anxiety behavior now would be unnoticeable to others.  But I know my girl and I want to help her with any anxiety that she has.   

We will keep the visits short and very positive.  Maybe I'll even take her into an examining room and hang out for a while.  Of course it must remain upbeat and positive for counter-conditioning.  It must also be kept very short time wise; building with the success of changed response.  

Elsa got up on the counter immediately after we left the examining room.  She is very conditioned to treats coming from behind certain counters.  

Treats please.  :)

Elsa adores most people.  She is highly forgiving so this is just a tiny bump as far as PTSD, pain and trust, but it is there.  We will be working on it.  

One dog we will not approach

   As a positive reinforcement trainer who is concerned with the canine/human connection I do
not support the use of these barbaric collars.  They only cause more problems in dogs with problems and without.

When we are out on a walk; I am constantly reading body language.  On leash greetings are far more complicated than off leash, so I am very choosy about who we say hi to.  With our recent visit to OR; both Luke and Elsa had more than their fair share of cranky greetings.  Cranky greetings can lead to your own dog becoming cranky in defense.  Nice dogs can be hard to find; but even nice dog greetings can go wrong.  I watch body language and gear; one dog that we never say hi to is a one wearing a prong/pinch collar.

For those of you using prong/pinch collars, read on before you get cranky.  Prong/pinch collars work by delivering a pinch; hence the name that the collar was given.  I have had sooooo many users of these collars tell me "they don't even hurt."  Well, tell me then how they work?  What is the premise around it?  You can't, there is no other form of correction except the pinch.  That is how they are meant to work by delivering pain when the dog pulls.  This pain is the reason that we don't say hi to obvious prong/pinch collar wearers. 

Association - the connection or relation of ideas, feelings, sensations, etc.; correlation of elements of perception, reasoning, or the like.

Elsa and I came across a nice young Labrador wearing a prong collar.  He was also at the end of an extension leash and a very inexperienced owner.  We had no intention of meeting with them; but as we passed the dog ran towards Elsa excitedly; that is until he hit the end of the leash and got an almighty pain delivery.  He then turned from a nice guy into a frenzy crazed dog.  The association was quite clear; other dogs in the vicinity mean pain.  The owner yelled to me "he's sort of out of control;" ya, you think?  But the cause of the problem remained illusive to the owner; even though it was quite clear. 

Many trainers throw a prong collar on a dog who needs control training.  When the dog lunges or becomes unruly at the approach of another dog; they receive a yank, which is meant to correct the bad behavior.  Sadly what the yank does is to further fuel the dogs unruliness.  Even if a human does  not yank on the leash; a lunging dog will deliver the pain themselves, causing the association.   It is all very easy to understand if you just sit back and think.  So many people use prong/pinch collars; many hide them under a plastic cover so that they don't feel the shame that putting those metal barbs on our dog can cause.  Yep, good ole human guilt is at the core of the prong/pinch collar cover.  I saw one the other day; when I realized what it was the woman hung her head and said "yes, she still needs training."  It wasn't a moment to teach so I just shook my head and moved on.  Sadly it was a very nice little dog; hopefully she won't be ruined by that collar in hiding. 

Dogs who approach to say "hi" often are fine until they get closer.  The closer they get, the more excited they get, the more they pull and BAM, the pain delivery; right as they are close enough to your dog to get aggressive.  So we basically stay away from prong/pinch wearing dogs; that is if we can see the collar.  Does the collar mean that it is a bad dog?  Oh no, it means that the owner doesn't understand what they are creating and we don't want to be involved in that process.