Challenged

We faced lots of challenges this week.

It was super cold, the coldest weather we've experienced since living here. Just stepping outside was a challenge.

Keeping ten dogs calm and somewhat happy inside for days on end was a major challenge. They were restless and bored and driving each other and Rob and me both crazy.

Convincing them to make their trips outside quick was a challenge. Sebastian wanted to nap in the wading pool full of ice and snow. Noah and Morgan both had difficulty walking because their feet got so cold. The two little girls didn't like the cold and wanted to pee inside instead of chilling their tootsies.

Today it's been raining hard all day, another challenge.

Perhaps our biggest challenge was what to do about Sydney. As some of you may remember, Sydney has a few problems. She has anxiety attacks where she starts trembling, then she starts to growl and snap at the other dogs. The big dogs seem to ignore her bad behavior, but Mac takes it personally and we've had a couple fights. One of the fights was major and we had to rush Syd to the vet with blood pouring from several bites to her face, neck and legs.

Syd also is not reliably house trained. While Mac comes to tell us if she needs to go outside, Syd will sneak off to find a quiet place to pee in the house if not watched closely. She only occasionally tells us in advance.

While she is mostly a sweet little dog, she needs special care and we considered rehoming her, but instead after several discussions with Dr B, we decided to face the problems head on. About a month ago we started Syd on a drug for anxiety along with the use of a pheremone spray on her collar. Things have calmed down considerably since starting them and the girls can be close to each other without incident in controlled situations.

On Wednesday the vet and I had another talk about Syd's urination habits. She spent last night at the hospital and had tests this morning. We wanted to eliminate any physical problems that might be bothering her. He called me mid morning with his diagnosis. Sydney is "emotionally challenged". She checked out fine physically but doesn't handle stress well and becomes very anxious when stressed.
 

We don't know what exactly causes her to feel stressed and we may never know. We are going to be sure she knows she has a safe spot that is all hers for when she starts to feel anxious. If her current drug isn't working for her anymore, we have an alternative in mind and we'll continue to work with her on simple obedience. She needs lots of exercise. Hopefully she'll outgrow some of this and learn to deal better with stressful situations.

It's a big challenge for all of us. The other dogs have to learn not to overreact to her. Mac has to learn more self control. Rob and I have to be consistent and be on the same page with her training and Syd has to learn to chill.