Shelly - leader of us all...

There is only one gal who has an control over my life - and it is Shelly. I am so in love with her (same goes for that Boo) and she is the sweetest dog ever. We do have some serious work to do with her. (Check out some new photos here!!!)

She has really bad separation anxiety. I'm both sad and horrified to even imagine what he pre-shelter life was like. They think she had a good home that suddenly went bad. Most likely she was neglected and left for hours or maybe days at a time. It makes me angry to think this sweet creature would be treated like that.

Soooo, when we leave for the day, she waits about 20 minutes and then barks, continuously and loudly until someone comes home. The crate just exacerbates the problem. Thankfully she can be left to roam the condo. She doesn't chew, destroy, or have accidents! That is the good news - she is a smart, well-trained dog! Bad news is that the neighbors are going to kill us. I took off from school yesterday afternoon and today.

All of the usual tips, tricks, and advice are failing us. For some reason (maybe just the transition) she doesn't like to play with toys. Whether they bounce, squeak, or are stuffed with yummy treats, she pays them no heed! Very weird for a Lab. So there is no way to keep her busy to distract her.

Solution, well, we have a great trainer coming on Sunday. She actually brought Shelly to the WARL back in September after getting her from the woman who rescued Shelly from the previous people. Hopefully she can help with some behavior modification since we've been going in and out of our apartment non-stop to simulate anxiety-free comings/goings. It ain't working - I hope she can help. Shelly also started, believe it or not, Prozac today. Sadly, shelter dogs have problems that training alone can't solve. Hopefully this will reduce her anxiety so she'll stop barking. I'll be home a lot this summer but she needs to be able to be alone for medium lengths of time. We already have a dogwalker, but she only resumes barking once he leaves.

Cross your fingers for us, it's all we can think of this week. Otherwise Shelly is AMAZING!!!! We are having so much fun walking her, teaching her commands, tricks, and snuggling on the couch! Such a good dog!