Little Dog in a Big World

Archive for the ‘Misha’ Category

My Dad died at the beginning of May.  Misha had an allergic reaction to a spider bite that sent her to the emergency Vet.  Then her best friend who came to visit her everyday at 3pm moved away.   Those three events plus the turmoil in my household sent Misha’s training back, waaayyyy back.

Misha was really coming around.  But, after all of these stressful situation, she was thrown for a loop.  A sort of separation anxiety set in.  She became unruly, fearful.  She hated to be touched and would growl anytime someone tried to pick her up.  We suddenly had a battle zone in the house.  If she were human, I’d say she was freaking out.

As I was dealing with my own emotion, it took until the beginning of June before I realized that everything I was feeling was bouncing off Misha too.   Even though I was not with the program, I realized that my distracted state of mind was producing anxiety in my pup.

Though I didn’t have the energy or time, I focused completely on Misha’s training.  I couldn’t have a dog that growled at people who wanted to pat her head.  That was unacceptable.

I began by going back to the basic.  I made her sit for everything.  She picked up on that quickly.  I made sure we took both walks every day.  I practiced with her more.

One of the most important things I did was observe her.  I realized that because she is only 8 lbs I treat her differently than I did my 75 lb Lab.  I don’t baby her.  She has rules and structure, but I was always picking her up to get her out of danger or out of the way.  I would have never done that with Sierra.

I learned that Misha does not like being picked up.  She loves to be held, but she doesn’t care for being picked up.  So, I stopped doing it.  I began treating her like a big dog–a regular dog.  I petted her on the ground.  I gave her treats on the ground.  I put her leash on her on the ground.  When we walk by strangers, we do it with her four feet planted on the ground (unless there is some sort of danger like a much larger dog attached to those humans).

I’ve got her a treat ball so that she can burn off a little energy in the house.  I also handle her toys more.  When she wants to chew on her bone, she is on my lap and I hold it for her.

I think my efforts are paying off.  The growling is now down to a minimum.   She is behaving much more civilly.  I have taught people not to startle her by trying to pick her up.  Instead, I am trying to train her to jump up to me or in my lap so that she initializes it.

We still have one more upsetting event to get through–moving.  I know all the boxes in the hallway and stacks of things here and there are unsettling to her.  I hope that once we move in a couple weeks and she is settled in to a regular daily routine again that she will go back to being the lovable, energetic pup she once was.

And then I can get her over her fear of wash cloths.

Misha, the shy, perky, lovable Jack Russell Terrier, turned 1 today.

Misha has been with my family since last July when she was just 9 weeks old.  Over that year, we’ve experience so much.  She has grown to a whopping 8 pounds and has developed quite a personality.

She is doing well with her dog training.  Though she has regressed some lately after a beloved family member passed away and a neighbor who played moved away all within the same week.  I work with her daily to help her get through this rough time.

She still has a lot of maturing to do.  Her shy, timid nature has created some challenges.  She isn’t nearly as fearful as she once was.  However, a sudden noise or a motorcycle passing us on our walk can bring her to shuddering.  Hopefully, with continued work, she’ll learn to be more trusting of the world.

Here’s my puppy.  Happy Birthday, Misha!

\So, Happy Birthday Misha!

I’ve never had a small dog before.  I had no idea what burrowers they are.  Misha loves to get in the playpen and wrap herself up in the three blankets even when it’s a warm day.

One of the funniest things she likes to do is play under the dog bed.  I’m not talking a Jack Russell Terrier sized bed.  I’m talking a Labrador Retriever size bed.

She lifts it over her head–all 8 pounds of her–and the goes underneath.  She then attacks it from there.  Sometimes she drags a toy or two under with her.  She runs around with all that weight on top of her.  She eventually surfaces grinning from ear to ear.

Here’s a couple photos of her playing undercover pup:

Going Under…

I’m taking you with me…

Coming up for air…

Misha turned 9 months old today.  It’s amazing to think she’s been in our household so long.

She is maturing.  Her understanding of commands is getting better.  She no longer runs around and attacks everything.  The chewing has settled down.  Though, her stuffed animal chewing has gotten more destruction.  I’m constantly sewing up legs and noses.

I continue to work on her training in small doses several times a day.  She still has some fears to get over.  She absolutely hates to be wiped off with a towel and snarls when the towel touches her.  She is still skittish with noises outside.  If we are walking and a neighborhood dog barks, she panics.  She also plays a little too much with her mouth still.  I still have my work cut out for me.

She is getting a little easier to live with.    And, hopefully, each month I’ll see improvements.

Misha went non-stop from Christmas Eve morning until 10pm on Christmas night.  Though, she’s a lively pup, she was completely zonked out the day after Christmas.  All she wanted to do was sleep with her new toys.

