Peach – Day 4

Peach slept through the night. The larger kennel definitely makes a difference. As we end Day 4, this is where we’re at with her progress:

Doing very well with the meal ritual of working for the food
Leash manners improving inside, but definitely need work outside
Learning to share affection, spaces, toys, etc. with Glimmer
Chasing and barking at Violet after Violet hisses and growls just because she’s visible. 😛
Still resisting being kenneled, but sleeps through the night now once she’s in
Needs a night light to fall asleep but not panicking as much if it’s turned off
Doing well practicing focus, stay, wait exercises inside
Needs a lot of work outside on the leash, and in the car

I took Peach out for a short car ride. Before I got out of the car, I told her to wait. No sooner did I open the car door, and there she was, trying to get out. It was quite the adventure, her pushing at me to get out and me trying to prevent her from getting out. I did get a travel harness for her that clips to the seat belt lock, but it’s difficult to get on her, because she fights it with her whole body. I’m going to continue working with it and her, though. She needs to get used to and accept being restrained.

A new and unexpected behavior has presented itself: Separation anxiety. And it manifests as a stress poop in the house. Since her arrival, I have had to leave the house twice to teach classes. Before I go, I take Peach out for a potty, and then my husband takes care of her for the hour that I’m away. When I leave the house, Peach whines and cries and stands at the door for several minutes… and then, she poops in the house. So, in the hope of alleviating some of her anxiety, I’m going to start doing leave-and-return exercises with her.

To end Day 4, I had to go and teach a class. In the hope of preventing an in-house stress-poop, my husband got Peach out to the back yard almost immediately after I left. She did her business outside – all of it… and she did not have any accidents once she was back in the house. Yay!

Peach’s behavior outside is… I have no words. The martingale collar is completely ineffectual; when she sees people or other animals, she strains and pulls so hard that she nearly chokes herself. Outside, I do not exist at all. She is completely unresponsive to leash pressure, verbal correction, and physical redirection. I have a slip lead; I tested it in the house, bringing Peach near Violet [Violet is a big trigger]. I was surprised that Peach did not attempt to chase Violet; instead, she followed my lead, she turned around when I did, she moved with me fairly easily. I was quite surprised. So, I’m going to test this in the back yard and see how Peach responds to it outdoors. Here’s hoping it works…