Adventures of Barney & Flynn

There was a period of time when Flynn's 1st owners got a trainer, who recommended enforcing “dominance” over him, by doing things like repeatedly forcing him to retreat from his bowl, while he was trying to eat. He got annoyed. Trainer said: use a broom to push him away! Flynn escalated & would bite multiple times, sometimes drawing blood. He also guarded his crate. He was OK-ish with toys etc, but I was wary - esp if he “stole” objects like my clothes etc. Food was most problematic. So, yeah, I'm not a dog expert at all but resource guarding is something I've had to work through.

When I adopted Flynn, we were a multi-dog household. We used management to avoid conflicts. No chews or empty food bowls left out. Flynn was separated for meals. If dogs were together, any treats were small, easily eaten & handed directly to each dog - no throwing stuff! So, the following is how I dealt with Flynn's resource guarding around food & people.

I left Flynn alone for his regular meals. These sessions were done separately - I’d put some kibble in Flynn’s bowl, then go stand stand a considerable distance away! Once Flynn was eating, I’d start throwing super tasty, high value treats (meat, cheese) at him - aiming to get them to land very close to the bowl. Next, I began tossing treats increasingly further from Flynn. He had to turn & move a short way away from the bowl, to get higher value rewards. I also slowly closed the distance between us. Crucially - whenever I moved a little nearer, I'd revert back to throwing treats right by the bowl, until he was fully OK with my new position. Later on, I’d do things like toss one treat on the ground near me, then immediately he'd eaten it, offer a 2nd treat from my hand. Gradually allowed treats to land closer & closer to my feet. He'd search for the "dropped" snack, & once he'd got it, automatically look up for the next one, which I'd offer out my hand. This roughly recreates risky situations, where you accidentally drop food, or your dog found something edible & now you're right by "their" stuff.

I tried to avoid triggering defensive reactions but occasionally, I’d mess up & we'd see guarding behaviour. If that happened, then even if he acted like a cornered, starving wolf on a moose carcass, I'd talk in a calm, happy tone, my body language relaxed, no escalation, no verbal corrections. I’d just chuck a whole handful of high-value treats in his angry face & while Flynn was busy, I’d create space. Then we’d continue as before, but further apart! 

Briefly - guarding the crate - I’d chuck treats at Flynn any time he was in there & I went by. Again, regardless of how Flynn reacted, my response was to give food - he got snacks if he wagged his tail, he got snacks if he snarled. It's hard to worry about someone stealing your crate, when you're lying around getting tasty cheese thrown at you - after a while, Flynn stopped snarling! Toys/stolen objects - I managed his access when poss & we played lots of trading games. The lesson was: drop what you're holding, & I'll give you something even better!

My aim with working on Flynn's resource guarding, was to change his underlying emotional response to people being around "His Stuff". Once that emotional shift was achieved, Flynn stopped growling & biting. It took a long time but it worked. An example, a while back, a friend saw Flynn stealing cheese sandwiches out of a lunchbox (we were having a picnic). She knew his history but without thinking, just reached in & grabbed them off Flynn. Can't lie - I felt a flash of terror when I registered what she was doing. At one point, my friend would have been bitten, possibly very badly. As it was, Flynn looked mildly confused/disappointed & a second later, he turned to me - suddenly excited again, tail wagging, ears perked: "hey, I know how this goes: I gave something up, now you'll give me a BETTER treat!".

Anyway, sorry, that got very long... but it was a long process! Resource guarding can be dangerous to work through. For anyone dealing with the issue - if you can afford it, I'd suggest finding a good behaviourist to help. Management is very important - change whatever you can in your dog's environment, which limits the chances of guarding happening & keep everyone safe. Otherwise... counter-conditioning works - with time & consistency, you will almost certainly see improvement.

I used to think long lines ruined pictures, but today I met someone on the trail who didn't even BRING a leash. In fact, she didn't even bother to have a collar for her dog of any kind.

So you know what, long line stays on for today's picture. Hike responsibly, guys. No matter how well-trained your dog is.

I will die on the hill of “leashes don’t ruin pictures.”

It's nice when the photo lines up so its not super visible but like. Even if it is visible. So what.

Hell yeah

I generally edit them out, but in basically any photo of Flynn, you can assume he's got a long line on.

