Echo at Eight

Echo is struggling with ongoing, very high anxiety outdoors, he is still not connecting with the leash and collar, he is still struggling to engage – and stay engaged – through eye contact, and his attention span is minimal.

Indoors, his anxiety does decrease to a point where he can perform a position and maintain eye contact for a few seconds before breaking it without permission. He does not know the heel command, and he has a hard time following the positional food lure.

Where food is concerned, Echo is very intense. He takes treats rough, hard, and fast, and he has no understanding about personal space. He tries to get at the treat pouch by nosing, nudging, and even attempting to bite at it. Oddly, during exercises, if a treat falls to the floor, he doesn’t seem to realize it. It’s as if, despite him paying close attention to the hand that has the treat, he doesn’t actually see or hear the food fall. Instead, he waits for the motion of the hand offering him the food. However, it is interesting to note that scatter-feeding outdoors has been quite successful. He puts his nose to the ground, and he seeks out the food.

Echo is extremely sensitive to loud voices and other loud sounds, especially when they present with intensity – e.g. arguments between humans, or loud verbal corrections to him. Indoors, he reacts with excessive scratching and chewing on at least three known spots on his body and fast, heavy panting; outdoors, he reacts with constant pacing, fast, heavy panting, and “wild eyes” that indicate he’s panicking.

Currently, I am working with Echo twice a week. His owners are doing their best to work him consistently between sessions, and they tell me they are seeing small improvements in some areas, but struggling with him in other areas. After 8 sessions, they are still unable to walk him because of his constant circling and pacing, lunging, and hard pulling on the lead.

Due to his anxiety, as well as the slow rate at which he seems to be learning, I am going to increase the number of sessions to 3 per week, and the working time from 90 minutes to 2 hours. I have also advised the owners to talk to their vet about an anti-anxiety medication, and to get a referral to a neurologist to rule out any possible brain defects.

Overall, Echo is a very sweet, loving dog who is trying his best to learn how to be with humans, and how to be out in the world calmly and confidently. He just has issues going on that require a lot more attention than most dogs…