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Post by JanisN on Nov 22, 2003 12:23:03 GMT -5
Hi, guys! Got a question, with (as usual) a little back story.
We've just put Sera into training. Sera is 15 months old, daughter of Enschi v d Mausespitz by Wildmarkens Tito. In the past, ALL of Enschi's progeny have had this WONDERFUL focus. Super, super, super attention spans with great drive to train and work.
Our trainer commented to us this morning that Sera has ADD. They're having trouble getting her to settle down and focus. As a pup and very young dog, she had great focus. She would follow me around, watching my face, just WAITING for me to give her something to do.
Sera is an "anti freeze" survivor. Yep, she had herself a little snack and is the FIRST dog that the vet had ever saved from anti-freeze poisoning. I credit her survival to the fact that her co-owner got her to the vet so quickly and the vet worked so diligently. We were told there are no side effects, everything is back to normal.
However, could this have had an effect on her focus? Her drive is still there, she has a willingness to work but she's going in 18 different directions at one time.
Any suggestions?
JanisN
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Post by CzechGSD on Nov 22, 2003 14:01:41 GMT -5
I have no idea if the Anti-Freeze could be a factor or not. Could it just be an "age" thing? Sounds like it could be " teenager syndrome". (Just a thought.)
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Post by gsdoglady on Nov 22, 2003 17:30:02 GMT -5
My first reaction was age and hormones. But that certainly does not rule out external factors. I do not know how antifreeze actually effects the dog -- if it effects the nervous system in some way, then it could well be a cause.
Sure hope it is just age.
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Post by Brittany on Nov 22, 2003 19:20:40 GMT -5
JanisN, I tried doing some research with anti freeze and the side effects but couldn't find anything.
I don't think Anti freeze made Sera to act like the way she acts. Anti Freeze doesn't mess up the brain but to the kidneys so thats out but maybe, I dunno if it's true or not but maybe shes traumatized by the ER work? maybe shes nervous? I dunno...
It maybe the age thats causing the problem, Which i hope.
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LauriS
Junior Member
Posts: 20
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Post by LauriS on Nov 23, 2003 23:27:46 GMT -5
As a pup and very young dog, she had great focus. She would follow me around, watching my face, just WAITING for me to give her something to do.
Could it be that she is having problems with the separation?
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Post by JanisN on Nov 24, 2003 11:19:15 GMT -5
Lauri, there could be separation issues. Sera's able to make the switch from me to Sherri and back from Sherri to me quite easily. I was hoping she would make herself right at home at Steve's place. He's going to keep working with her, see if he can bring her around. But it might also be an age thing. She's the first experience we've had with the anti-freeze thing (thank heavens) and she's just a doll. I hope so much to see her fulfill her potential.
JanisN
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Post by Mary on Nov 24, 2003 21:24:08 GMT -5
Hi Janis
Just a thought, she has been raised with Sherri & you. Both females, could it be the change over to a guy she is unsure about? Again just a thought.
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Post by freundhund on Nov 25, 2003 2:27:18 GMT -5
Janis
With regard to ADD and ADHD you would have picked this up at an earlier age. As with children you can pick this up with a bran scan which shows in children very minor abnormal brain waves, cause by a chemical imbalance. Children with ADD and ADHD are extremely active, dogs with ADD and ADHD are extremely hyperactive.
Dogs are very difficult to live with because of high activity level. Have you lived with Sera as a house dog. If she has been extremely active as a house dog it could be an indication of ADD and ADHD.
I have been luck the only dog that I have been involved with with ADHD belonged to a friend who is a doctor, with the aid of a vet, a friend who is a paediatrician, and notes I had received from a lecture I had attended on small animal behaviour we did a brain scan and dog was diagnosed with ADHD.
Now the interesing part of course all of the medical people have wanted their imput in the treatment of the dog but are still deciding on which medication works best.
Remember that as Sera is a bitch there is less chance of her being ADD or ADHD as it is found more often in males than females the ratio is 10:1 boys to girls. I think you need to look more at the age Sera is and when her season was or is due as this can unsettle bitches around this age. Have you tried giving her Evening Primrose oil capsules.
Regards
Freundhund
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Post by JanisN on Nov 25, 2003 11:40:02 GMT -5
Wow, what great points. Obviously I came to the right place to ask this question.
