Fireplace and Some Dog Training Attempts

I LOVE THIS FIREPLACE!!!!!!!!! We are already looking at where to get more wood for next year.



Unfortunately the fireplace throws Rainy into a panic!



She barks and races around telling us there is danger everywhere!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSKnVAcmYho&feature=youtu.be

If we ignore her she eventually runs upstairs by herself and cries loudly. After this video ended she started shrieking upstairs. I love the fireplace and Rainy has just gotten worse in the past two weeks. I eventually thought she would figure it out on her own.  Last night my willingness to wait and let her figure it out ended!

I leashed her up and forced her to stand next to me and the fire while I read a book. She's a greyhound! How long can she actually stand, pant, shake, and be nervous for? Sunshine usually caps out around 25 minutes then she has no more energy for the fear.

2 hours later.... I was still reading and Rainy was still standing and now shaking violently. I actually started hearing her heart beat and got a bit nervous about my strategy! So we went into the kitchen I gave her one of Sunshine's 2mg Xanax pill and we went outside to potty / hopefully run around and drain some energy. Sunshine ran, Rainy refused to leave my side.

We go back inside and continue the stand/shake while I read stand off.  Finally I cannot stand it anymore and I go against all my principals and I physically push her into a sit/down. I wanted her to do it all on her own but I think she might have died first. This must be where having male dogs works better!



So we laid down and panted for another 45 minutes. I kept telling myself any minute she will slowly fall asleep... clearly I am a moron! At every fire pop she would jump to her feet and I would get up and force her to lay back down.

After 45 minutes of patiently waiting I did something I'm not too proud of. I began trying to roll her over onto her side, which is not an easy thing with the large greyhound legs and ass! I finally just picked her up while sitting down myself and laid back pulling her on top of me! Then I slowly wormed myself out from underneath her.  I figured laying her down would be a further stresser but I think she was too tired at that point to care.

An interesting thing happened though...



She instantly stopped panicking...



Relaxed...



Stopped shaking, and almost fell asleep! Is laying them on their side almost like turning a shark upside down? Is it impossible for them to continue the anxiety while laying on their side? This was just the moment I have been waiting for so we could stop this madness for the night! I'm stubborn enough that we were not going to stop until she at least relaxed a little bit on her own. So we laid there for 10 minutes and I slowly got up. Rainy stayed there all on her own!

Finally I gently called the girls so go out for a last potty. Rainy looked like her legs were a bit uncoordinated but she didn't seem too concerned. I figured they felt like jelly for standing and shaking for so long. Once we got outside the poor pup couldn't walk! Have you ever seen an extremely drunk person take one step forward then 4 steps sideways, while they think they are 100% fine? Yup the dog was drunk. She went to squat to pee and nearly fell over! Then she walked into the fence trying to come back inside. Maybe 1 pill of Xanax wasn't such a hot idea? Then the munchies hit! She polished off the rest of the beef jerky and tried to lick the container in a stoned stupor.

The last time I saw her this 'out of it' was after she had Xrays. The vet used Ace and Rainy was panicked. She knew she didn't feel right and didn't understand why. You could easily see the panic in her eyes. Luckily on Xanax she is a happy relaxed stoner.











She actually started chewing on the plastic lid



Sunshine came over to try and tell her she's not supposed to chew on plastic things in front of the humans!

Rainy was relaxed enough to try and climb the stairs herself but got stuck. So I ended up moving each leg up each step separately for her.  It was a chore to get her safely into her bed since she has to jump over the couch to get into her corner of futon beds.  It was really like trying to cajole a relaxed drunk person. She was passed out the rest of the night and half of the next day sleeping it off.

Maybe I'll try giving her 1/2 a Xanax pill next time? Sunshine who is a good 10-15lbs lighter was taking 2 of those Xanax pills a day along with other long term anxiety meds! Insane the amount of meds that little dog has taken and it not affected her at all!

Only time will tell if this event helps or hurts Rainy with the fireplace...