WabiSabi

These posts are very comforting to us. Thank you.

Thanks all.

Thanks @Remolacha

We've had to concede to the inevitable. Earlier in the week, we had to let Loose go back to the kennels from where we adopted her. We tried, we really did. It was too distressing for her to be indoors around me (and I work from home so I'm there all the time) and outdoors unless Mrs WabiSabi was there too. Even then, a car revving outside, or me exhaling too loudly would send her scurrying for cover. We are heartbroken. We truly believe that Loose tried harder to accommodate us than we did her but she couldn't bring herself to completely accept us. She's not a house dog and we already know that when she saw her previous kennel keeper, she trotted off towards her. We are taking some time out but will be dipping our toes in the greyhound waters again in the future. Thank you all for your time and trouble. You're a great bunch and your hounds are lucky to have you as their property. x

Thanks and thanks to you all who offer little snippets. We read and appreciate every post. Our hound is named Loose. I don't use any photo hosting sites (I used to use PhotoShelter too) and I can't seem to upload directly onto here. So can I paint you a mental picture for now? Think, "magnificent, gorgeous brindle who's trying really hard to get on with her humans" and you won't go far wrong. Thank you - that's our plan! Our vet has started Loose on Prozac which she's been on a few days. She's going through the "Prozac-induced increased agitation" phase at the moment, poor thing, but we're going to persevere - this was expected and we are sure that it will be relatively short-lived and she'll benefit in the long-term.

And this morning, for the first time, she is lying down on the bed we put down for her in the living room! She didn't go near it until yesterday when she sniffed at it and walked across it now and again.

For the first time since we adopted her, our hound is playing with a toy this morning! We've had the toy since we adopted her but she's shown no interest at all in it. Then yesterday, I started waving it around when she was play-avoiding me (I've done this a few times previously but to no avail) and this morning, there she is, mouthing and pawing it! She's still wound up in the house but is being more of a "normal dog" in the yard.

Canine psychopharmacology is remarkably similar to human psychopharmacology! A terrible day today, btw. Got off to a good start first thing with playbows and her seeking our petting by getting really close, even to me. And then, for some reason, she just stayed in her den all day, including when Mrs WabiSabi got home and then peed in in her den when she was having her evening feed. So we've had to change her bed and mats which, of course, has wound her up even more.

We're hoping so. I'm not sure of the legality of prescribing drugs without seeing the patient in UK veterinary practice. On the plus side, the behaviourist and this vet know each other well and the vet may take the behaviourist at his word that anxioloytics are the way to go. Failing that, we'd be willing to cough up for a house visit. Anything not to put her through another car journey until she's well enough.

Not that this is any way a humble brag but our fears were real. We've just had a dog behavio(u)rist visit us and he has never seen such a withdrawn, anxious dog in a home situation He couldn't do any work with her as she just hunkered down in her den and our pooch was refusing to interact with him, me and Mrs WabiSabi. Not even for chicken and rabbit. Her pupils are like saucers, she's so adrenalised. Heartbreaking. Anyway, he's given us the name of a vet who is pro-anxiolytic prescribing so we're arranging that (difficult because our hound now hates being transported in a car too). Chin up, beer down on an otherwise lovely, sunny, warm British Spring day.

Yes, this too.

To all of you who have recovered spooks and anxious hounds - are they trainable and do they ever learn to play? Our hound is so distracted that recall training for instance is out of the question. She also has no interest in playing with soft toys or lures and the like. She does a little bit of "chase me" after playbows but show her a ball or a soft toy and she doesn't want to know.

Good to know. Thanks.

So it's not so good with Mrs WabiSabi at work but my impression is that she's a bit more inclinced to trust me.

After an awful week since we took her to the vet, we had some improvement over the last few days! She hates being in a car and as you know, doesn't like being lifted - both of which we had to do to get her to the vet. Anyway, she's recovered from the UTI and although she still scratches a bit, her skin is much improved on Piriton and removal of cheese as the possible allergen. She avoided me after the vet trip and bonded a bit more with Mrs WabiSabi (fair enough). But over the last few days, she's started trusting me a bit more again although she still freaks out if I somehow end up behind her and I'm on my feet. I probably broke a few rules yesterday - when she was in her bed in her den, I lay down nearby (not in her den, just outside) and just reached up and scritched her back and flanks for half an hour, all the while making calming gestures. She was making calming gestures too and then gradually closed her eyes and got all contented. I did this a couple of times through the day and today she's following me and Mrs WabiSabi and walking up to us *face on* for petting. OK she's had a *lot* of high value treats too but it's lovely to see her not being afraid all the time. Mrs WabiSabi is about to leave for work for the day so we'll see how she goes with just me in the house but we're moving in the right direction, I think.