Blitzen's sixth and seventh months with us, June and July 2021, saw some steps forward!

As you might recall, May was a tough month for Blitzen. We had scheduled a visit with the Behavior Vets to see if medication might be needed to help us make better progress and for him to feel calmer and less upset about certain things.

We had our Behavior Vet consult in early June. We got some possible ideas for medications to try, but we decided to hold off. By the time we saw them, he seemed to be getting on a better track and we were seeing less upset about things.

Instead, we decided to make some adjustments to his diet on our own and see if that would help him feel better.

We also did a follow up in June with his pain management vet. She suggested a few other things for us to try, one of which was CBD oil but a calming one that was a bit different from what we used back in early 2021 when we first went to see her. We have not seen any difference with the CBD oil but have added in a couple of different supplements (or doses of what we were already using) to see if we can ensure he is feeling better.

During June and July, while we still have some incidents of growling over things, it's not nearly what we saw in May.

We continue to take him on hikes and he mostly does well. Some days he does not bark at anyone, other days he does bark on occasion. He does mostly really well on his leash manners and does a nice job checking in.

We took him to the nursery one day when we were shopping for some new plants. He did a very nice job there with lots of other people milling about. (This is not something we have done with him previously, because we have been careful not to overdo it with too many people in smaller spaces until we are getting him more comfortable with everything.)

In June, I took a trip to visit my family in Minnesota, so Ed had Blitzen and Zooka duty for a week on his own. There were a lot more growling incidents when I was not there. There were two clear things that indicated some growly behavior from him. First was when he guarded an item on the ground or that he took that was not his.

The second indication was when he would get a minor injury – running into something or someone running into him or stepping on him. He most definitely gets growly when he hurts and if he thinks someone tried to hurt him.

We continue to get out on hikes. We had one hike when a biker came flying around a blind corner and very nearly ran right into Blitzen. Amazingly, he did not get upset about that and recovered from the scare quickly. Good job, buddy!

On one of our walks at our place, he came running up with a dead bunny in his mouth. While it's possible that he caught it, it seemed more likely that he found a dead bunny somehow and was happy with his find. Amazingly, again, I was able to get him to drop it. With a nice treat trail, I was able to actually get him to walk away from it. Good job, buddy!

We had a couple of encounters with deer in June. First, he was on leash and they were in our driveway. He was interested, but did not try to pull and chase, just watched. Second one, he was off leash, we spotted them from across our field. I asked him to walk with me and continue on and he did. Even though he was off leash, he listened to me and did not try to chase.

In mid-July, we had a huge breakthrough! One day, he got excited and decided to come up to the loft with me. You might recall in May when he got stuck up there and getting down was not pleasant. Well, two months later, he forgot about all that and decided to give it a go!

Five hours later, we were finally able to get him down the stairs of the loft. This time around, we did not use muzzles or harnesses or blankets. Ed got behind Blitzen and used a couple of things to block him from going back into the loft. So he was essentially near the top of the stairs. He could sit at the top or he could come down with me.

I walked ahead of him and he actually followed me down on his own. While we did not force him down, we also did not give him the choice to settle back in the loft. He was SO happy when he got down, we had a little party. Big deal for him!

The very next day, he followed me up again! Well, I wasn't sure what would happen this time. I went back down and he stayed upstairs. I got some treats, came back and when I went down again, he simply followed me!

That night at bedtime, Ed once again blocked him near the top of the stairs with an ex-pen. He followed me right now the stairs to our bedroom for the first time ever.

Since then, he LOVES going down the stairs. Any time I go, he goes. What a huge hurdle that was for him!

He continues to do well in his group classes and his training with me. We gradually work in new things to our routine.

Our goal is to positively impact the lives of as many dogs and their families as we can, in part through our extensive library of video, infographics and text articles. If you like our work, please consider supporting us through a donation!