Frodo works on rebuilding confidence

Frodo: happiest when he's either eating or burrowed away somewhere soft

Frodo can handle the foster dogs but Langley's not your average foster dog and over the last year that Langley's been with us I've seen the signs of stress in Frodo steadily increase. And as Frodo's stress increased, my guilt increased because fostering is not supposed to make my dogs miserable. I mean, they don't have to love the dogs but I don't want them to be frightened in their own homes.

Langley and Frodo sharing couch space - a new thing this last month

About a month ago Frodo went on a low dose of fluoxetine, an SSRI, to help with his anxiety. His veterinarian and I made this choice after behavioral work, natural remedies and Chinese medicines prescribed by his vet weren't alleviating his stress enough. And it's helping. Finally I'm starting to see a bit of the old Frodo I know and love and he's no longer marking the area where the fosters sleep. I mean, he's still a snobby asshole but hey, that's part of what I love about him.

Long suffering Frodo during puppy duty: Zuni was a pup who liked to push, push, push

Frodo is good about telling puppies to mind their manners,

Along with the medicine, I decided to take an Intro to Nose Work course with the wonderful Dorothy Turley, CPDT-KA. I have a friend who's been taking Nose Work classes with her extremely timid dog and it's really been a confidence builder for him so I decided to try it out with Frodo.

We had our first class the other night and it was a great experience! Frodo is so obsessed with food that I honestly didn't think he'd do very well. I mean, a food drive makes it easier to get them started but Frodo's food drive is so intense that I didn't think he would have the self control to slow down and sniff. I know he's timid in new situations but I thought the food would overpower that. Nope. On his first try he really slunk around, low to the ground, ears back, tail tucked. He was afraid to put his head in the box to get the treats out and just stood there shaking, conflicted between his desire for the treats and his fear of the box. But pretty soon he realized that Dorothy couldn't be all that bad the way she was flinging food around and he started to move faster, tail still tucked but not slinking so much.

Frodo, worriedly hovering near a favorite ball while Zuni considers whether to go for the steal or not

When he came out for his second search he forgot to be afraid and got his terrier on. He went straight up to Dorothy and started demand barking for treats. He figured why look for the freaking treats when this lady is standing here with a bag full in her hands. When that didn't work for him he sat in front of her, hoping some belated politeness might get her to hand over the bag. Nope. That didn't work either. I swear if he could have given a big sigh and said "FINE" he would have. He then turned around and looked and sniffed his way around the boxes, turning abruptly when he caught the scent a couple times. This time he didn't even pause when the treats were inside the scary old box. He just stuck his head in and vacuumed them up. His one fault is that when finding a treat he likes to lick and polish the cardboard until he has gotten every molecule of food off of it so Dorothy had her work cut out for her to keep him moving and working.

Frodo never misses one of the foster dogs' training sessions  since treats are involved. Here he is with Neah and Langley

For me it was great that the class was so pressure free. It was okay that he was shaky and that he was a bit of an asshole to the teacher over treats. She has some Chihuahuas at home so I figured she was totally used to that kind of stuff. When we left for home it was like a little of that weight of guilt was lifted off. It's been too long since Frodo and I did something together without the interference of the other dogs. There were no touch sessions for Chima, or self control work with Langley or exercises to build Salinas' independence and confidence. No desensitization or counter conditioning. It was just me and Frodo with nothing hanging over my head and we both enjoyed it immensely.

If you have a dog who has some social deficits, is reactive around other dogs or is timid and fearful, I highly recommend that you try an intro class. It's pressure free, no special equipment is required, and is a great way to get out with a dog who normally might not be welcome in a group class. The dogs each work one at a time and never meet each other so you don't have to worry about reactivity.