Happy New Year and welcome to the January 2024 edition of ZENFULdog of the Month featuring Willow! Willow is a black Groodle (golden retriever/poodle). Her pet-mom, Karyl, describes Willow as looking like an elegant diva after being groomed and a goofy woolly mammoth when she needs grooming.
Willow
Age: 21 months
Meet Willow’s Family
Willow’s family consists of her pet-mom Karyl, her 9-year-old canine sister Mandy, and five feline siblings.
(Karyl—Willow’s pet-mom): Karyl explains that Willow was an ‘oops’ because her breeder did not realize his 1-year-old poodle was ready to become a father. She was a chubby, scraggly-haired, boisterous puppy—far from the golden puppy Karyl had waited a year for: “She is my 11th dog, and the first to present with emotions (positive and negative) as big as hers. It took me a while to feel attached to her, which bothered me, and perhaps it was the same for her. Now, we are clearly attached after some hard work and perseverance, and I would not trade her for anything.”
(Mandy—Willow’s canine sister): Willow is a typical little sister and annoying to Mandy at times. Mandy politely goes to see Karyl when she needs Willow to tone it down. They share play and skills for treat time together inside. Karyl continues sharing special alone time and playtime with Mandy to ensure their relationship changes as little as possible with Willow on board.
(Willow’s five feline siblings): Two of Willow’s feline siblings take no guff and are cuddle buddies with Willow. The other three hide or run away and prefer when Willow is in her crate. Karyl put up baby gates to two rooms to give the cats some safety zones. The cats also own the basement because Willow has never tried to venture down.
Willow's Personality: Karyl describes Willow’s demeanour as ‘boisterous’ and ‘exuberant.’ She says Willow’s motto is ‘Go big or go home:’ “She goes big with play, running, jumping, cuddling, sleeping (kicks hard in her dreams), stick collecting (brings home branches, not sticks, and prefers having several in her mouth at a time), and still, sometimes, fear.”
Karyl Shares The Most Unique Thing about Willow: “Willow wakes each night at about 3 am, jumps off the bed, looks out the window and barks for a minute, crates herself for a bit, then jumps back on the bed and sleeps the rest of the night. [It's] just one of those things that must be done for some reason!”
Willow's favourite Treats/Foods according to Karyl: Willow’s nickname is ‘Lips.’ She has rather large lips and they have never met food they did not like. Her lips also love to snag various inedible objects (earbuds, pinecones, tissues, rocks, pillows, bows on the Christmas tree…and the list is endless). Snagging inedible objects is a very fun game for her but Karyl ends it by exchanging a treat for the item.
Karyl Describes Willow’s Favourite Activities: When not afraid, Willow enjoys every moment of her day, especially:
Annoying the cats
Shoving her toys in her sister’s face
Squeaking her wubba
Bush walks/skis
Barking at fish in the small pond and splashing around
Collecting sticks
Training walks
Watching the cursor on the television
Learning new things
Cuddling
Karyl Describes how Willow Unwinds After a Full Day of Activity: Karyl explains that ‘unwinding’ is Willow’s trouble in a nutshell. Unwinding, and staying emotionally regulated, is difficult for Willow. Increasing play and exercise to ‘tire her out’ had the opposite effect and only made her adrenaline peak more. Karyl even tried an adaptil collar on Willow with no significant success.
What Does Help Willow Unwind:
As a puppy, stomach rubs would relax Willow for a moment.
Crate training helped too and was easy (possibly because her first 8 weeks were spent in a small, safe space). Karyl still uses the crate and Willow even goes in on her own to calm down sometimes (like at 3 am after barking).
Willow asks for chest scratches to help her relax.
Karyl calms Willow by asking for a skill when her emotions are not too heightened.
The combination of a harness and gentle leader is very helpful. When the leader goes on, Willow knows it is time to work—knowing what to expect seems to ground her.
Karyl has found Trazadone to be very helpful. Five months ago, the medication Trazadone was added to Willow’s regime because her big emotions continued to interfere significantly with her ability to implement the skills she was quite easily learning. Although sometimes used to induce relaxation and sleep in the short term, Trazadone serves to help regulate mood by increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain. Karyl feels that she and Willow have been transformed. Instead of a team that receives dirty looks when they walk down a street near another pedestrian (due to lunging and barking), they are now a team that can frequent several stores and receive smiles and positive comments. Willow’s emotions do not completely take over her skills anymore (most of the time).
If Willow had a human voice, it would be uniquely hers: Willow has had a voice in Karyl’s head ever since her feelings of attachment to Willow ramped up: “My Facebook posts are usually in her first-person voice. It is uniquely hers—upbeat, with lots of intonation and emotion. Her thoughts are intuitive and emotion-based, a tad mischievous and a bit dismissive of any admonishment from me.”
Willow’s Training
Although Willow’s ‘go big’ personality can be a lot of fun, it brings many training challenges for Willow and Karyl. Karyl describes it as feeling like Willow mauled people while standing on her back legs when attempting to greet them. Willow’s fear was so intense that a car going by would induce panic and a person walking blocks away would elicit barking and lunging. These examples, and many others, are what brought Karyl and Willow to ZENFULdog Training.
