Tristan and his flowers

Happy New DAY!

2010-01-05T23:18:00.000-08:00

Or maybe NOT... :*(

It's a new year and a new mixing bottle. After the feedback to Zoe, this is the new concoction we are using for the mixing bottle

Vine - Allows animal to be determined not domineering

Walnut - Helps the animal ease into its new surroundings or situation

Water Violet - Produces a compassionable and sociable animal

Mimulus - Animals become more confident and courageous, can enjoy life without fear

As you all know, we can never hope to know exactly what's going on in those heads of theirs - not unless you are Dr DoLittle. I am not. - so it's still pretty much a "trial-and-error" experiment for us in the current stage of things with the Flowers (although we all try to make it as informed a "trial-and-error" experiment as possible) but still, you just never know.

But what I DO KNOW is, whatever he is thinking now, it's aint' good! :(

So bad that I actually have to stop using the mixing bottle ONLY 2 days after we started it.

I don't know if it's the lack of Impatiens in the new concoction or maybe it's the added confidence from Mimulus, but the situation we have on hand now is really not pretty! On a really bad day, it feels to me that we've gone one full circle and come smacked right back to square 1! (Or maybe square minus 1!)

For the last 2 weeks or so, due to the holidays, we were kinda out of a routine. Don't get me wrong, I didn't lock him at home and forget about him. We still do our 3 walks a day diligently. (sometimes even 4 or 5!) The only difference is that, it's just not always at the same time, on the same routes, that's all. And believe me, Mr Tristan ain't a fan of NEW things.

I've noticed that he seemed to find find comfort and calmness in the sureness of a routine. New things stress him out. B.I.G.T.I.M.E. New dogs stress him. New venues stress him. New routine stress him. You name it. Pretty much ANYTHING new stresses him. Is it because he's so insecure that his mind just goes into overdrive at anything that's just not his norm?

I guess I'll never know.

One thing I DO know is, the lack of structured existance for this boy has returned me the all too familiar stress ball who lunges at 90% of men, park vehicles, bicycles AGAIN!

I have NO intellectual explanation whatsoever for this sudden regress.

My only best guess is that the lack of a schedule during the long holidays have made him jittery all over again! It might actually be true considering since we started our regular routine again the last 3 days, he seemed to have gotten better as the day goes by. Everyday, he lunges alittle bit less. Everyday he seems to find his footing back alittle more. But still, that's just so disheartening! It's like a chronic disease that wouldn't go away! :(

Ok, so now you've heard the really bleak part. If you are still reading, there IS one silver lining. Believe it or not.

The new concoction seemed to have improve his inter-canine relational skills. I'm not sure if it's the Mimulus working its magic here, afterall it's supposed to make him more "confident and courageous" but last week, we went for our weekly swim and I took the chance and allowed an offleash MALE Retriever to come right up to his face (Before you stone me, this Retriever is friendly and I knew that beforehand) That said, I reckon I wasn't prepared for the guy to plaster his face to him for 20secs - even though Tristan kept trying to walk away from him! - So urm, I might have push it alittle too far there. Anyhow, by that time, Tristan was so way above his threshold that basically all you can see is just the whites of his eyes and I knew he was going to snap at him anytime soon if the guy wouldn't leave him alone.

Nothing dramatc happened. Thank God. But from how he reacted, it affirmed to me that his reactivity to dogs might really be a byproduct of Fear. If that's the case, Mimulus might actually be helping him with that. Oh. did I mention too that he can pretty much ignore dogs during our walks these days? Though he's all nutty over anything else that moves?

*Double Sigh*

Now, all I need is to someone to tell me how to make him love life the way he loves swimming?

Day.......

2009-12-21T00:22:00.000-08:00

Whatever.

So SORRY for the lack of updates. Yes, yes, you guessed right. It's the usual excuses of a crazy work week, mad schedules etc etc.. I know. I know. I'm sorry. I really am. If you've been stopping by to a "stagnant" page, make it very S.O.R.R.Y!!!

