Is Roxy finally over her "separation anxiety"?

Yesterday, I recorded Roxy at home alone, to check on her behavior in this situation. Earlier, she used to scratch and paw at the front door for over 45 minutes. Of late, though, she has shown an independent streak, where she runs away outside the off-leash area (when I used to let her off-leash), and returns after 20-30 minutes. As Laurie put it, a confident dog like that doesn't have separation anxiety.

On the other hand, as a fellow dog-owner Katy said yesterday, when Roxy runs away, it is her choice, but when I leave her at home, it is not.

Apart from an occasional paw at the door, Roxy leaves the door alone. I had reprimanded her on a couple occasions when I caught her scratching at the door, so that could be discouraging her. But she quickly settles down on the couch, which tells me that discouragement is not the case (I'd expect her to wait by the door, otherwise.) Finally, Roxy does seem to want to return to the crate, where her water and a beef tendon spiral are. I did leave some water in her food bowl outside the crate, so the lack of water is not an issue (she finds it and drinks out of it.) Next time, I will try leaving the crate open.

Meeting the Dog Whisperer!

Last week, Roxy got in trouble at the doggy day care. Apparently, she would sneak up on two dogs playing with each other, nip one of them in the ankle, and then run away! "Time-outs" (a minute or so in the kennel) didn't work. There was also an incident with a food-aggressive dog - the dog barked as Roxy was walking by, and Roxy barked back - but didn't stop even after the doggy day care person told her to stop. So Ben at the Dog Spot told me to talk to Laurie Buffington, "the state expert" on ankle-biting dogs...

I had a session with Laurie this morning, and it was quite interesting. Laurie observed that Roxy was a very social dog, but also a very confident, dominant dog (which I figured out earlier), and maybe has some pit or other "bully dog." So she's ready to take all comers... including a big, 100-lb wolf mix ("Quinn") Laurie has! Laurie had Roxy initially play with 1-yr-old Aussie shepherd. Then she let out 3 dogs, including a pit/Border Collie bitch and Quinn - and Roxy went straight at Quinn, with her paws up on his shoulders ("he's the leader, I will show him I am boss!") Thankfully, Quinn is extremely accustomed to strange dogs, so he just didn't show any reaction (aka "what, me worry?"!)

Laurie said the dominant trait also makes Roxy think she has to keep other dogs in their place, hence her bark-fest with the food-aggressive dog.

Laurie observed that Roxy had a spinal-hackles-raised (forget the exact term), with the hair along her entire spine raised most of the time she was playing with the Aussie. This is apparently a state of high arousal, not aggression, but can quickly turn into a fight. At day care, this state persists for hours on end, so she's never turned OFF, even at home.

Also, I walk or run loose-leash with Roxy, which gives her a lot more freedom than she should have *now*, and allows her to chase squirrels or lunge at other dogs, unmindful of what I am doing, even across me.

Laurie gave me a few leadership articles, and recommended I run or walk Roxy on a short leash, till she walks by me - she essentially has to learn that I am pack leader, and she has to ask me for permission to greet other dogs (or do anything at all.) Also, Laurie recommended I keep Roxy in the crate, using it (or "tethering") to keep her calm, and also get her used to the crate as a fact of life. She suggested that Roxy doesn't scratch and maul the door because of separation anxiety, but because she wants to get out and do her thing. On walks, make Roxy remain calm when she sees other dogs (which will also help tire her out mentally.) And maybe use a vinegar/water spray (especially at day care) or time-outs to dissuade her if she even thinks of any bad behavior.

Lots of work ahead... Thankfully, Roxy was prevented from ankle-biting this week at the Dog Spot - the handlers put her in time-out if she even appeared to be thinking about it.

On dogs meeting each other

I am leaning toward keeping Roxy, but in the mean time, thought I would jot down a few thoughts on dogs meeting each other. Keep in mind that I am no dog expert, and I could be wrong - I welcome rational, polite comments.

Roxy is generally playful, and plays rough, according to the doggy daycare folks. But she usually gets along great with dogs of her size or bigger; they keep her away from small dogs as she has a tendency to chase them.

The last few days she has not been at day care everyday, because I am trying to reduce her time there (gets too expensive; see my previous blog post.) I did leave her at another daycare for a couple hours on Tuesday. My being sick means I don't run with her either - just long (30-45 minute) walks. The cold weather also means there are fewer dogs around the nearby lakes, and I don't let her off-leash because if she runs off (as she has done earlier), it's too cold and I am too sick to chase her around.

