A New Journey Begins

Now that we had a diagnosis it was time to start changing our day to day lives to help "unlock" Sniper and discover all his potential.  I needed to figure out his triggers and embrace some of the quirky behaviours that make him who he is.  From the beginning I decided I wanted to take a holistic approach in helping him.  That may not be understandable to many as holistic/homepathic remedies are doubted by the masses but I believe in the power of it and I wanted to see how it would benefit Sniper.  In reality, it was either going to work or it wasn't and the things we were going to try wasn't going to kill him.  I started to keep a journal of things that I observed or changed with Sniper as we navigated his treatment/life adjustment plan.

So where to start...

In May of 2015, under the guidance of one Sniper's treatment team, Dr. Jodie Santarossa, we started to implement a few things at a time to see what was going to work for Sniper.  First things first, we got a Thunder Shirt, not sure why I hadn't thought of it before as I have used them on many dogs and recommend them often to students and customers.  Almost instantly you could see Sniper's demeanor change.  I also added a few drops of lavendar essential oil to the patch on the side of the Thunder Shirt for such a purpose.  During a typically high stress time in the day where he would bark and spin as customers picked up their dogs, Sniper was considerably more settled and was barking less.  Instant success is somewhat gratifying but at the same time you feel like you failed your dog not taking that step sooner.

A few days later we addedd digestive enzymes to his diet to see if that made any difference in his behaviour.  Not so sure they made a difference but I was continuing to see positive changes and seeing he had more focus when learning.  Most of the changes seemed to coinside with the Thundershirt.

Always on the search for ways to help Sniper, we added a Shuzi Pet Tag to his collar.  The Shuzi tag vibrates at a cellular level and amongst many of its health benefits one of them was to help with anxiety issues.  I had had success with Shuzi for two of my other dogs with inflammation so I knew the product worked it was just a question of whether it would work for Sniper.  Within about two weeks of adding the Shuzi pet tag, Sniper was refusing to put on his Thunder Shirt.  It was an interesting observation and when discussing with Dr. Jodie during a cranial sacral session, she confirmed that he probably viewed it as a security blanket now and if he didn't want to put it on then Sniper felt he didn't need it.  And from that point on we just proceeded with the collar and essential oils.

In June, I progressed the essential oils from just lavendar on his Thunder Shirt to adding diffusers to my office and house. At home, I put one in the living room and another in the bedroom.  I continued using mostly lavender but was able to purchase a Tranquility Blend from Saje Wellness that seemed to really work well.  As soon as I got home from work the diffusers were turned on.  Sniper would eat his dinner and take himself to the bedroom where his crate is and hide himself away.  He was clearly sending a message that he needed down time in a quiet place.  With my very quick education into Canine Autism, this was a key component to the dogs finding balance,  Sniper naturally removed himself from any stimuli so he could rest.  Quite smart if you really think about it.  These quiet moments happen on a daily basis now.  He doesn't always go in the crate now, sometimes he chooses the bed.  If I happen to go in the bedroom before I go to bed, it is very clear that Sniper was in a deep deep sleep.  Before I knew what I was dealign with I just thought Sniper hated his family as he never chose to be in the same room as us but now I know different and do the best I can to find him a quiet space wherever we are.  If he has had a chance to rest or it is the weekend, Sniper will come and hang with us while we watch TV but he chooses a spot on a seperate couch by himself.  There is no cuddling or touching allowed in Sniper's world.  It's a very sad reality for me because he is just so cute not to cuddle.  

The Diagnosis

In April of 2015, at the age of 16 months, with a list of odd behaviors I started doing some research and seeking advice from a variety of sources.  I spoke to the breeder regularly as we are good friends, I contacted a behaviorist that I had used with Porter and had great success with, I contacted different friends around the world that may have some ideas, I spoke to a few veterinarians and I spoke to experts in the holistic field.  The general consensus was that Sniper was indeed different but nobody could quite put their finger on what exactly made him different.  I got lots of advice on how to fix specific issues from the list of things but nothing that would help the big picture.

Along my journey of talking to people, I get referred to a veterinarian with Slice to help deal with a concussion issue as well as some "athlete" rehab needed before heading away to Europe to compete.  The day Jodie and I reconnected will go down in history as a life changing moment for my whole family.  She worked on Slice and during our visit we started talking about how her veterinarian practice was now including holistic alternatives to conventional treatments the majority of us are familiar with.  Making a long story much shorter, we started to talk about Sniper and some of the "issues" was looking for help with.  Jodie thought she might be able to help and we scheduled a time for her to work on him.  I knew I would have to have my whole list of issues in hand at our appointment to get the most benefit of our time together so rather than remember everything down it went on paper.