Though, through the incommuno, I wasn't lazy. I have been and still is faithfully adminstering the 4 drops single flower and 7drops mixing bottle concortion to Mr Tristan, 3 times a day, 7 days a week.

Geez. It can get rather tiring.

BUT.. as the saying goes, what you sow is what you reap.

And so, I'm happy to report that 4 weeks into the programme, there really has been significant progress in the little black white head.

1) He can still go nuts when he sights a motorcycle zoom past. BUT the major milestone is, he hasn't been going for EVERY motorcycle. If the motorcycle is not right beside him, he CAN be called off the offending object. Believe me you, that's pretty awesome.

2) He has not barked at a single motorcycle while travelling in the car, for at least the last two weeks. Now, that's a pretty amazing feat. Considering that in the past, he was hurling himself against the windscreen(yes, I'm not exaggerating!) whenever a motorcycle stops by us or drives past us. Yes, we DID have a budget planned for shattered windscreens.

3) With dogs, I think he's shown the most significant improvement. In the past, he would just STARE DOWN and LUNGE at a male dog. These days, even when they bark their lungs off at him, he will pretend they don't exist and either curve away from them or come right to our side and STARE at us. That's rather impressive too!

All in all, I'll say that he's really make marked progress in most areas. He's gotten much more calm and patient during our daily walks. Of course, it's not perfect yet; there is still that occasional leash pulling especially when he's trying to steal the cats' food in the park!; but it's all episodes far and between. There is still that occasional lunge for the motorcycle, but hey! Rome wasn't built in one day, and as long as it's NOT indiscreet lunging for each and every motorcycle, that's improvment. :D

There are times, I swear,I can see the cartwheels turning in his little head, while he navigate his choice of lunging for the sheep-camouflaged-with-a-motor-engine OR the cookie in my hand. And when he chooses the "right" thing, the experience is truly priceless. It is really very gratifying and satisfying when you see an animal exercises their choice right infront of your eyes and make the right one, with no coercion or aversives whatsoever.
So here we are, almost at the end of our 4th week, and also almost at the end of our mixing bottle (help Zoe!)

I'm not sure if we should go for another dose of the same elements, but some of the areas I would like to see more improvement with him is territorialism and insecurity/intolerance.

With territorial, most things he does not like gets amplified within the premises of the condo. The postman's scooter (simply the sound of it!) drives him nuts. We haven't had a face-to-face encounter with the neighbour's Retreiver since we started on the Flowers, but at times Tristan does see him from our balcony; he doesn't growl or bark or do anything at the Retriever; but the way he is staring at the Retriever from upstairs, you know he isn't really happy about him. His demeanor is so tensed and completely different when he sights other dogs outside the condo, even male barkish ones.

As for his insecurity/intolerance issues, he still doesn't fancy it if other dogs come butt-sniffing. Although he can walk away from a dog (which is great) but if the dog follows or if we lead him closer to the dog, he gets really really stressed and will try to snap at the other dog.

With all that said, credit is where credit's due. He HAS improved tremendously and I am proud of him. It's not easy for him too I'm sure. As a high strung herding dog, all these sights and noises in the big city must be rather stressful for him. But he's trying hard. I can see. For that, he deserves a pat on the back.

Or maybe.. on his butt.

HA HA

Day 14

2009-12-06T20:00:00.000-08:00

Today (YES today!) marked the 1st time in Tristan's 21 months life that I could call him off a motorcycle!!!

WOAH!!!

As usual, the closer the motorcycle came, the more fixated he was, and then as it came really close, I yelled "Tristan!" and he looked at me, it, me, it, ME!

The motorcycle zoomed past, his face was stuffed with treats and needless to say, I was ELATED.

During the evening walk, however, all fell to pieces. :(

I was really tired and not in a particularly good mood. I wasn't big on dispensing treats and Tristan went into "I-am-in-a-hurry-so-let-me-take-you-for-a-walk" mode.