So today, on an afternoon walk, there were a few other dogs. The first was a German Shepherd, also on a leash (in the on-leash section). Roxy was excited to meet another dog, but the German Shepherd remained calm. Both dogs sniffed each other, and moved on.

The second "meeting" was in the off-leash lake, with a pair of black, furry, big dogs (not sure which breed). They were off-leash; Roxy was on-leash. Roxy tried to play with them, as they were chasing a ball thrown by their owner. One dog reacted badly - growling and baring his teeth. Removed Roxy from the scene, and walked on.

Circling the lake in opposite directions, we ran into the black dogs again. Knowing the earlier meeting, I kept Roxy on-leash, though I was tempted to let her off earlier (this was a section of the lake with good fencing.) Unfortunately, too close - Roxy again tried to approach one of the dogs, maybe the same dog. Same reaction. Roxy starts growling as well.

Second owner says: "Why do let him go at him if you know that's going to happen?" Slight back-and-forth, as I defend Roxy, but she isn't helping my case by trying to free herself of her new "easy walk harness", jumping and rolling on the ground.

Here's my take. In an off-leash park, dogs will approach each other. In an ideal world, each dog will be polite and walk quietly. But this is the real world, and Roxy's still a puppy (just over a year old). So she tries to play with every other dog, and doesn't always approach other dogs calmly; that is something I have to teach her.

If the other dog is mature, or well-socialized, the reaction is positive; as in the German Shepherd's case. If not - the black dog's reaction is what we get. So here's what I say: If your dog reacts badly to other dogs approaching him or her, then maybe your dog should not be off-leash, especially in an off-leash park.

Of course, one could say I should not take her to the off-leash park either; but at the least, I keep her on leash. And now on, I will keep her far away from unknown dogs, even if she fights me trying to get closer.

Sink or swim week in my adoption experience

I adopted a Labrador retriever/Siberian Husky mix from the Humane Society almost two months ago, called Roxy. Roxy's a pretty good dog - housebroken, great with kids, reasonably smart. But she has separation anxiety, and I have been working with the Humane Society trainers on that; in addition, I've had her on anti-anxiety medication (Clomipramine/Clamiprazole). But the past week hasn't been good, and this is an e-mail I sent earlier today to the HSBV trainer:

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It's been a while since we spoke about my HSBV adoptee, Roxy. Mainly because work has been hectic, so I have to some extent put off the problem of separation anxiety with doggy day care five days/week. I have got Roxy up to about 5-6 minutes of separation, though I haven't tested longer durations. A couple of times she displayed some anxiety even during those five minutes - she was standing up in her crate as I walked out the door, and whined throughout. On a later try, though, she was initially anxious, but then settled down. I suppose the Clamiprazole (spelling?) should be kicking in about now, which should help.

I was writing mainly to give you a heads-up and ask for any advice you have. This week, Roxy has not been visibly happy to see me - I use her tailwagging as a marker, but one can tell even otherwise. She seems happy to meet random strangers on the road during her walks, or when she enters the Dog Spot and greets Shannon or Ann. But when I go to pick her up, she's less enthused; earlier she used to try and jump on me, but these days it's more a "meh!" attitude. When I try to pet her at home, she's very reluctant to come over, and just turns over and lets me rub her belly or whatever - what I interpret as "let's get this over with." At the same time, if I get up and move around, she keeps an eye on me, which tells me she isn't over her separation anxiety.

I keep thinking of reasons - I am the fun Nazi who doesn't allow her to chase cats/squirrels/hares, takes her away from doggy daycare where she plays; or she's just tired/burnt out from day care that when she gets home, she just wants to curl up and sleep. The only time I see a slow wag is if I have a treat or am taking her out for a walk.

Obviously, I am not too thrilled with the situation, and it's not a good time, given that if I want to have her at doggy day care next week, I'll have to pony up more $$$ (and at $480 for a month...). So I will work with her more over the weekend, and next week it will be sink-or-swim time for Roxy and me. I plan on leaving her at home while I go to work, and if she's OK staying alone, fine. Otherwise - if she's happier with other people, we don't seem to be bonding, and she just "needs" me but doesn't "want" me, I don't see why I should keep pouring my time and money into her. It's like a bad marriage...

