Taking Buddy from the kennels and the car journey - We arrived at the Dogs Trust Rescue Centre at Evesham nice and early and filled in all the paperwork, insurance cover etc then went down to collect him from the Kennels Reception. He knew something was up - he had not had his breakfast and his routine was not as normal. I took care to wear the same clothes that I had visited him all this week, without washing them so he could smell both his and my scent on trousers, top and coat. He certainly remembered my coat pocket with gravy bones in and has been seriously mugging me and trying to chew through the coat. Scent and sight are very strong visual triggers and reminders, even when very stressed. His microchip was checked to make sure it corresponded with all his paper work and then his Dogs Trust ID tag and new collar needed to be put on. This was not a success...... He was so hyper and wriggly that his kennel maid really had difficulty grabbing him to put it on. Serious calming signals and feeling of anxiety and lack of safety. No aggression signals shown but not at all pleasant to watch 😔 I did not offer to put it on him as he hardly knew me and would have severely tested our mutual Trust Bank. He needed to go home with us without either of us being the scary bad guys.... Anyway, eventually we had him all sorted and I quickly put his new Perfect Fit harness on him (20mm M top, M front, L girth) - black reflective top, looking very smart .😊 He did not even notice me putting it on, bless him.💕 He walked so much more calmly and in balance as we left the office and walked towards our car with the car cage in the back. 2m lead of course, and we tried to keep it loose as much of possible. As you can see from the videos taken at this time the whole process of getting him into the car was very very hard for him. The last time he had been in a vehicle was when he was transported over from Ireland in a van (it took about 24 hours of travelling all together, I was told) back in early November. Seeing the cage, the cars back door above him, it was all too much bless him. We tried high value food thrown into the cage (eventually opening both cage doors to make it more inviting and less claustrophobic) but his body language and calming signals make it very apparent that he could not cope with getting into the car. There were emotional issues here that could have far reaching consequences every time he got into our car for the rest of his life. It was absolutely crucial that we helped him come to terms with this huge undertaking, bearing in mind we had so little history together and very few deposits in the Trust Bank of our mutual relationship. We were asking him to make a huge emotional withdrawal that could take weeks and months to regain his trust in us, and particularly going into the car. What was needed was patience, patience, and more patience. We were in no rush to get home. This was far too important an issue to just try to grab him and force him into the car. Frustratingly though, we had left a towel for the Kennels to keep in his bedding so that we could have used the towel in the car cage to trick him into thinking he had been in it before. Sadly the towel had been lost in the kennel management and cleaning so was not a resource that we had available. Sigh... When dogs are unable to face high value food such as chicken, liver, and sausages then that dog is in emotional conflict and fear. So off we trotted for a sniff around the other side of the car park then we introduced the now familiar game of Swapsies with two identical balls on ropes - with his scent on from previous gentle games. His confidence and focus instantly returned, he knew what was expected of him and happily played a gentle to and fro with us - mouthing the tennis ball in order to relieve the tension in his jaws from the stress. However, the clever collie mind saw our ruse and he lay down with both balls in his paws and realised we could not throw them into the car and trick him to get in. No worries. We let him rest, think about things, then we took him for another gentle stroll with the ball in his mouth, with an opportunity to relieve his bladder due to the high stress levels, and in a (devious) round about way walked him briskly back and forth at right angles to the car boot so he did not have full view of where he was walking. A quick flick of the ball into the cage, him putting front legs in to retrieve it, and me giving a quick lift of his back legs and body into the cage before he was aware of what was happening - job done. We carefully put the light weight light coloured sheet over the entire cage so he could not see out and went to sit in the front of the car. There were specific reasons why we use cotton sheeting like this - A) the cage is not too dark or daunting (remember one of my previous posts about how animals are very aware of contrasts and them moving from light to dark, or visa versa); B) there is no visual stimulation to trigger their chase instincts (dogs do not necessarily understand that the car is moving - they perceive it as everything around them moving and they are not moving as their bodies are stationary = chase and bark to get it all to go away); C) fabric is easily impregnated with the scent and pheromones of stress given off by a dog, so it is very important to regularly wash the cage covering if a dog is suffering from long term chronic stress, so that there is no long term scent to trigger an emotional response. Conversely, if a dog is happy and content then the fabric carries the content and happy emotional triggers which illicit a similar response. D) Light weight fabric allows air to pass through - particularly important when the car gets hot in the summer time E) sound can be heard through lightweight fabric - an important aspect while we are playing a calming cd for dogs. This also allows the sound of barking to also pass though the fabric so that the dogs hearing is not overwhelmed by its own barking and thus causing a circle of more stress to begin. F) the main drawback of light coloured fabric is that it offers shadows and lights to be seen at night time. This can be a problem for some light chasing sensitive dogs but was not an issue in this situation as we were travelling in daylight. Back to our journey - We did not start the engine straight away but instead put on a cd from the series Through a Dogs Ears (not too loud) and just listened to the gentle beat of the music. Buddy was aware of the simple music and slow beat and helped him focus on that as his sight had been restricted by the sheeting. We did not speak at all on the journey - if we had it would have broken the spell of his intent listening and caused him to realise he was stressed. As we drove along we could hear him sniffing the air and moving about on the padded cushions (very important to absorb some of the vibrations) in the cage but not a bark or whine did we hear from him. This was an absolute blessing and bonus because we were not beginning a precedent of barking while the car was moving. I am so very very grateful for this, dear Buddy 💕 We were careful not to move too quickly and not take corners too fast - dogs hate their centre of gravity being challenged and feel out of control and car sick, particularly when learning to cope with car travel. Slow steady stops at junctions, careful negotiations of roundabouts, and trying not to drive through too many ruts in the road or rumble strips near pedestrian crossings - all highly unnerving for a dog not used to travel. When we arrived at our house we reversed the car into the drive at the side of our house so that when he got out he would not see anyone or anything in the street - just a direct bee line for the open gate and the back garden where he could be let off his lead and run off the build up of stress from the journey. We did not turn off the engine or the cd when we arrived - i quietly got out the car and entered the house by the front door in order to get the house ready and the gate unbolted from the inside. Stopping the engine is a very strong trigger to a dog, particularly when it has to wait before being let out the car. Obviously stop the engine just before you let the dog out. There are quite a lot of videos to show of all that has happened here. However, it takes absolutely AGES to load each one on Facebook, so please bear with me as it will take some time. Many thanks x x
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 16:12:02 +0000
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