He pulled, I yanked, he pulled, I yanked...

It was a horrible horrible vicious cycle.

*I* need some flowers myself.

Day 13

2009-12-05T20:00:00.000-08:00

Saturday the 13TH!

Everything was peaceful, everything was calm.

No barking at people, no barking at dogs, no attempting to murder motorcyclists.

Yay!!!

Day 12

2009-12-04T20:00:00.000-08:00

This morning, we went to Hort Park for our morning walk again. When we were about to start our walk, a motorcycle reached to a stop right at the park entrance. Tristan was transfixed. He wouldn't bulge, no matter how I tried to tug on the lead. I'm sure I could have at that time yank his head off his lead and he wouldn't have noticed. Thank God the motorcyclist turned the engine off while unloading his passenger. And then, like magic, he turned his head back towards me and carried on the walk like nothing has happened.

This boy is so sound sensitive!!!

Our "highlight" 6pm evening walk outside the condo. It's always encouraging when we survive another of those walks. (I'm serious.You don't know which day he or I or the motorcyclist will fly across the road)

As usual, we have our TONS of motorcycles ZOOMING past us at high speed. It is really really not easy for the poor boy. (I imagine if those motorcycles were all giant cockroaches rushing at me, and I'm supposed to continue walking and pretend nothing is happening?!? I guess everybody has their own demons)

And so every time after our (20metres short) walk, he will be so stressed that the whites of his eyes has all turned red, those tiny capillaries seemingly ready to pop anytime. It is rather scary!

Today he lunge at one or two - not perfect but nevertheless a very very small percentage - that's good enough for me. As long as there's no regress, there'll always be progress.

Right Tristan?!?

Day 11

2009-12-03T07:28:00.001-08:00

This morning we ditched West Coast park and went to Hort Park for our morning walk instead. The weather was good. The park was beautiful. Serene in that hour with hardly a soul around. I took a chance and let Tristan walk off leash and run pretty much free. He proved himself worthy of that chance. We passed by a few walkers. He didn't even bother. As we left, I saw a helper with a Retriever. She avoided us and disappeared into another lane, hidden by shrubs. I doubt Tristan saw the dog though and if he did, he certainly did not show any bad feeling towards "it". Fortunately(or not), Tristan is a Border Collie with very strong olfactory capabilities as far as dogs are concerned. He can literally smell dogs from afar, way before he could even sight them. This morning though, he made a good choice. :)

Our 6pm walk is always the "highlight" of the day, as NOT herding motorcycles still proves to be one of his toughest nut to crack. But this boy has done me proud, time and again. It's a slow and drawn out process, I will not deny that, but daily he reassures me in his own little way that the choice of management I've chosen is making progress, albeit ever so slowly. But that's ok. As long as it's working, as long as he gets less and less intense around them, as long as he can display some semblance of self control, therein lies Hope.

Today's 6pm walk was much more challenging than usual. It was raining. We walked in the rain and I made a really really dumb choice. I wore my flip flops which has totally no friction. None.

Thank God Tristan did not make a beeline for every motorbike that passes and so I did not slide/flew across the road in a best case scenario. Like I said, he's not completely "exorcised" of the motorcycle demon but he's trying hard, really really hard everyday ;and I can see it; to offer some other behavior other than herding the moving bike. He's trying so hard to go against his instinct. That must be mightily tough.

Good boy Tristan!

We made it through another day! :)

Day 10

2009-12-02T04:20:00.000-08:00

We met one of these during our walk this morning.

Regal, aren't they?

We were head-on. Uh-uh. That always spell bad news to me. I stepped off to the side of the path and called him. The good owner of this big guy stopped about a metre away too as his dog was starting to really pull towards us.

The great news is, throughout the entire encounter, although Tristan knew very well that the husky was there and not too far away from him, he totally gave me his complete unwavering attention and didn't even steal a glance at the guy, WITHOUT my prompt. *gasp!*

Another day. Another victory.