Any advice/tips would be appreciated. I'd be happy to come in and talk, if that would help - I really want this to work. She's a great dog otherwise - housebroken, a reasonably good learner, good with my friends' kids.
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Sink or swim. [Though as a friend pointed out, since I am already looking at HSBV cats, I might have made up my mind. OTOH, I have also been looking at HSBV dogs for a companion to Roxy if required, so I don't know... She also says that maybe I am just not a dog person, and Roxy senses that. Who knows?!]

My (current) take on healthcare reform

Some folks on the left are saying "public option or bust" - no healthcare reform without the public option. I am not so sure this is the right way to go, or even if the public option is such a great deal. Some thoughts on current proposals:

1. Healthcare reform can include a condition of "no pre-existing conditions". This in itself would be a huge improvement over the current state of affairs.

2. #1 necessitates a universal mandate to be "fair" to the insurance companies; if they have to take the sick, they should have adequate "pay-in"s from healthy people.

3. #2 implies federal subsidies for those who can't afford to pay insurance premiums, including expansion of Medicaid.

4. #3 means the money has to come from somewhere - possibly efficiencies in Medicare, including getting rid of "Medicare Advantage" - which would be a loss for insurance companies, but better use of our tax dollars.

5. Removal of annual/lifetime caps on out-of-pocket expenses would be great (what's that about half of current bankruptcies occurring due to medical bills?)

All of these five objectives seem pretty good to me.

Now, #3 can also be taken to mean "we need a public option" to avoid insurance companies increasing premiums/denying care to increase their profits (which already happens). But how will a public option work? Say it can't deny care as freely as private for-profits. That means insurance premiums will likely rise each year (or else we get rationing of care*). Otherwise, the public option operates at a loss, which means subsidies are needed from the federal government to keep the public option solvent. Which means private companies could be driven out of business, and we eventually get to single-payer (if you are a liberal)/a government take0ver of healthcare (if you are a conservative).

* Unlike what Tom Coburn says, a non-profit public option will be less likely to ration care than a for-profit private insurance company for the same premiums.

Couple of other thoughts:

1. If you really want single-payer, say that and work for it - don't be try to force a backdoor entry with the public option.

2. One alternative I like is a universal, minimum-benefits/catastrophic insurance public option. Private companies can offer this level of service, as well as better coverage for higher premiums.

3. If I understand correctly, the public option and other reforms don't even come into effect till 2013 (coincidentally, *after* POTUS election.) So if a triggered-public-option is offered that also comes into effect in 2013 if insurance companies don't clean up their act - why not? One answer offered is that the trigger may be too hard to press (Senator Ben Nelson has already said "we don't want a hair-trigger." We don't want an inoperative trigger either.) So the devil's in the details - the language of the trigger has to be very clear - and impose stringent rules on private insurers.

4. I think the "fees on insurance companies' "Cadillac" plans" is a chicken-s*** way of raising individual taxes, and I am annoyed that liberals like Schumer/Rockefeller and Max Baucus are proposing this. These fees *will* be passed on to the consumer, and likely to *all* consumers. This is a backdoor tax, and I'd rather see a tax on individuals with these Cadillac plans; "if you want this gold-plated option, you gotta pay for it."

I'd love to hear President Obama say #2 in today's speech; it seems similar to what some proposals say, but the message coming out of DC is way too complex and doesn't state this as clearly as I think I have.

As for #3 - I'd be open to setting up non-profit co-ops *now*, and evaluating their performance in 5 years - if they don't work, amalgamate the co-ops into a public option in 2013.

Doggie Dash 4K - running with Roxy!

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Healthcare reform debate on Larry King Live

This post was too long for a Tweet, hence the rare foray back into (non-micro) blogging!

Just happened to catch a Larry King show with Elizabeth Edwards (yes, her!) and Tommy Thompson. The few minutes I was able to bear went something like this:

Thompson: Everybody can be covered with tax credits. Competition between private insurers will bring costs down.

Edwards: Well, the last time Republicans had the chance to reform anything in healthcare, they didn't allow the federal government to negotiate prices for prescription drugs, protecting the private companies at the cost of consumers.

Thompson: Republicans want to protect consumers, Democrats want to destroy the healthcare system.

Larry King: You both are wonderful.

Dumbass. I switched instantly.