Eureka!

Today, we have made an accomplishment! I know most people will think I'm insane for being so happy about it, but I don't care - it's a win and I'm taking it! Mokey has always been terrified of the basement stairs. As in won't go near them, and will give you the worried, furrowed brow if you choose to go near them. This normally isn't a problem since she never goes down there. Until tornado season. Every year we've had the worry - how are we going to get Mokey down the stairs? I drug her during tornado weather and we still end up forcing her down the stairs to the basement. She shakes and shivers the whole way and I've never felt more cruel in my life. Of course I know it's to keep her safe, and because we can't bear the thought of leaving her upstairs to fend for herself if a tornado hits the house - but it's been torture for everyone. So this year, for Christmas, I asked for carpet covers for the basement stairs thinking that would help her overcome the worst part of her fear (the wooden stairs are slippery and they make it even scarier for a big dog when she slips or falls. Also, on a separate note, carpet covers are expensive! I mean, really? That much? for some carpet you stick on with adhesive? Sheesh. Also, thank you mom!!).

Today, in preparation for tornado weather, I installed the stair covers and Mokey has gone up and down the stairs several times! We are proud! And accomplished! My three year old dog can finally do the stairs! ... please don't judge ;)

Initially, it looked rather bleak, I thought the carpet wasn't going to help us at all because Mokey took one look at the new and improved stairs and went running. But, I pulled out my clicker and her favorite treats and we started with just looking at the scary stairs. And then she had to move towards the stairs. Then we did one step and two steps and the top section of the stairs and pretty soon we were all the way at the bottom! Of course, it took all day. Short little, very positive sessions where she was rewarded for moving closer by getting to move away to find a yummy treat. But to make all of that progress in one day was incredibly fast for Mokey! Now I just have to ensure we practice it over the next few days so that she remembers it's not scary. But it's so relieving to know she can do it on her own now and in a true emergency I won't have to traumatize her anymore. Anyway, since I'm a nerd and I had high hopes for her success and we've been trying to accomplish this for awhile, I took pictures. of course.

If you ever wondered what Mokey looks like when she's very very worried then here is a perfect example. Note the furrowed brow, the whites of her eyes, the upturned eyebrows and tight lips. Oh yes, she's worried. Sooo worried. She had to do the first step numerous times before we were ready to do the second step.

We made it to the middle landing! We enjoyed a nice break here to de-stress a little and we did just the first half of the stairs several times before moving on.  ;)

The bottom - we made it! We also have very large crazy eyes! She got to have a giant party at the bottom and she's accomplished the task several times since with very few signs of stress so I'm calling this one a win. It's nice to have them every now and then. 

2014 Collage

Mokey, at 3 1/2 years old has definitely become an adult. She's lost her high maintenance puppy demands and has settled in to be an obedient and nice family dog. Of course she still flips out if she sees a stranger, or dog, or weird object, or any number of new and scary items but we've got a routine down and it's working for us. I've come to accept that she will never be a dog I can just take out and greet the world with. But with some hard work (and some very obedient and patient people) she is able to accept a stranger - it may take 3 solid days of playing hard to get and high value food rewards - but she is capable of it. And once she's gotten over the fear of that particular person, that human is in the Momo Club for life. So, when it's desired we work on getting her to accept certain strangers and when it's just the delivery man with the pizza, Mokey knows that the door bell ringing means she runs to the back door and goes outside. It's safe and effective for everyone. The hardest part actually isn't training Mokey, it's finding acceptable people to use. You'd be surprised how hard it is for people to follow a set of rules - don't look at the dog, don't touch the dog, don't talk to the dog. People just can't resist - or they think, surely this dog has had enough time to adjust, let me just try . . . which defeats the purpose of course. The whole goal of the training is to keep the environment and situations so safe that Mokey never feels the need to react. Pushing the boundaries usually induces reactivity, so I don't push. Mokey tells me with her body language when she's ready and eventually, she'll be ready. So I don't use people unless I know I can trust them 100% to follow the rules.

Anyway, my original point was that we've established a routine now and our life with Mo has settled. She no longer has tons of puppy energy and she's not running around the house getting into everything. She knows the rules, she loves the family and life is good. Which means I forget about blogging. It's easier to remember when we're meeting goals or achieving new things all the time but we've reached that equally enjoyable point where she's just an enjoyable member of the family. But since my sister moved away and would like her own Momo fix, here's a series of collages of Mokeys past/recent activities.

Mokey has actually started to cuddle this year. As in, lying right next to me (or sometimes on me) and requiring face rubs and slight affection (though she frequently gives me the 'don't over do it' look). It doesn't usually last long, but when she was younger she never cuddled. She has always come in to 'check' on her people and get an occasional face rub, but to actually sit up close to you and cuddle - not until this year!

October - She loves pumpkin. And playing with Chase.

Christmas - Family time! And Leahs home! Mokey enjoyed lots of Leah time and went in to lie on her bed when Leah was getting ready to leave. She wuvs her people.

At Christmas Mokey also went and did a Christmas themed Nose Works Search. She did really good with all the new items and found the birch in all of the areas except vehicles - which was partly my fault for not calling it when she alerted and partly because there were scary strangers in the parking lot which made her signal much shorter and less certain than usual.

January - Snow! Beautiful snow! I particularly love the Mokey shaped outline she left in the grass when I finally made her come inside.