Tag: snarky

Back to The Ducky Diary

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My brother spent most of this past week with us and Ducky was not happy about it.

I met Doug at the airport on Saturday afternoon (8/19) and from the time we got back here to the house until he left on Wednesday afternoon to visit with a friend in Asheville, Ducky was in snark mode. At least toward her uncle. So much so that we had to keep her on a leash the whole time she was in the house. (Well, except during the night while she slept in her crate.)

Thank goodness for doggie daycare! She spent most of the day there on Monday and Tuesday. At least she was able to relax and enjoy the company of her doggie and other human friends for a while each day. 

Since Doug was going home yesterday (Friday) after returning from Asheville, I felt Ducky would be better off at daycare (again) for even just the few hours her uncle was in the house. 

It worked out nicely, actually, because her daycare facility is not that much out of the way coming home from the airport.

I chuckled a bit on Wednesday afternoon because as soon as Doug left for Asheville, Ducky spent a good 10 minutes running around the house looking for him. She knew his scent but couldn’t find him. She finally gave up and went back to nap on her bed. 

When I picked her up at daycare yesterday, she sniffed the air in the car for a moment. Satisfied that Uncle Doug wasn’t hiding anywhere, she laid down on the back seat and slept all the way home. By the time we arrived at the house, she seemed satisfied that the tall stranger wasn’t here any more. She played out in the yard with Shadow for a bit and then took a nap in her bed.

Doug’s dog isn’t comfortable with strangers, either, so he understands what it’s like to have a human-reactive dog. I’m grateful for that understanding. Especially when I’m feeling ready to wring Ducky’s neck for being such a noisy brat.

Having said all that, I know what I need to do. Sort of. First step is writing it all down, like an outline. (Maybe in The Ducky Diary. Better yet in the Training Notebook that I haven’t started using yet.) When I get that done, I’ll figure out Step Two: Implementation.

Have a great weekend, dear readers. And those of you threatened by Harvey, please stay safe. We’re sending out positive energy and thoughts to all of you.

We’re Still Here

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The girls and I are still here. We’ve been busy. Well, their daddy and I have been busy. I won’t go into details, but my mind has been focused on more pressing things.

I’ve been on FB, Twitter, and Instagram sporadically trying to keep up with everyone. But writing and reading blog posts has gone by the wayside. And it looks like it’ll be at least another month or two before I can get back to the blog. Other than this post that is.

I will tell you this much: Ducky’s snarky attitude toward Shadow continues to diminish. She has her moments, but they’ve been fewer and further between. And, Shadow’s arthritis is an on again/off again issue. It’s not too bad this week, despite the cooler, wetter days. But that could change just like my own arthritis.

So I’ll leave you with these photos of the girls and say “til then…”

Bless Her Heart

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Ducky had some surgery on Thursday (2/23/17) that we hope will help reduce the incidents of UTIs and irritations of her vulva.
The vet says it will. So I have to believe he’s right. 


Meanwhile, she was miserable Thursday from the time I picked her up from the vet. All the way through Friday afternoon. The carprofen was helping keep the inflammation at bay. But it wasn’t doing anything for the pain. So, I asked the vet if I could give her some Tramadol. He said okay…25 mg. up to 3 times a day.

The Tramadol started working quickly. She was able to get some much-needed rest overnight. And after her morning dose and a nap before breakfast today, she is feeling much better. Not 100%, but still much better.

But she HATES the Buster collar. It gets in the way. Of her food bowl, of her toys, and of her sniffing out the critters who visit HER yard.

Whether she will acquire any patience is yet to be seen. It hasn’t impeded her snarky attitude toward Shadow. But having to wear the collar ALL the time is giving her a mental workout while she tries to play with her toys.

The sutures come out and the collar comes off in less than two weeks. By then I’m sure she’ll have figured out how to play again. 

Meanwhile, I came up with a new nickname for her: Ducky Smarty Paws. Or Smarty Paws. Maybe SHE doesn’t know the difference between “Smarty Paws” and “Demonbrat”, but I do. Positive association vs. negative association, regardless of the amount of affection in our tone. And it might just help with her attitude adjustment training.

Oh, Ducky! Part 4 – The Progress Continues

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And the progress continues…..

Since I “published” Part 3 (found here), Ducky has come a LONG way.

And hubby has been less grumpy with her (and even with me).

And my patience level – at least with Ducky and her daddy – has stabilized somewhat. In other areas not so much but I’m working on it.

But back to Ducky….


Since I started using the H-style harness, my little “demonbrat” has become easier to settle down. And my – and hubby’s – tone of voice has grown less harsh. And the tension has eased somewhat.

After re-reading the last paragraph of Part 3 -and really observing Ducky’s behavior patterns – I decided that the Trazodone wasn’t helping Ducky at all. So off to the vet we went. Again.

The vet suggested – and I agreed – to try Xanax instead of the Trazodone. The Xanax – I’m happy to report – started helping right away. Between it and the single daily dose of Fluoxetine, Ducky has been calming down much more easily. She hasn’t been as snarky with Shadow, which is good, but still needs improvement. These things take time, perseverance, and loads of patience. 

