Seperation anxiety???

What the heck?  My WFD is manifesting seperation anxiety!  The move isn't going well for poor little Jasmine.  At first, I didn't notice anything apart from her pooping or peeing in the basement.  That didn't worry me overmuch because that's a behaviour she usually falls back to in a new environment.  If I keep an eye on her, it isn't a problem since I can predict when it will happen.  This time, it's nothing as trivial.

First, it was peeling paint from the front door.

Then, it was scratches on the front door molding.

Finally, the botton of the molding was chopped off.  See picture below.

Yup, all this damage made by a little bichon mutt.  I did a "call out" on facebook and here are some of the suggestions that I was given.

• Put on radio.  Actually, it was suggested that I rig something up and make the radio (and house lights)  turn on 15 minutes before my arrival as a predictor.  However, since I usually turned the radio on when I left Jasmine alone, I decided to keep the old habit.  Time will tell if rigging something up will be necessary.
• Leave at random times of the day, and keep them short.  
• Put Jasmine in her crate.  Unfortunately, I never trained her to loooooove her crate.  She endures, but that's about it.  Therefore, the crate is up, all cozy inside with a fluffy blanket, and I'm hoping she'll decide it's her "happy place".
• Get some dog appeasement pheromone (DAP).  Done, and it's plugged in.
• Ignore Jasmine 10 minutes prior to my departure and after my arrival.  I pat myself on the back since that's a habit I've had from day 1.  In those days, it was to avoid Jasmine peeing in excitement near the front door.
• Last but not least, give her some wonderful long lasting reward when I leave.  Not easily done with a low food drive dog.  She ignores her treat until I come back, and I, the evil human, puts it away until the next time I have to leave.

Wish me luck!

Easy does it.....

It's finally done!  The condo is sold.  A new house has been bought in the community where I found my new job.  I moved into the new place last week during one of the worst rainfalls in history.  Several of my neighbours have had serious flooding in their basements, but that isn't surprising after 60 mm of rain fell in just 12 hours.  I count myself lucky after only founding a very small puddle downstairs and a leak in my fireplace.

Ever since I accepted the new job in late June, no real breakthrough has happened in agility, except for Jasmine's first try at standard courses in a trial environment.  I was a bit worried in July when she started limping down the A-Frame and even the front door steps at home.  Even so, I ignored the voice of reason and got into a frenzy of competitions in August and September. What I was thinking?  I finally scratched Jasmine from the trial at Dreamfields last month.  Too much going on and my sanity was being affected.  Not only that, but I decided I didn't want to invest hundreds and even thousands of dollars in vet bills later on.

Jasmine went on a complete break from agility for at least three weeks.  The result is no serious limping has been observed for at least 14 days.  Yay!  We participated at an agility fun match today and she did well.  No zoomies and boy, was she focused.  She did a good A-Frame but stayed on top during the other tries. The contacts could have been better.

What about flyball you ask?  Well.  After three (or is it four?) years of training, mademoiselle Jasmine has finally caught the ball while the box was triggered.

Sometimes, it pays to take some down time.....