Aggie Update, December 18, 2011

Sweet, sweet Aggie. :)

Learning to trust, learning to accept love and affection and the pack hierarchy. Learning manners and working through different situations

These are all things we've been working on for the last few months. And we're making progress.

Of all the dogs Randall and I have fostered, Aggie is one of the ones whose backstory I'd really like to know. If only because it would help me figure out what makes her tick. She was obviously a pet, but what was her situation? No way to know, so we're figuring it out as we go along.

When Aggie first came here we really thought she was deaf. As the months have spun out, we've come to realize that's not strictly true. She does hear. And it appears she can hear maybe 30% to 40%...especially if there isn't something going on that's seriously distracting her or thrown her into a panic. She will turn around and look at you if you're across the room and you start talking to her. She hears knocks on the glass at the back door. She can hear you call her name. I think a lot of it was that initially our words were just noise she heard. Now that she's been here a while, she realizes those noises have meaning.

It would still take someone with patience and understanding to adopt her, but her handicap isn't NEARLY as bad as we first thought.

There are a couple of complaints I have...things we're working on, but have yet to make the sort of progress I want.

First. Her relationship with other dogs. Aggie doesn't understand body language. This makes it VERY difficult for her when she tries to interact with other dogs. Her main problem is she runs up to them with her mouth open. Understandably, that's very threatening to other dogs, and they react accordingly. She means absolutely nothing by it and it's not really an attempt to bite or attack, but it caused real problems at first. It still can if the other dog isn't expecting it, but most everyone here now has figured out this is an Aggie-ism and means nothing. Randall and I still work on shutting that behavior down, but since she can't hear corrections, this is taking longer than I would like. I am particularly careful with her and Padre because of his insecurity issues.

Second. Is related to the first. She is very mouthy. Particularly when there's food involved. You do NOT let her get hold of your finger when you're passing out tidbits. I can't tell you the number of times she's come close to skinning my finger down to the bone or trying to detach it from my hand. Interestingly, there's absolutely nothing vicious here. She just seems to not understand that your fingers aren't part of the treats. There are times when she'll take something very gently from you. I don't know why it happens, and I'm trying to encourage it, but it's a rare thing and I never count on it.

Aggie still nibbles all fingers that appear at her level. This is less of a problem because there's no food there. She'll mouth you, but only until she realizes there's no food. So call it a second or two and she never bares down. Sometimes those nibbles turn immediately to little kisses, so it's pretty obvious her intent is to "taste" your hand. :)

One place she's made really good strides is in being picked up. She's still not fond of the trip up or down, but there is a whole lot less struggling than at first. I'd say she's about 80% of where I'd like her to be. Some of it appears to be that she doesn't like anything pressing or binding her belly because I can "tickle-tickle-tickle" her and she'll jump around. She also really seems to have fun with that, so it's kind of a conundrum. We're having fun with one thing, but it's causing some confusion in another area.

When the lifting is combined with sitting next to you on the sofa (something she's learned to really enjoy) or sitting in your lap, things are just dandy with her. While she's never climbed into my lap, she's coming closer, and I suspect in a few weeks she'll get there. Probably if I bribed her with food it would happen today, but I want this to be her decision driven by her need to be with me...not just to grab another treat.

Last week was the first time she'd had her toenails clipped. She's had baths, but I kept putting off the nails because I knew it would panic her and since she can't hear, reassurance can be tough. She actually handled the procedure pretty well. She got a treat after each foot, and since Aggie is VERY food motivated, it went pretty smoothly. Randall held her while I did the trimming, and since he was the food dispenser, she followed him around very focused for the remainder of the day.

She's also learning some social skills when it comes to other people. She tends to be fearful of new situations, but you can tell she wants to please her people, and she wants to be with them, so she sort of steels herself and pushes on through so she can be with you. This is relatively new, and it's promising because it tells me she's looking to her people now as opposed to avoiding uncomfortable situations. I expect more of this from her as time goes one.

All in all, Aggie is really a much braver girl than when she first came her. She's better adjusted emotionally. She's learned that her people do good things and being a part of those good things can be rewarding.

So could she be adopted? Absolutely. She's very quiet (related to the deafness), she's crate trained and gets along well with cats. I would not recommend children (at least not young ones; maybe teens), and I'd be very cautious bringing her into a house with another dog. If the adopter is dog savvy and understand the deafness handicap and has a well adjusted dog, it could work.

The longer she's here with us, the more she'll learn, so the recommendations could be updated as we move along down the road.

Meanwhile, I'll leave you with a few photos. Like I said with Padre's update, I've not had the camera out too much lately, so these photos are at least a week or so old and there aren't as many as I would like.

Aggie in the wire crate we borrowed for Padre. It's now "her" crate.

There was much discontent that the Halloween pumpkin wasn't particularly edible.