Willow and Karyl first completed puppy kindergarten with a different trainer. Willow was a star at puppy kindergarten largely because of the circumstances: the training was held outside with tons of space between other teams and Willow already knew the skills being taught. Willow’s unique challenges, however, remained ongoing. Karyl and Willow went on to complete a private lesson with that same trainer whose focus was only behaviour management—which did not help Willow overcome her challenges (despite having worked well with her other 10 dogs). Thankfully, Karyl’s friend referred her to ZENFULdog Training and she and Willow completed two private sessions with Kendra.
The sessions with Kendra focused on the needs and emotions underlying Willow’s behaviour, rather than simply behaviour modification strategies: “Full disclosure, I am a retired psychologist who worked for [thirty] years with human puppies, so this new approach fits perfectly for me. It was not about ‘do better with the rewards for good behavior,’ it was about ‘let’s understand how to meet Willow’s basic needs, such as feeling safe, and address emotions feeding behavior challenges.’”
Karyl and Willow have since completed two Level 2 classes and one Level 3 class. Willow barked her way through their very first Level 2 session and needed to be removed from the arena to calm down. Karyl had questioned whether she should withdraw Willow from the class, but they persevered and completed Level 2. Karyl decided to take Level 2 a second time because they were not quite ready to try Level 3.
The second Level 2 class included more free time as well as play and socialization with the other dogs. Willow could not handle group play (she was wild in an overly friendly way), so they tried play time with one other very calm dog which was more successful. The unwinding strategies were gradually tried out. Karyl and Willow have now completed a Level 3 class and are now taking a second Level 3 class.
Willow performs her skills very well at home in her safe zone but she needs more exposure to dogs, people and a different, more stimulating environment to practice the skills she performs superbly at home: “I would like to try Parkour (Mandy enjoyed agility) but logistics on my end have prevented that so far.”
Karyl Tells Us How Training Has Shaped Willow: The most helpful thing for Karyl since engaging with ZENFULdog has been the ‘permission’ to focus on Willow’s needs and emotions: “To gradually expose her (i.e. baby steps on her terms) to new situations based solely on what I observe of her comfort level and not on what a dog ‘should’ be like or ‘should’ do. Her behaviour guides how far we push forward. Dog training is not dog training—it is team training (the person/dog team, with more emphasis on the person). I have so much love and respect for this dog (who just came inside with a plastic cake container that is not mine...sigh…likely landed on our property from someone’s recycling and so the journey continues). Willow may always need to be in her crate when people come over [in order] to save them from over-affection, and maybe that is OK. But she can interact in public places like a star. I certainly did not get what I thought I wanted (a golden puppy/Mandy replica) but I know I got what I needed! I hope she feels the same.”
Karyl Describes Willow’s Biggest Training Challenges: Karyl believes that the circumstances of Willow’s first eight weeks of life impacted her development and likely contributed to some of the challenges she has faced. Although physically well cared for, Willow did not see the outside of a barn stall until Karyl brought her home. She had experienced extremely limited contact with humans, sensory stimulation and exposure to the world. Once home with Karyl, Willow had multiple fears, was very hard to settle and soothe and often sported a panting stress smile on her face.
Karyl Names Willow’s Biggest Training Successes: Karyl no longer dreads going into a small community for training with Willow. Now, she feels proud to have Willow by her side when they venture out: “We have confidence in each other now. So, learning about each other, skill building through training, recognizing the role emotions play, management through equipment (crate, halter) and medicine combine to help with ‘unwinding.’”
Willow’s Most Rewarding Training Moments: Hearing ‘she is a majestic dog’ from a passenger in a car driving by was a very rewarding moment for Karyl: “Majestic? This goof? But, I realized she was carrying herself with confidence, tail high and curled to the front and I felt so happy for her.” Karyl is also enjoying not being looked at with disdain because of an unruly dog.
Kendra adds: “When I first met Willow, it was clear this furry adorable goof had some big emotions. She couldn't manage her behaviour because she didn't know what to do with everything she felt. I knew she had a big heart and needed some understanding and patience. Thankfully, her pet-mom Karyl was sweet, patient and had a deep understanding of behaviour due to her experience in mental health as a psychologist. I feel her background was an absolute bonus in supporting Willow. As someone who loves her own dog who has big emotions, I can relate to others’ experiences helping their dogs. Every dog is an individual but the emotional journey can be a real rollercoaster and pet-parents need understanding, a right to advocate and acceptance—just as much as their dogs do.
I hope that Karyl and Willow have felt seen at Zenfuldog because we cherish them. I have seen them struggle and I have seen them succeed—always as a team. I admire, respect and love seeing a beautiful relationship like theirs take shape. I love every moment I can be their cheerleader, an advocate for their space and a safe place to have big emotions. When they both smile in class, everyone can feel that happiness. ”
A very special “Thank You!” to Karyl for providing so much fantastic content for this feature. We wish health and joy throughout the year to all of you and your wonderful pups!
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