Since moving into a house, Mandana has started to develop a habit of barking loudly when mail or packages are dropped off. Rather than punish her for this natural behavior I’m giving her the tools to deal with it in a more productive manner.
1. She rings the bell to let me know the mail was delivered.
2. She sits and waits for me to open the door and give her commands instead of bolting outside.
3. She brings the packages inside and stacks them in a pile.
4. She opens the packages for me only when I ask and only until I ask her to stop so as not to damage anything.
5. She helps me pick up items and throw trash away.
It’s a bit of extra work for me right now but she really enjoys it and it’s going to be very helpful when the training is complete.
Uh. Anyone on dogblr ever seen anything like this? I walked into the living room just now (~ to find 3yo Benton standing distressed in the middle of the room with a very stiff back and stiff, weak legs—like a tremor or maybe some kind of spasm? He was able to keep from falling over, but he was swaying a bit in the hind end and he clearly had a little trouble maintaining his balance. That said he also offered a fairly credible sit-pretty when he thought I might give him a cookie for that—I asked him to sit, thank you, but he got a couple of cookies just for coming with me and moving—and as whatever it was passed, he seemed to have more control over his hind end. He was happy to try and walk back and forth the entire time and then hauled himself onto the sofa for a sprawl.
No head tilt. No continued balance issues. Was largely normal by the time Kawuli came downstairs with laundry—entire episode approximately 545p to maybe 550p. He was conscious and responsive the entire time.
He's got a vet appt with his behavior vet tomorrow (has seen him most recently, runs a practice with a lot of focus on animals that really need cooperative care) and our general vet has heard and wants updates because WTF, obviously tumblr is not my vet. But has anyone seen anything like this before?!