 

The kitchen is always interesting, but the food prep area is REALLY interesting.

 

Little Aggie Lost...

(I know I need to do a major update, and I hope to get that and maybe some new photos of each of the foster dogs done by Thanksgiving.)

Tonight, we lost Aggie. She was gone. Poof. Disappeared. Missing. AWOL.

After her dinner, she went out in the backyard as usual with the others. And like the others, she came in and got a small treat (it started as a bribe to get my husband's Chihuahua in, and now everyone gets a small puppy-sized biscuit). Then went on into the den like normal.

This was about 5:40. Fast forward to 6:25 when everyone is going into the crates so we humans can have OUR dinner in relative peace. Everyone goes up, and Randall can't find Aggie.

We looked EVERYWHERE. Even in rooms she couldn't get in. Even in the garage where neither of us had gone since earlier today. In closets where the doors were shut or there was no room. Under furniture she couldn't fit under.

In short. No Aggie. And we're in a full blown panic trying to think could we have possibly gone out the front door or out in the garage and not remembered. Nope.

So while I'm making another circuit of the living room, Randall yells out, "Here she is! The damned dog is stuck!"

Sure enough. She'd managed to get in the small space between the airline crates and the wall. And not a word did she say, but when I went in and looked down into her white-masked face, you could hear her say, "It's about time you people found me!"

So Aggie has been found. I think she's still a little ticked it took us so long.

Aggie's Fav-O-rite Thing :)

I discovered this the other day. She REALLY likes it when the hole in the bone is stuffed with peanut butter.

Aggie Update, October 12, 2011

Things around here are pretty calm for the most part.

Aggie is settling in with us, and we're settling in with her. We still have some behavior issues to work through, but I'm seeing some progress.

Picking her up. She's still not a fan, but she is handling it mainly pretty well. The key seems to be do give her time to realize what you're doing, and to not try to pick her up when something else is causing her to agitate. If she's worked up, she'll panic. And the first thing she does here is use her mouth. She's not biting. She never bears down. But she "mouths" at your hand.

Which leads to the second thing. The "mouthing." She's pretty indiscriminate, but with Randall and I, we understand she's nibbling fingers in the hopes of there being food. Sometimes she'll mouth your fingers and sometimes she'll lick, but it's always in the hopes of a treat.

This isn't a problem for us, though we're trying to gear her to licking as opposed to mouthing, but she also mouths the other dogs. Which would be OK, except Aggie mouths by putting their muzzles in her mouth. That hasn't gone over well with our other foster girl, Penny (and I suspect it was the source of their disagreement when Aggie first got here). Haley just ducks her head, but I can see the look in my husband's Chihuahua's eyes when she tries it with him...probably because there isn't much muzzle to take, which means it's most of his head. Skeeter is not a fan. LOL

The weirdest thing, though, is her licking the floor. And I mean she'll go from one side of the room to the other. Lick. Lick. Lick. Lick. It will drive you mad. Watching her and it seems to be mainly in the evening, which makes me wonder if she isn't bored. Lets face it. Her world is very quiet. During the day, there's stuff going on...maybe not much, but at least some and she's usually wandering around watching. At night? Not so much. Pretty quiet around here, and she walks between the bedroom where I am to the den where Randall is. Back and forth. Pretty soon, she's licking the floor.

So tonight, I decided to give her a rawhide chew flip. She's ecstatically working on it in her crate. So I'm hoping I can find some things for her to do. This only happens in the house, so I suspect it's a lack of mental stimulation.  Bored to tears, in other words.

Her weight is stuck. I can get her to right below 17 pounds and that's it. So for now I'm not going to worry much. I'm hoping some exercise can be worked in for her soon (whether we're playing with a toy or a short walk with Randall), and that should help. Plus she's not been here that long and the weight is still shifting around. She's got a bit of a waist, but I would like to feel some ribs. So she doesn't have much she needs to lose. Maybe a pound, pound and a half.

Hope to get some pictures, soon, too. I'd like to get some outside, though she's about the color of all the dead magnolia leaves, so it might be hard to get her to show up. Still worth a try, though.

I will probably update again Sunday or Monday. All in all, I'm really happy with how she's doing. Now if we can only get that licking...errr...licked. :)

The zone has been reached :)

Comfort zone, that is.

Modeling

Well, OK. I'd hoped for something different in the posing department, but sometimes you go with what you can get. :)

Aggie and her new bandanna

Aggie Update, September 24, 2011

Now that I've had a few days to live with Miss Aggie, I've got a bit better handle on her.

I still maintain she's not pure dachshund. Mostly dachshund, for sure, but there's something else in the mix. There's too much leg, too little bend of stifle and a head that speaks to another breed (Beagle, maybe?). All in all, no biggie, but just something to keep in mind.