Flynn's a good boy outdoors - fantastic recall, he doesn't run off hunting/exploring/stealing other dogs' toys etc, & his automatic response when worried is to come back to me. Most walks, the line just drags behind Flynn & I only pick it up if we're going right past people/dogs, on a narrow footpath.

However, no dog makes perfect decisions every time & you never know what you'll encounter when you're in the countryside! I never want to be in a situation where I (or, worst case scenario - a stranger!) can't safely & quickly restrain Flynn... & I can't be 100% sure he'd tolerate being grabbed by his harness/collar! Anyway, we love long lines :)

Poor Flynnie has to have an ultrasound scan on Thursday :( He is STILL having some pretty severe gut problems, 2 months after they started… Plus, the most recent blood test we did showed up some slightly “off” results, nothing major but various levels were a bit higher, or lower than they should be - including some stuff related to kidney function.

After seeing the results, the vet asked me to get a urine sample. It turns out Flynn’s losing protein in his urine & his urine is also too dilute. High protein levels in urine often happens because a dog has chronic kidney disease but it can also be a temporary issue, due to infection/inflammation, (or other illnesses… like cancer, which I hope is very unlikely to be the cause here). Regardless of the reason it is happening, it puts a strain on the kidneys. Or, in Flynn’s case, a strain on his kidney. Singular. Flynn only has 1 kidney… so we really can’t mess around with this. He’s now on a “renal diet” & if it’s safe, may start on ACE inhibitors to reduce strain on his kidney. The ultrasound will look at both Flynn’s gut & his kidney, so I guess we’ll just have to wait & see if anything shows up. 

I lost Barney, less than 3 weeks ago - after he’d had the exact same infection as Flynn. Barney went from having mild kidney disease, to being in kidney failure in the space of less than a month. Barney was very elderly, of course… but, still… I don’t know what is going on with Flynn. He’s been treated twice for giardia infection, we’ve been manically cleaning to prevent reinfection, he’s on probiotics & was on GI food. He is an apparently otherwise healthy dog & he really should be getting better by now & instead, if anything he seems in some ways worse than he was 6-8 weeks ago. Argh, I am so stressed. My poor little guy :( 

 ***Update***

Well, Flynn had his ultrasound scan today. He was a very good boy & amazingly cooperated while they shaved him down & then had the scan done - all without needing any sedation! I worry SO much with Flynn, because he does get terribly scared & definitely has it in him to be extremely difficult about handling... it was such a relief to hear he behaved well & didn’t try to eat anyone!  

Anyway, obviously, we had a chat with the vet after the scan was done. The results aren’t terrible (as in, they didn’t find cancer, or anything) but... they’re not great either. 

His intestines & kidney apparently look pretty normal - though the vet mentioned it can be hard to tell with the kidney - damage may not show up on an ultrasound. Flynn’s spleen is apparently large but not to a worrying degree? His liver was looking slightly inflamed, in a couple of places & that issue will need an eye keeping on it. He’ll possibly need another, better quality scan, if follow-up bloods are still showing high liver enzymes.. 

Flynn’s now got to take (horrendously expensive!!) liver supplements for a month & he’s been put on the same renal diet Barney was on. Although, it’s tricky in Flynn’s case because he still has gut problems & the renal food is higher in fat... which can give dogs diarrhoea... which is then hard on the kidney. We’re going to have monitor him very carefully & alter his diet if needed. 

We will be going back to the vets in just under a month to get a new blood sample, weigh him again, because he’s been losing weight over the past few weeks, & for have a general check-up.  

So... the vet’s conclusion is that Flynn is teetering on the edge of suffering from kidney disease & worryingly, he did say that it wouldn’t be hard for Flynn to tip into having kidney failure (which is what dear Barney died from 3 weeks ago) - if we don’t get Flynn’s symptoms under control soon. Plus, there’s some concerns about his liver & the GI stuff is still ongoing. Poor little guy, I love Flynn so much... it’s very difficult to see him struggle & not know if we will be able to pull his health back & see improvements. Desperately hoping we can get him back to normal.  

Ps, on a much lighter note Flynn is now sporting a truly weird haircut (furcut?). He’s been totally shaved, over a really large area on both sides, as well as his stomach. So Flynn has normal fur on his chest & front legs & is then bald, except a strip of fur along his back. He looks so silly... like he had a truly terrible poodle cut! Pic is from a pre-shave walk in the buttercup field :)