(Obviously he gets A TON of cookies for THAT effort :))

Our 6pm walk was equally victorious!
Yay!

The multitude of motorcycles whizzed past us (what's new?) The news is, he did NOT lunge at any. I repeat, NONE. He did look, he did got interested, VERY interested in fact (which is fine - I know that this little demon called motorbikes will always lurk somewhere in his subconscious) but what I was most happy to see was, despite his crazy obsession with these objects, he could find within himself that little ounce of self control to NOT lunge at them when they past him by!

Self control in an animal is really an awesome sight to behold.

Day 9

2009-12-01T04:19:00.000-08:00

Our 6pm walk outside the condo was disastrous, to say the least. :(

Where did those MULTITUDE of motorcycles came from?!?

Right out of the gate and two of those whizzes by us by a metre. A METRE!!! I am sure that brought Tristan's blood pressure up at least 10notches!

The straw that broke the camel's (or in this case the black dog's) back was probably when one of those multitude of motorcycles chose to come into our condo. I could see the disbelief in his eyes. "MY CONDO! What's HE doing in MY CONDO?!?"

The rest as they say, is history. Tristan was already aroused beyond the point of sanity by this time. I'm sure the Flowers I gave him 5minutes before we left the condo did absolutely nothing for him at all today. Nothing.

Today I feel like this. :(

Day 8

2009-11-30T19:00:00.000-08:00

We went for our regular morning and evening walks in the park

I'm VERY HAPPY to report that this little chap has pretty much gone off his little grouch with bicycles (I hope :))

We pass an average of about ten bicycles in the park everyday, some at high speed, some not. The killers that used to get Tristan into a complete state of frenzy were those who sneaked up from behind us AT HIGH SPEED (To be fair, sometimes I think I would bark too if I could!).

For the last at least 10 -15 days, this little chap has outperformed every bit of my expectations (Yes, call me one of little faith!). He has not lunged for any bicycle in the park at all. None! Not even those obnoxious ones! Now, that's my boy! :)

Sometimes, it's amazing to think that we've only started the Flowers remedy 8 days ago. I wouldn't say it has solved all our problems but I really think the calming effects it has brought for this little guy has definitely helped his quality of life. Because he doesn't get so worked up by the smallest of noise anymore, because he could calm down when a fast moving object passes him by, this little steps has given me so much more room to reach out to him in his times of high stress and do some behavior modification work with him, something which I previously couldn't do.

Now, I can surely see that little wisp of light at the end of the tunnel. And I am happy. :)

All that said, I'm pretty sure the constant cooing and shoving of cookies into his face when bicycles sped past us at the park previously had helped tremendously to get us here too.

It's strange how life is always a vicious cycle, isn't it? When your dog is calm(er) and better behaved, you are in turn more relaxed and therefore able to enjoy him more and praise him more, which then results in a calmer and better behaved dog which then of course results in more praise and more treats etc etc...

Maybe that's what that has been giving me the strength and patience to keep on searching for ways and means to manage those unsocial quirks of his. The prospect of a better bond with him. And that is only possible if he is calm enough to make the right choices so I don't have to yell at him at every walk. :)

A thinking dog is a good dog. But you gotta be calm before you can think!

The 7th Day Review

2009-11-29T08:00:00.000-08:00

After using the Bach Flowers Remedy for 7 days, these are the notable improvements I've observed.

1) More Patience - I have not encountered a tight leash for the last many days! Yay!

2) More Tolerance with dogs - Marked improvement. He CAN walk away from dogs! *gasp!*

3) More Tolerance with motorbikes - Still much room for improvement but he doesn't lunge at every motorcycle. That qualifies as a marked improvement too!

All in all, I'm rather pleased with the results after using it for just 7 days. I don't know if it's all the Flowers' credit, but what I'm sure is because the Flowers did calm him down, we could be more successful with the behavior modification exercises we had been trying to do with him all this time.

Afterall, it takes a calm mind to think and make good choices.