Her current weight is between 17-18 pounds. It's shifting around, so it's hard to say exactly where she needs to be, but I'd like to see her around 15 pounds. That's going to take awhile to accomplish because while there's something besides dachshund in the mix, I think there's also some pig in there. :)  Miss Aggie is a chow hound.

Her deafness isn't total. She can hear when I pitch my voice right. I'll see her ears go back and her head will come around. Not always, and I'm not sure exactly *what* she's hearing or how, but she is hearing. I'd say she can hear at most 10%. Still, we got her Deaf Dog bandanna in the mail today (I'll try to get some modeling shots tomorrow), and she'll be wearing that when she goes out of the house.

Now for what I see are the negatives that are going to need work.

She hates being picked up. She'll struggle and fight and while she won't bite, her mouth is definitely open and she's gnawing sideways at your hand. Once she's in my lap, she's fine. She'll give kisses and be sweet. I'm going to work on this hard. She has got to have a less panicky response. Since she's so food oriented, it figures that rewards are going to be very liberal (one reason the weight loss may take some time). Somehow or other I'm going to have to figure out how to cut her toenails. This may be a case of needing Valium. :)

She really has no idea how to relate to a pack of dogs. She gets along just great the vast majority of the time, but when she's startled, she strikes out. And since she's practically deaf, she sleeps like the dead and one of the dogs waking up next to her startles her badly. She jumped Haley (my senior dachshund) last night when Haley decided it was time to get up and head into the kitchen. It wasn't serious, but her teeth were flashing and there was some serious growling going on. Again, this happened very close to me, so I was able to jump right on it. This time, she got a tap across her muzzle to go with the finger in her face. It doesn't take much for her. Correction is something that really upsets her. I suspect this is something that will happen less and less as she becomes more comfortable in her surroundings and with the other dogs. But it's something to watch for, and it will take time for me to trust her.

She also did the usual food aggression bit when everyone was cleaning a plate the other night. I've been expecting that since I think it's happened with every dog we've fostered, the behavior was corrected and it hasn't happened since. This tells me that while she has negative behaviors, she also learns from her mistakes. I've been watching for this, and I suspect it will only take the one time and I won't see it again.

And for some real positives.

Aggie is incredibly sweet. Really is. She's learning the petting and kisses and rewards part of being a pet. She's a dog that may find a forever home with someone, but with her personality, I wouldn't object to it being here if it needs to be. She's not a beautiful dog, but she has a lot of love to give.

Cats. She's actually doing really well there, and I would have no hesitation putting her in a home with dog friendly cats. The only cat she has an issue with is my Devon Rex hybrid who can be a bit pissy. Aggie and Howdy will sometimes lock eyes, Howdy gets puffed up, and Aggie responds accordingly. No chasing, but I stop it before it gets there. And about 99% of the time, she and Howdy ignore each other. Ditto for my big black cat.

Her age is sort of up for grabs. The vet in Wichita Falls put her at about 10. I thought he might be right until I had a chance to be around her more. I don't think she's 10. She's a senior, but she is VERY active. VERY fast. Also, I've not seen any senior cloudy eyes. They look clear from what I'm seeing.

Monday I'll call the clinic and schedule and appointment for her with Dr. Walthall. I'd like to get the HW staged. I'd also like her to go over her and make sure there's no obvious medical reason she doesn't like to be picked up. I know it's not her back, and I think it's something she doesn't like because of a past event, but I'd like to be sure.

I'm hoping to give her a bath mid-week. That should be fun. And I'll try to get some outside photos with her new bandanna tomorrow or Monday. Stay tuned.

Spit Spat

Just a quick update today.

Late this afternoon, Aggie and Penny had a bit of a spat. Not sure what kicked it off, but I suspect either Penny was trying to play and Aggie misread it or Aggie turned around and stepped on her.

Anyway, there's were some words exchanged between the two of them. And, since it happened at the file cabinet right where I sit, my reaction was immediate. Much chastisement and finger wagging, and even Aggie, who couldn't hear what I was saying, got the message pronto.

Penny bounced back pretty fast, and I really suspect she didn't really start it. I know she was on the bottom and with no teeth, it's no contest. She came running to me for protection, so I really think Aggie was the prime mover.

She knows, though, that that sort of behavior is completely unacceptable, and she spent most of the evening being very meek and insignificant. It wasn't until about 30 minutes ago that she figured out she was out of hot water.

Also, the Basset that was being transported with Aggie broke with canine influenza on Monday and is very sick. I believe there was little to no contact between the two dogs. IIRC, Sue said she drove up and picked the Basset up and then turned around and delivered it to Ft. Worth and then came down to Hillsboro to meet us. **fingers crossed** If nothing turns up by Saturday, I think Aggie will be safe from that. I'm still expecting a URI, but I might just be worrying for nothing, and there's nothing that says it has to be major. Still I'll watch for it.

