graduation

On Monday night, Lakshmi graduated from dog obedience. Not too long ago, Lakshmi was an excessively problematic dog with big anxiety and separation issues, to the point that she was a possible fear-biter. I'd been bitten and scratched up by her myself when she'd gotten into a state of hyper-anxiety (I'll have the scars for years), and it was looking as though she didn't have much of a future.

So this seemingly small milestone of passing puppy school is a major accomplishment.

Lakshmi is a completely different dog than she was back in January when she first came home with me as a frightened rescue dog with only a vague and incomplete history. She has even shown dramatic changes over the past few weeks. This is likely due to a combination of the DAP (Dog Appeasing Pheromone) collar, the fluoxetine (literally, prozac for dogs), and the changed dynamic in the household since Journey's passing. She is so much more calm and relaxed, and is gaining confidence. She still goes ballistic if anyone comes to the door, and I'll have to enlist some friends to help with desensitization on that score, but she is gradually becoming friendlier and less nervous meeting people and dogs when we're out walking, and she no longer screams and spins when in the car.

Seriously, Lakshmi was screaming every time we took a car ride anywhere -- even though she was always very excited about getting into the car -- and would spin around in her harness like the Tasmanian Devil. Now, she patiently sits at the open car door until I tell her it's okay to get in. Once inside, she sniffs around for a minute before sitting or lying down and letting me hook up her restraints for the ride.

She is very groovy with the cats. She does play-chase them on occasion, though the cats are good at letting her know when it's too rough. The kitties are obviously comfortable with her -- they'll lie around on the floor and barely lift their heads to look at her as she walks by. Kenobi has started rubbing against and playing with Lakshmi the way he did with Journey.

Lakshmi has gotten better about hiding under the dining room table. She'd always darted under the table (or under the bed) when she knew I was getting ready to leave. She didn't want to be put away, and would snap at me and bare her teeth when I'd reach for her. She still will duck under the table and lay her ears flat on her head, but she'll let me pet her, and then within a few seconds, she comes out from under the table on her own, without even the bribe of treats. Given how much difficulty I'd had previously, this incredible improvement literally brings tears to my eyes.

Just a few weeks ago, I wasn't sure that I'd be able to keep her, which would have meant euthanization since no rescue group takes dogs with any history of biting, even if it only happened once under extreme circumstances. (Another option would have been to call Best Friends Animal Society in Utah, but that would have been a real stretch.) She still gets excited and throws a little tantrum here and there -- she is, after all, a 17-month old husky puppy -- but she's mostly much more content. Now she'll sit quietly on a slack leash while I talk to a neighbor -- causing quite a few jaws to drop.

I wrote an e-mail to family and friends about Lakshmi's amazing progress, and received the following reply from a friend and neighbor:

Okay Jen, your email made me tear up!!!!

I have expressed my faith over the past several months that Lakshmi was so worth fixing. I have always maintained that only YOU would be able to do
that and no one else...... Only through your patience and determination could this have happened. I'm sure there are many factors that made these changes possible but whatever they are, your constant love of this beautiful girl has given her, her ONLY chance at a wonderful life.

The future looks very happy and promising for Miss Princess Lakshmi.
Thank you for sharing. Liz

The behavioral trainer we'd consulted -- who'd been very concerned about Lakshmi's problems -- wrote that this Lakshmi update had made her day. The obedience trainer announced in class that Lakshmi and I both deserve a medal.

Several hours before Lakshmi's graduation on Monday, she and I were out on a neighborhood walk. A man stopped me while we were out walking to ask if I train dogs. He said he figured I was a professional dog trainer, because my dog was so well-behaved. I just thanked him and continued on. If he'd only known her troubled history, and how very much that comment meant.