Plus, the UTI had come back – or never really went away – so, since we were already at the vet’s anyway, I brought up that fact. He said that the UTI is probably as much to blame for her tail tucks as our impatience. She was just plain hurting back there. And she’s much more forgiving of our failings than we are ourselves. He changed her antibiotic, and for the most part it helped. The wet leaves, dirt, and grass from all the rain we were having seemed to aggravate it a bit though. So I took to cleaning her after potty breaks, and that seems to have helped. We’ve had some pretty days again lately so the grass and leaves have dried out. That has helped, too.

As for the online course I was doing?  I had to put it aside for a little while. I haven’t stopped doing it altogether. I just had to slow down with it. After decades of “multitasking” at work, it’s hard to reset and focus on just one thing at a time. I have to make myself slow down and relax sometimes.  I can’t expect Ducky to relax if I’m hyped-up. 

Oh, Ducky! Part 3 – Making Progress

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Before I get started on this post, let me say HAPPY NEW YEAR to everyone!

So, for those of you who are interested but missed Parts 1 and 2 of this “Oh, Ducky!” saga, you can find them here and here.

And for those of you who have been following along and waiting (or not) for the next “installment”, here goes…

Back at the beginning of November the Whole Dog Journal published a blog post entitled “Listen to Your Gut When It Comes to Your Dog – and Act on It!”  by Nancy Kerns. I skimmed over it, put it aside, and promptly forgot about it.

Until a few days before Christmas that is.

I was working with Ducky out in the back yard. About ten minutes earlier she had gotten a bit snarky with Shadow – again – over who knows what at this point.  This has been going on almost daily for more than two months. I’m tired of it.

And I’m tired of her barking her fool head off at hubby and acting like a cujo dog every time he gets up out of his chair to do whatever.

And I’m really tired of hubby yelling at her to stop barking at him. I love him to the moon and back; but sometimes he drives me up the wall, across the ceiling, and down the opposite wall. Yelling at a dog to stop barking is like laughing at a little kid while telling  said kid to stop laughing. Ya know?

Admittedly, my frustration with the situation tends to surface in my tone of voice and transfers to my patience level. Or lack thereof.

Anyway, I’ve been working with Ducky on her place command pretty intensely and will continue to do so. (Especially in the morning so I can study or just read.) She settles down into a little nap pretty quickly once she’s had a chance to relieve herself out in the yard.

But, while Ducky continues to do what I ask of her most of the time – providing there aren’t any tree rats or other critters to distract her – I’ve noticed some momentary tail tucks. And that breaks my heart.

So, I’ve started an online course to help me get a handle on Ducky’s reactivity by getting a handle on my own reactions to her behaviors. I just started the course last week, but I’m starting to see some progress….

Normally Ducky starts getting snarky when I’m giving her (Ducky) attention and Shadow starts approaching us. That’s been my impatience trigger. This past week I’ve been forcing myself to stay calm when Ducky starts getting snarky. I’ve just held her in place, told her to relax, and kept her there until she calmed down. The shuddering and shivering as she calmed herself Thursday morning only lasted less than a minute.

So, we’re making some progress. Whether or not the combination of the Fluoxetine and Trazodone is any more effective than just the Fluoxetine by itself I may never know. But as long as the two together – along with the change in my approach to the problem – works, I’m not going to look a gift dog in the mouth.

Oh Ducky, Part 2

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If you read my Oh Ducky post, you know that Ducky went after Shadow for apparently no good reason about ten nights ago. If you haven’t read part one yet, you can find it here. 

Well, the following Wednesday  I brought Ducky to see the vet. We decided to do a complete blood work-up – a CBC, a chemistry panel, and a T4 thyroid test – and a urinalysis, just to be sure there was nothing medical causing Ducky’s behavior toward Shadow.  I’m happy to say that all results came back “normal”, so we can rule that out. 

The vet suggested trying an antidepressant called Trazodone, in addition to a reduced amount of the Prozac. He told me what to watch for, and to call him tomorrow with any questions. So, I went up to the vet’s office and picked up the prescription. When I got home, I gave Ducky her first dose.

While the Trazodone is getting into her system, the reduced dosage of fluoxetine (generic Prozac) seems to be leaving Ducky a bit hyper-sensitive to our moods. 

Now, we have to find a way to help Ducky deal with her anxiety and the stressors here at home. Stressors like the hubby’s total lack of patience when he first gets up in the morning. And, admittedly, when she starts getting the least bit snarky with Shadow, my voice tone tends to get sharper than I intend. So, hubby needs to stretch the limits of his patience; and I need to soften the tone of my voice. 

Meanwhile, I googled “Trazodone for dogs” and found a slew of links to read. I saved the page to my iPad bookmarks so I can start reading them as soon as possible. No, I don’t depend on Google for all my answers. It’s  just a starting point.

The good thing is that Ducky is not snarky toward Shadow all the time, just when she’s feeling – oh, what’s the word? overwhelmed maybe? I guess – below par.