She Was Hungry

The dog has been interesting for the past several weeks.   We train and I have her in dog training classes where we learn additional things and work around other dogs who are also in training.   Matisse is fairly food-driven and doesn’t seem to turn away any treats.   She’ll even work for her dog food kibble.   But lately, she’s been a different dog.

She’s been more aware of her surroundings.   Whenever she hears or sees anything she’s easily distracted and doesn’t have any interest in working.   It’s like the other thing has an overriding level of interest for her at the time and all else is less-important.

It’s made me look bad in class three times now.  Not bad, but like I haven’t been doing any training at all whatsoever.   I’ve tried changing treats to newer, more “stinky” treats.   I’ve come to class with several options but I can barely get her attention.    When the trainer comes over, she’ll pay attention, but only somewhat and then wants to look around the room again.

I’m pulling her food up mid-day so she comes to class hungry.   I’m not over-exercising her so she isn’t tired.   She just wants to watch the other dogs and would like to interact with them if I didn’t have her on a tight leash.   I wondered if she had gotten more food than I realized today as the children put dog food in her bowl when it’s empty.   When we got home I put the food down and watched her eat an entire day’s portion in one setting.   So she was hungry—very hungry—but food wasn’t as interesting as the other dogs apparently.

A lot of this change is age-specific: her world-view has been expanded and she’s noticing things differently than she did when she was younger.   This will pass.   Through everything though in the class, she just looks like she’s either overly tired or the most laid back dog you can imagine.   She sits and then goes into a down position.   Getting her to stand to do anything is challenging, but letting her watch and she’s happy.  

The trainer came over tonight and said, “you have no idea how lucky you are.   There are so many people who would love a dog this calm.”   We did ask for a calm dog when the breeder was selecting which was the best puppy for us, so we’ve got her to thank for that.

The Big Boy Update:  My son has been doing so well after school and on the weekend with the change in his medication (which he only takes mornings before school).  He seems to be adjusting to the medication well.   We’re meeting with his doctor tomorrow and will see what he thinks about the results we’ve seen and if he had anything different to suggest.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter told me tonight, "Hey mom I think dad and I have a lot more in common than you and I do. He and I like to cook together and do projects together and you and I just do art together and dog stuff. You and Greyson have more in common; you guys like to do games together and you both yell a lot."