She crawled under her paw print blanket at 9am.  When I came to see if she wanted to play at 10am, this is the look I got…

She immediately crawled back into her cave, where she stayed for another hour.  That’s one pooped pup!

Misha got to experience her first Christmas with the family.  I’m pretty sure she knew something was up!  She was excited all day Christmas Eve.

We took her my sister’s house for a small get together.  She explored the tree and the gifts.  She attacked all the guests and got payback when the cat came out and swatted her square on the nose.

She got a new stuffed animal.  Though, she is more enamored of the cloth ribbon that was around his neck than any of her new toys.

Christmas morning, she participated in the festivities.  She thought all the noise was a bit unnerving.  But, she loved trying to open people’s presents before they got a chance to take the paper off.

She was pretty tired after everyone left after breakfast, but there was still more partying to be done.  In the afternoon, we went to my brother’s house for dinner.  She met some new dogs.  I don’t think it went well as she was very intimidated.  One was a 3 month old puppy and Misha did not care for all that barking in her face.

She got to see alot of new sights.  She heard alot of new sounds (some, like my nephew’s drums, scared the dookies out of her).  And, I’m fairly sure she enjoyed all the smells coming from the kitchen.

Here is Misha with one of her new toys.  I think it’s twice her size. LOL

Merry Christmas from Misha!

Today was the day that Misha gets out of the hood.  It may have been the worse day yet–for me, not her.

She started the morning by eating breakfast.  Then when I turned my back, she threw it all up.  I hadn’t planned on taking her hood off before I had my breakfast, but there was no choice unless I was going to tie her to my back while I cleaned the play pen.

With the blanket in the washer, she was in the play pen for the first time in almost two weeks hood free.  She licked but did not concentrate on the wound.  I think she was reassociating herself with her body parts.  LOL

After breakfast, I let her go free.  She did her best wild party dance running from room to room as if she hadn’t seen the house in weeks.  Then she did something she has never done.  She squatted to poop in my bedroom!  I rushed her out, but found two presents that landed before we made it to the door.

We played then took a walk.  At lunchtime, I put her in the play pen.  I got her food and was ready to get her when I realized she peed…on the same blanket I had just taken out of the dryer.  I swear, that’s the cleanest blanket in the house!

Finally she got her lunch, the play pen was clean again, and I was off to do some chores.  All of this before noon!

Misha was due for her one week check up today.  The first order of business was to figure out how to get her into the car without causing a mid-road collision.  She wouldn’t fit in the crate and there was no other way to secure her.

I decided the best way was on my lap where I could make sure she didn’t attack the driver.  She was a very good passenger.  She stood up to the window to catch all the scenes going by, then she laid down in my lap and rested.

The Vet visit was short and sweet.  The technician took Misha into the back and then they were done.  Her incision was healing very well.  I am told this is unsusual for small active dogs since the owners have a rough time keeping them calm.

So, she is healing very well.  She’ll be off her meds on the 12th and then out of the hood on the 15th.

Life in the hood isn’t always fun.  First, Misha got her jaw stuck in the hood while trying to get a toy.  That really didn’t help matters.  Then, I there was the day I decided to give her a break…big mistake.

She decided she preferred life outside the hood.  Once it was off, there was no way that hood was getting near her.  After making alot of attempt, I quit in frustration.  I let her be and she immediately when for the her wound.  I only hoped that once she took the sedative, I could slip it on.

So after lunch, I gave her the sedative and waited.  I walked her around the block, around the porch, and around the house.  Soon, I had a drowsy eyed, calm puppy in my arms.  I easily slipped the hood over her head–no problem at all.

She’s keeping the sucker on!  There’s no way I’m doing this multiple times a day.

Last night, Misha came home after being spayed.  I really didn’t expect to have many problems as she is a fairly good natured dog.  Was I ever wrong!

Misha woke up in the play pen instead of her crate which seemed to put her into instantaneous panic mood.  I could picture her thinking “What the frig is this thing around my neck and why were is my favorite blanket???”

She ate just fine, but giving her the medication was a nightmare.  She took the pill with alot of peanut butter.  The syringe filled with Metacam?  No way!  She freaked out, growled, snarled, tried to flee.  It wasn’t a very good start.  I ended up squirting it into my hand and letting her lap it up.

After an hour or so more of whining, I called the Vets.  The prescribed a sedative since she seemed to be going through anxiety of some sort.

The next day was so much easier.  The sedative calmed her down alot.  She wasn’t as afraid of the hood.  And forget squirting the syringe into her mouth.  I did it into my hand and she licked it up like soda.

I was happy to finally see her calm.  It was going to be a rough recovery if she was freaked out the entire time.