For that he gets an extra this for dinner.

Day 7

2009-11-28T20:00:00.000-08:00

We went for our morning walk at Kent Ridge park. It was rather uneventful. He did his usual chase games with Braun and then walked the rest of the park off lead. We met some park goers and some joggers. He was really calm about that. One more brownie point for the black dog! :)

In the afternoon, I brought him to the gas station. We could have left at no better timing than the same time the postman arrives. He absolutely HATEs the postman's scooter. Oh, that's an understatement.

He was in his crate by the time the postman restarted his scooter but the racket he made in the crate, you would have thought he was fighting a tiger in there!

Anyhow he was already so worked up by the scooter that by the time we reached the gas station ;which was just a minute away; he started barking at the poor gas station attendant. That's Tristan for you. Once he gets stressed, he becomes indiscriminate. Sigh.

Flowers 0 : Scooter 1

Oh, did I mention this poor boy got electrocuted at Botanical Gardens during our evening walk? Ewwww!!!

Day 6

2009-11-27T20:00:00.000-08:00

Apologize for the lack of updates. We have had a long weekend, and you know how that is, too many things to do, too little time! :(

Something interesting happened today though. Perhaps because it was a holiday, or perhaps because we finally have a long stretch of good weather, we went for our usual evening walk at West Coast Park and there were tons of dogs around!

Ok, I exaggerate. Not really tons but you know, compared to the number of dogs we see on a normal day in West Coast Park; especially to a dog like Tristan; it probably looked a TON!

Tristan behaved really well. He didn't pull or lunge towards them and once I whip out a cookie, the dogs might as well not exist. This would totally not be possible a week ago! (This I am NOT exaggerating) We always thought that food could never distract Tristan away from something he's locked his eyes on ;dogs or otherwise; because he's not a very food driven dog but I've come to realize that that might not be completely true. It could be that during those times his stress levels were so way up the roof that the food might as well not be there. He just couldn't see it.

An off lead Schnauzer came by to sniff his hinders. He turned his head and tried VERY hard to walk away. The persistant guy followed. Tristan was visibly upset but he didn't do anything. He just kept looking at ME (cue the party poppers!!!) while I, his ineffectual owner kept trying to alert the offender's owners that my dog ain't exactly appreciating their pooch's over-friendliness. Finally Tristan turned back and delivered a warning growl to the dog, at which point, the owners finally came to their senses.

Thank God no further harm was done. I know it might not look huge for some readers out there but credit is where credit's due. We are talking about Tristan here, a dog who used to run away to beat up dogs unprovoked. He isn't the most patient or good tempered dog out there, and what he could do in this case with the Schnauzer did not come naturally to him I'm sure. It does takes ALOT of him.

For that I'm really really proud of him.

Good boy!

Day 5 - 7:00AM

2009-11-26T05:53:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Kent Ridge park for our morning walk instead of our usual, West Coast park, for a change. Less park goers but many more joggers at close proximity because there are limited pathways.

After his usual chase games with Braun, he got to walk off leash for the rest of the park. We had a few joggers come from behind rather fast and he was perfectly fine. YAY!

We met 2 dogs on the top of the hill. A male Golden and a female Malinois. The owner said the male Golden is friendly but not the female Malinois. I led him towards the Golden but he didn't want to go near him and kept turning his back to the guy and staring at me. I think he wasn't comfortable with the male but yet he didn't want to confront him.

Good boy, Tristan!

Day 4 - 7:00PM

2009-11-25T23:06:00.000-08:00

We didn't go for our 6:00pm walk today because I was completely stressed out trying to find a temporary foster for a lost/abandoned Golden Retriever before 9:00pm! :(

A friend found the poor chap wandering aimlessly in the park without a collar. She asked around the entire estate where she found him if anyone knows the dog or lost a dog, but yielded no success. At which point, she was totally desperate and called me for help.

So, there goes our 6:00pm walk. But hey! It's not everyday you have 3 hours timeline to find a roof for a Retreiver. Even if it's just temporal.