That's about it for this update. I'm feeling really icky, so it's hard to stay focused enough to write up how the day has gone.

Aggie Update, September 20, 2011

Aggie is fitting like a favorite pair of old jeans. She's just settled in with the pack remarkably well. She's a very happy and well adjusted girl who is very accommodating as soon as she figures out what you want.

Today hasn't been very eventful...I've been feeling icky (not sure if it's a cold or allergies)...so there hasn't been much interaction. What I've seen between her and the others and her and the cats is very positive. She's accepted by them all and she returns the favor. She just wants a place to lay her head that's comfortable, lots of love and petting and food. DEFINITELY food. :)

Randall and I have made the decision that we'll treat her as one of our own. Foster dogs do get treated a bit differently, usually, than our own simply because some of the things we let our guys do may not sit well with someone else. That's really the case when it comes to dinner. Foster dogs have never been allowed at the dining table, but we've decided that, while always possible that Aggie will find another home, it's also possible she will be with us permanently because of her deafness. So we'll begin letting her join us at the table in a couple of days. I still want to give her some time to adapt to the way we do things without adding extra stress, but I don't see that she'll have much trouble with it.

A couple of things to note. First, she ALWAYS nibbles fingers when they're first brought down to her level. It's real obvious that her former home gave her lots of treats (not only evident by her nibbling, but also her waistline). There is absolutely nothing else going on except the expectation of treats.

Second. She really has something going on with being picked up. Whether it's an old injury or a memory of being dropped, I don't know. I have been afraid to push that until she's comfortable here, so for the next several days, I'm not even going to try to figure out what's going on. She needs a bath, but that entails lifting her in/out of the tub, and I'd really rather wait. I don't want to reinforce a bad memory by picking her up and putting her in the tub the first time she gets picked up. So the bath will wait.

I'm hoping to do a Penny update tomorrow, so there may not be an Aggie update until Thursday.

Settling in....

Aggie with the pack this morning. She's realized she can sleep on the blanket as opposed to laying on the hard floor.

She slept fine in her crate last night, and has fit right in with everyone. Barely glancing at the cats, but REALLY interested in the kitchen. :)

Welcoming Aggie (formerly Alma)

Alma is now known as Aggie. :)


First Impressions...

Aggie doesn't appear to be pure dachshund. Mainly dachshund with some sort of smallish hound type dog thrown in. Her color reminds me of a cross between a lemon and a red basset. Heavily roaned. There also has a white mask that made that grey face look even whiter. White feet, too.

Which reminds me, I should NEVER try to age a dog from a photo. The vet who saw her said he thought she was about 10. That looks to be about right. She is very active and curious. And she is most certainly less than the age I had her pegged at.

Deaf as a post...except for some percussive sounds which means we're not sure she's hearing the sound or feeling the air displaced. Hard to say, but there is a reaction at times. We've ordered a Deaf Dog bandanna for her to wear when she's out of the house.


The transporter warned us that she tends to whip her head around when startled  (to be expected), but there have been no negative reactions even when we've touched her unexpectedly. She will sometimes acknowledge it by turning around and giving your hand kisses, but that's really all I've seen. No flinching or drawing away.

She does appear to eat and sleep in her crate, which is good. She settled right in with the pack here with only a couple of instances of posturing from Randall's Chihuahua. Haley was the first introduction, and Aggie spent the entire time licking Haley. She tends to do that to me, too, so I figure it's the pack pecking order (not sure if she thinks I'm above or below Haley LOL) asserting itself.

She's a bit curious about the cats, and she and Howdy have had a couple of stare downs with words exchanged. Nothing spectacular, and I don't expect any trouble there once Aggie has settled in here.

Mainly we'll just spend the next few days getting her settled. Once I have a better sense of her, I'll post more. I'll hopefully get some photos, too, though getting the attention of a deaf dog will be a challenge. For now, here are three photos...better than the intake type photo of her at the shelter.

She is sneezing occasionally, so I wouldn't be surprised to she her break with a URI. I'll keep an eye on it, but hopefully it won't be serious. She's also a huge food fan (that's obviously the dachshund part), and it shows. We were able to weigh her, and at 17 pounds, and no detectable ribs, she could slim down a bit. I'll target 15 and see what that gets us.

All in all, I'm very happy with how she's doing. It's so obvious she's happy to be in a home, and she positively loves the petting and slobbering over that she's getting. She just stands real still with her eyes half closed and soaks it up. Occasionally she'll wag her tail, and you can feel her shivering a bit, but she is just so relieved to be cared for again.

Poor girl. It's traumatic enough for a dog with all its senses to go through what she's been through. I can't imagine being hearing impaired and thrown into that sort of chaos.