Sera was always active and a tail chaser when she was bored. When I would see her start for the tail, it was an automatic reaction to give her something else to do. She was house raised, both at my home and Sherri's. She does work with both Steve and Cindy, and she absolutely adores men. So I'm not sure if there's a gender issue.
Sera seems to have the ability to turn it on and turn it off. She's just as happy cuddling on the hotel room bed as she is out running the steam off. So she's not hard to live with, that way. As a pup she was busy, but no more so than any other puppies.
The evening primrose oil sounds interesting. Maybe I need it too!
JanisN
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Post by Smithie86 on Nov 25, 2003 14:39:36 GMT -5
Janis,
If Sera is working with two people, might that be part of the issue?
With Adie, food, play, training all came from husband. Until the bond was stronger with him, I literally stayed away as she would play one against the other - plus, she can have a major attitude.
And we seperated the SCH training and the show prep. Worked very well as Adie shows with no doubling handling (even husband she does not need and she loves him).
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Post by BetteBoop on Dec 2, 2003 9:06:03 GMT -5
Hey Guys,just thought I'd throw my 2 cents in here! Sera is a great dog in the house,she is definately NOT hard to live with. When I saw this ADD my chin just about hit the floor!! Her absolute favorite play toy in the world when she's here is Cruise (border collie) she herds him,he herds her, it's quite hilarious actually, so I wonder if she's missing him too? The only thing I did with Sera here is what Steve told me to do with her and that was "let her be a puppy,build her ball drive,thats IT" So thats what I did,as well as ring training. Maybe we should have worked more on focus, but I was only going to do what I was told to do after all the work they had to re-do with Bette. Ya better stop sending me dogs to mess up Janno!
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Post by Smithie86 on Dec 4, 2003 18:44:19 GMT -5
I have seen a few young dogs raised with the Flink's method for focus and a few older dogs re-trained with the same method and saw some great results. Just building up ball drive and focus.
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Kerry
Full Member
Posts: 177
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Post by Kerry on Dec 4, 2003 20:31:49 GMT -5
Assuming that it's not anti-freeze, the first thing that comes to my mind as I visualize Sera is that she is not grounded, like grounded with the earth. Maybe this sounds hokey to you, but you might look into a holistic approach, like Marina Zacharias' www.naturalrearing.com, a chiropractor, animal communicator.
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Post by Andi on Dec 5, 2003 21:28:44 GMT -5
Shame on you, Sherri, for not raising your dog to be a hippy.
Before we spend too much time diagnosing Sera with ADD, or brain damage, or lack of groundedness, let's keep in mind that old saying:
"The only thing two trainers agree on is what the third trainer is doing wrong."
In the past two months Sera has changed homes twice, gone from being a house dog to a kennel dog, lost track of the two people she knows and loves best (Jan and Sherri), and we are surprised that she is not quite up to snuff? Consider this: if she was a rescue, and her new family was making the same complaints about her, we would tell them that it takes time for a dog to adjust to those kind of changes and to be patient and keep working with her.
Also, we need to consider that they are comparing her to Bette, the up-and-coming superstar!
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Kerry
Full Member
Posts: 177
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Post by Kerry on Dec 5, 2003 22:08:36 GMT -5
she is not grounded, like grounded with the earth "Shame on you, Sherri, for not raising your dog to be a hippy. Before we spend too much time diagnosing Sera with ADD, or brain damage, or lack of groundedness..."- Andi Grounding isn't an illness, it's a state. Frequent transitions during anybody's life, especially a young one, can contribute to lack of grounding. Here's a paragraph by Wendi Moore-Buysse (The Soul Nurse)that explains more accurately what I meant: "It means someone is upset, angry, spacey, frustrated, or emotional in some form or another. This person is not experiencing the now. Typically, when we are ungrounded, we are thinking about something else besides what we are doing or being right now. It's usually experienced in a seemingly negative way, but not always. Sometimes we can just not be here - our soul is off somewhere else."As stress affects us, so it affects our dogs. I have given my dogs a full body massage, and also a little sniff of an essential oil that encourages focus, before training. A little Rescue Remedy for the dog and me before trialing helped a lot. After a dose of anti-freeze, a little something like Rescue Remedy isn't going to kill her! Here's the URL for the rest of the article. healing.about.com/cs/uc_directory/a/uc_grounding03.htm
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