Anyhow, the happy ending is, another friend of mine was good to house Goldie for a while till we can (hopefully) find his owners.

So by the time we went for our 7:00pm walk, I was completely exhausted. I have forgotten how it feels to be working against a ticking clock and honestly, after yesterday, I'm glad those are distant memories.

The 7:00pm walk was fairly uneventful. (Is that good news? :)) We went to the big green field and realized it had been taken over by night frisbee players, so we did our usual rounds round the park. By the time we were done with our rounds, the night frisbee players have left and so I off leashed him for his nightly run. All went well.

When we were leaving the park, we met the Labrador (the one he didn't spot the day before) rather oddly. We had stopped by the side of the walkway because a lady approached us to pet the dogs. So whilst in conversation, the Lab and his owner sneaked by us. And I mean sneak! The walkway was left with barely walking distance for a human, much less a BIG dog and a human. I am trying very hard not be mean here, but you know, there were aplenty of walking area infront and behind us and the walkway we stopped at was not really a critical junction to get to any specific place, so why did she have to do that?

OF COURSE her dog tried to lunge at my dog. OF COURSE her dog was choked back on his choke chain and had his poor breath taken away. Sometimes it just maddens me why dogs have to suffer for the stupidity of their owners. Oh well.... As for Tristan, he was not as calm as I would like him to be. He wasn't really lunging towards the Labrador, but he did got excited and started pulling towards him. I have no idea if he just wanted to make friends or what and I guess with an owner like Lab's, we might never find out.

I've come to notice that these days Tristan displays pretty much 2 different reactions when he meets his fellow canine species.

1) He pulls towards the location the dog has been after the dog has left and sniff! - Anybody has any idea what does that mean?

OR

2) He pulls towards the location while the dog is still there. But once he gets within 30 centimetres or so of the dog, he will come right back to me and completely ignore the dog thereafter. Even if the dog was still standing right infront of him - Personally, I think that is his self control working here to avoid confrontation with the other dog. Cause when he gets back, he will not even look at the dog and only stares intently at me.

Anyhow, (1) was exactly what happened with Labby and 2 other Shih Tzus we met later on during the walk.

I can't really tell if the Flowers make him calmer or not today. I was exhausted and also worried for this guy.

Keep him in your prayers today, yah?

Day 4 - 7.00AM

2009-11-25T07:00:00.000-08:00

We did our usual morning walk at the park @6.30AM (that is just 6hours after his last walk!)

Good weather and he just had his morning dose of Flowers. Maybe that explains his good mood. :)

He got to do his usual play-chase thingy with Braun for about 10-15mins in the big green field.

After which, I let him walk off leash for about 100metres or so.

We walked past about 5 - 6 different sets of joggers. No problem. I saw a bicycle coming fast at us and I didn't want to risk it so I leashed him up. Help him succeed. Help him succeed. That's our recent training philosophy. Although I know this mantra is being frowned on by traditional trainers, but the more I think about it, the more it makes complete sense to me.

Punishment suppresses behavior. Reinforcement builds behavior.

So I leashed him and we continued walking. The bicycle came really close AND fast towards us. Why speed in a park where there are joggers and people and...... dogs? I always wonder. Anyhow I digress. I held my breath.

He glanced at it and then get this. He turned his little head towards me and gave me the sweetest (in my opinion) "What should I do now?" look.

AWWWWWWWW!!!! I was so proud of him I almost threw a party for him there and then! At that moment in time, honestly I don't care if it's the Flowers working or if it's the placebo effect of me having more confidence in him since the Flowers therapy OR if it's the long term result of constant shoving of cookies into his face whenever a bicycle goes past us at the park, but what I do know is, at that moment, we tasted victory.

Small but nevertheless honey maple-syrupy sweet victory.

If you are reading this and have a dog who is naturally calm and collected and he or she has absolutely no interest in fast moving objects, maybe you wonder if I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. That's ok. I understand that you don't understand but that does not negate a single bit the great leap this little furball beside me has just made with the an emotion which has eluded us forever. Self Control.