THE LIST

1. Sniper avoids new experiences or situations

2. Sniper has a drastic flight/panic response

3. Sniper chooses not to interact with people/dogs

4. Sniper enjoys being with and entertaining himself

5. Sniper displays many OCD behaviors

6. Sniper recoils from human touch as if it burns him

7. Sniper randomly fear barks when nothing appears to be going on

8.  Sniper wakes from a dead sleep in a panic

9. Sniper trances 

10. Sniper avoids eye contact

11.  Sniper does not like any changes out of the norm, it causes anxiety

12.  Sniper has panic attacks

13.  Sniper starting to display separation anxiety
14.  Sniper continues to have accidents in the house or crate

The list was thorough and I had many examples for each point on the list to identify that they weren't just one time occurrences.  Jodie did a full overall exam of Sniper and brought up the possibility of Sniper having Canine Autism.  At first I think she thought I wouldn't believe her or think the idea was so far fetched but as soon as she said the words I thought, "well that makes sense".  I had never heard of a dog being autistic but it didn't mean it wasn't possible.  So I sat on the information for a week and started doing some research.  I spoke to a few of my closest dog friends and they all gave me a list of agility people they knew or had heard of whose dogs where autistic.  Who knew?  The names I heard amazed me.  These are trainers and dogs I compete with at an international level and the dogs are brilliant.  I was even more encouraged now that with proper protocol going forward Sniper was going to flourish.  Once I had a better grasp and what all this meant, I started to refine our routines and figure out all the things I could do to help Sniper.

Everything was going to be ok.

The Reason ...

1 week

2 weeks

On January 26, 2014, a litter of eight Nova Scotia Duck Toller pups was born.  The puppy I would get from this litter would be my second Toller and a full brother to Arson, my first Toller.  One by one the breeder posted pictures of the wee pups from basically minutes after being born.  We got weekly updates of their progress and new pictures to see how they were changing.  In the beginning, I was stuck on the tiny little girl from the litter and I was sure she was going to be mine.  Clearly the universe had different plans.

3 weeks

I have always trusted my breeder to match me with the best pup that matched what I was looking for and it has never failed me yet.  The wee girl was actually was the match for me even though a boy was one of my criteria.  At 7 weeks when the pups went for their vet check up the wee girl had patella issues that could have posed problems for the dog sport path I plan for my dogs.  The new pup was following in the footsteps of six agility dogs before him.  When Diane, the breeder, called me to tell me the news she followed up with the pup that was the next in match process for me.  Gremlin was the little boy that would be coming home to me and joining the family.  I won't lie he was my favorite boy so I was pretty excited.  Before the pups were even born I had my name picked out, this pup would be forever known as Sniper.

4 weeks

5 weeks

I had already been watching Sniper grow over the first seven weeks of his life and I was very excited that the little boy with the "naughty patch" of white fur on his nose would be joining the pack.  There were already four dogs at home before Sniper came.  Porter, the old man, a 13 year old White Shepard, had very little tolerance for poor manners and overly confident dogs.  Any dog that came into our house needed to respect his authority and place in the family. Slice, the only girl, a 7 year old Papillon that rules the house really.  Pint, the quite but mighty 5 yr old Papillon. And Arson, Sniper's full brother, a 3 year old NSDTR.  From the day Sniper arrived he fit into the family and his best quickly became Porter.  The last match I expected but the two of them bonded quickly.  The old man had great patience for this last little pup that he would "father" in his lifetime.  Sniper respected him and didn't pull any stupid puppy tricks around him.

6 weeks

7 weeks

Also, on his journey to Edmonton, came his brother Dragon.  His brother became the chosen one for my dear friend Amanda.  Lucky for the brothers, Amanda and I work together, and they would get to see each other every day.  I am the proud owner of See Spot Run Doggy Daycare.  What better way for a pup to be raised than playing everyday and hanging out with your family.  Dragon and Sniper have been best friends from the start and Dragon continues to be one of the only dogs Sniper will play with aside from Arson.

Sniper and Dragon (5 months)

Sniper was a super cute puppy with the right balance of naughtiness and respect.  He kept me on my toes and always brought a smile to my face.  I just could not look at him without thinking how cute he was.

As Sniper grew and his personality developed over the next year, I knew he was different.  This boy was going to tap into all my trainers knowledge and probably open my eyes to knew techniques.  He had energy to burn!  That didn't surprise me as I knew I was getting a high drive dog, that is what I wanted.  The difference was how his energy and brain worked that were different than my other dogs.  I have trained all different breeds of dogs in my business and I have trained through issues with my own dogs.  Porter had severe separation anxiety which led to me opening my business.  Pint had confidence issues from some bad experiences as a pup.  Slice was an incredibly fast and talented agility dog that took me to the highest level of agility there is, world champion.  Arson, a bit head strong but so willing to please.  All these lessons, gave me pieces to work with Sniper and for the most part it was working but I needed help.

At around 12 months, I really started to put some more serious time into Sniper's training.  I could tell he was brilliant but could see that the pattern of learning was not like anything else I had every dealt with.  I started working with different trainers and paying closer attention to what made him tick.  And this is where the story begins....

18 months