WOWWEE.

I'm still in awe.

Now, if he can do the same with motorcycles, I really will throw a party for him. I promise.

Day 3 - 7.00PM

2009-11-24T20:00:00.000-08:00

Today Tristan got 2 walks in the evening. Once when I get home at 6:00pm and another at 7.00pm when the car comes home.

This shall be the modus operandi for now, at least for the near future.

The rationale behind that is 2 fold.

1) Outside condo walk at 6PM - After consciously keeping him away from motorcycles for months (to the best of our abilities), it's time to slowly introduce him to his "sheep". There's no better way than the road right infront of the condo at 6PM. This arrangement will allow me a chance to assess whether the Flowers are doing anything for his motorcycle obsession and (hopefully) an opportunity to re-train an alternative behavior for meeting his nemesis.

2) Walk in the park at 7PM - which is his usual - will stay because it's a relatively longer walk without motorcycles within 30CM, which equates to, a relaxing walk. This walk will also give him the opportunity to meet dogs, joggers and bicycles, objects which have at various junctures irritate him to bits. Best of all, if he stays really really calm during the walk, he gets the jackpot reward of playing chase with Braun in the big field.

I'm happy to report that during the 6PM walk this evening, he did really well. Oh well, at least better than I could have expected a week ago. He was still aroused at the sound of motorcycles but when I called him, he COULD turn away and divert his attention to me. Sweet.

For the 7PM walk, again, like this morning, there was a dog. Again he ignored it. Though (AGAIN!!!) I'm not completely sure if he spotted him. This is a labrador we meet on a rather frequent basis in this park and he does try to pull towards him every time. I was sure he could see him from his peripheral vision but he didn't react at all and kept his gaze intently on me (or the cookies - but honestly who cares).

Hope springs alive. Yay!

Keep your fingers crossed for this little guy. Won't you?

Day 3 - 7:00AM

2009-11-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

We went for our daily morning walk @West Coast Park. For the first time in as many weeks, the floor is DRY! Thank God! We met a husky. Not sure if it's a male or female. He didn't really bother about the dog (To be fair, he might not have seen him, since the cookie on my hand was probably more tempting). That said, Tristan used to be SO STRESSED at walks especially if there was a motorcycle or a dog in sight that you could literally throw a slab of ribs in his face and he wouldn't have noticed.

After his neuter surgery awhile back though, I did notice he could at least look momentarily away from dogs if the cookie on my hand was tempting enough. That said, he still struggled.

Today he didn't look at the dog AT ALL!

Flowers 1. Dogs 0.

The question remains. Is it the mysterious powers of the flowers working (already)?

Or did the flowers manage to calm him down enough so that his little head could at least process the information that the cookie was a better choice than ripping off his windpipe by his own collar?

Time will tell...

For his good effort, he gets to free run. :)

Day 2

2009-11-23T05:25:00.000-08:00

We went for our evening walk outside the condo instead of the park because the car was not at home.

We had TWENTY (Read TWO ZEROS!!!) motorcycles ZOOM past us at close proximity.

It's a walk to hell and back, that 20 metres.

Tristan did rather well today considering that it wasn't completely event free. But this IS Tristan WITH motorcycles we are talking about. You need to see it to believe it.

To add coal to the fire, these days I have consciously kept him away from motorcycles because I didn't want the whole "sight-a-motorcycle-lunges-for-your-life" routine to become an entrenched habit whilst I'm in the midst of searching for ways to manage that unhealthy obsession of his. Trust me, those twenty motorcycles zooming past right in front of his eyes unleashed a monster who has returned for blood.

Fortunately none was shed though I did come off the walk with a few scratch marks when an absolute idiotic bike decides to REV his engine 30cm away from us, beside a really busy bus stop. It was scaring bus commuters OR the leg. I guess the leg goes this time round.

That said, I'm rather pleased that of the other 19motorbikes, he was able to NOT lunge for them when I yell "COOKIE". That would have been totally impossible a week ago. So, maybe slowly ;painstakingly slowly; the flowers are working.

I really hope so. Cause I'm sure somewhere between the 1st metre and the 19th bike, I looked like her.

Day 1

2009-11-22T17:00:00.000-08:00

Today is a Sunny Sunday! Pun intended because that's very very rare these days!

We went for our normal walks. Not much of an episode.

Tristan did not explode towards any jogger, bicycle or any moving object. Even though we had some bicycles coming exceptionally close to us.

Good sign! Is it the mysterious flowers working its magic yet? Hmmm... I think it's too early to tell.

This afternoon, as a reward, we brought him to expand some energy in his favourite activity. Swimming.

He loves it. :)

Finally!!!

2009-11-21T19:00:00.000-08:00

Today I receive the Bach Flowers "concoction" from Linda.

Finally after much consultation with Zoe, Here's what our sweet little guy will be having.

Individual bottle : Beech, Chicory, Vervain, Rescue Remedy
Mixing bottle: Mimulus, Red Chestnut and Vine

4 drops of the individual flowers. 6-7 drops of the mixing bottle. 3 times a day. 7 days a week.

Talk about intense!

Look at this face. Can you tell he's got so many demons in his little head? I can't...

Tristan and his flowers - how it all started

2009-11-20T07:00:00.000-08:00

This is a story about a dog - my dog to be specific - named Tristan. Just 18months ago, he was a teeny weeny pup with the most glorious face and a wonderful temperament.

As the saying goes, growing pains are well, painful.

So 18months on, our little guy has shown obvious signs of rebellion against this urban jungle. He likes his quiet and his big land, and as much as we try, there's only that much of the urban sights and sounds you can avoid in this tiny city island we live in. He still has to share the roads with other cars and *gasp!* motorcycles. He still has to share his park with other people (however late or early it is!). He still has to share his humans with other dogs and people. And believe me you, this little guy isn't good at sharing. At all.

Right at the top of his list.

He hates - and that's an understatement - this.

I have no idea when it started to hit him, but much to our woes, he has come to call them "his sheep". And true to his herding instincts, he can't stop herding them! I've never seen such intensity in him before. He doesn't even care about running children or balls or chickens, but the sound OR sight of a motorbike can set him up to such a frenzy a ruptured windpipe is on the cards if we don't get this sorted out anytime soon. And so a 20metres stroll outside the condo to relieve himself can literally turn into a dance with the devil. The only question is who gets killed in the process.

Next on our list is this guy.

Or any guy dog for that matter. This is likely a grown up boy problem. He's gotten much better after his diamonds were removed awhile back, but I waited too long. And old habits die hard. Sadly.

After much research ;while trying to avoid as much of the traditional drug therapy as possible; I've decided to give this alternative solution a shot. I don't know how it will pen out, but at this stage, as long as it's nothing too intrusive, I'm ready to give it a try.

Seeing your dog become a stressed ball once out of the door is, believe me you, not a very happy feeling. Assuming you do care about your dog and know innately that he did not choose to be stressed out (if he can help it) and in turn stress you out.

Such's life. You win some you lose some. This little boy in his young life has taught me so much and has forced me to learn and re-learn the word "Patience". Who would have guess a little cute flurry ball has all that powers?

The decision to try the Bach flowers remedy on him is the reason for the birth of this blog. It is intended as a journal of our daily victories and failures as we go through this a step at a time.

Joural-ing will help us track his progress (or lack of) in its most honest manner and who knows, in due course, it might just help someone out there who are experiencing similar challenges with their canine buddies.

So it does not matter who you are or how you've come to know us, if you are here on an accidental or intentional "linked" visit, enjoy yourself reading about our daily trials and tribulations with "tristan's flowers".

Today, I'll leave you with a picture of the fluffy furball who has brought this blog to pass..

Till later, xoxo.