Jekyl & Hyde Puppy

I haven't, until now, posted anything about the challenges I am having with my purebred 9 month-old Catahoula puppy named Chinook. Suffice it to say that it has been very, very stressful and I can't my brain going 'round & 'round about it playing the same tape loop which sounds something like, "shit, what the hell is going on with him? Is it my fault? I hope I don't have to get rid of him. But, how could I possibly do that?? He is my wonderful, sweet puppy...except for when he's not. But, then, shit, what the hell is going on with him," etc., etc.

So, rather than trying to start from scratch to describe everything, I'm just going to go ahead and post a recent email that I sent to the assistant of "certified, applied animal behaviorist" Dr. Elizabeth Shull, whom we're driving out to see next week in Knoxville, TN.

Before you read this, I will tell you that things have gotten much better since Wednesday now that I am again taking him out off leash. We're doing what all of us love - hiking in the woods. Our new favorite place is called Bent Creek Experimental Forest. I'll tell you more about that sometime soon.

I also want to specifically mention the invaluable assistance of Christine Brown, owner of Travel-N-Blue Catahoulas in Hohenwald, TN (http://www.travel-n-bluecatahoulas.com/home.html). She has provided an incredible amount of support, crisis counseling, telephone advice and encouragement to me. In addition to her kennel, Christine is the Southeast regional coordinator for Catahoula Rescue, Inc. Her female, Copperhead, was the dam of my puppy, Chinook.

I also want to acknowledge my dear friend, Jennifer Schwarz, a very gifted psychic living on the Big Island in Hawaii. In speaking for Chinook, she reminded me that he is just a puppy who is doing his best in much-too-tight quarters and that both of us had intended to find a wide open space in the country. THANK YOU, Jennifer!

Here is the email:

Hi, Olivia-

I really appreciated your help today and your calm, friendly demeanor. That helps. I will get those forms completed and send them back ASAP.

I know I told you I was going to forward a prior email to you so Dr. Shull could read it. I request that she please read this PRIOR to our arrival next week. Well, unfortunately, we had another "incident" tonight that I will describe:

Today was a great day, or so I thought, for Chinook. This morning, we went to obedience class and he did great with sit, early/short time stays, recall exercises. We came home and he played in the yard with my other dog for about an hour. Then he slept - out like a light - for 5 hours! Then, I took him on a walk - about 2 miles. He was fabulous on the leash and very well behaved. I was so pleased. Then, he had dinner and he growled once, quietly & briefly, at my other dog who came towards him while he was eating. That has never happened before today. I reprimanded him. After dinner, he went out into the yard and did a lot of very annoying barking at dogs, people, etc. Just a few minutes ago, we were in my room - Kali (my female), Chinook, myself & my sister. The was petting Chinook & he was quite submissive, on his back for her. Then, he saw something outside out the window that he couldn't get to. He became quite excited, then frustrated with some growling and pacing for about 5 seconds. He started circling Kali and then EXPLODED, morphing into a wild animal. I took hold of him by the scruff of his neck, saying "NO." I jerked him and forced him down to the ground and straddled him. I didn't turn him over on his back b/c I was afraid he would bite me. He kept growling and strugging, his eyes looking wild and crazy. I managed to lead him into his crate and closed the door. Five minutes later, he was snoring and asleep.

I am willing to invest this time & money and give it a go. But, this is happening more and more frequently and I cannot deal with having an unpredictable dog.

I have had mixed breed "American mutt hounds" for 20 years and have learned a lot about dogs, their behavior, training, etc. However, back in August, I purchased a registered Louisiana Catahoula Leopard Dog as a 10 week old puppy. I bought him from Carol West of Chaos Kennels in WI. The dam is Travel n Blues Copperhead from TN and the sire is J Ann J's Talladega. I also have a 5 yr old blue heeler/Catahoula x Kali. I really need some help - hopefully before I have to simply surrender Chinook b/c he is too dangerous.

We started out attending a puppy kindergarten class prior to my cross-country move from Seattle to Western North Carolina. We spent a week in the car and arrived here in early January. Since then, I have noticed some very, very troubling behavioral issues with Chinook which make me extremely concerned and scared.

First a bit of history: The day I got Chinook, I picked him up at the airport where he had flown on Northwest airlines from Minneapolis. He was, of course, stressed and scared. I brought him home, gave him a little food and loving. After a few hours, I gave him a pressed rawhide bone to chew on. When my friend and dog oficionado came over, I went to take the bone from him and he growled and snapped. I was alarmed but assumed it was b/c he was stressed. I encouraged him and was firm and he dropped the bone. Over the next number of months, I practiced with getting him to give up his bones and he got pretty good at it. To this day, he will always sacrifice his bone to me, usually with just a little encouragement. Unless my other dog is around....

While we were still in Seattle, I used to give both dogs chew toys stuffed with treats to keep them busy. I also used to give them soup and marrow bones. They would each take their bones to a corner of the house or yard and work on them. At some point, they would switch. There was some playing and "stealing" but no fighting. While on the road, in hotels, I would do the same thing. A couple of times, things got pretty heated with Chinook but I assumed it was due to being cooped up in a crate most of the day. They didn't actually fight but the behavior would escalate and I would take away the bones.

Once we arrived here in Asheville, things got pretty bad. Chinook & Kali would get into fights over the stuffed chew toys and rawhide bones, even when they both got one. I mean full on fights, drawing blood. I would struggle to pull them apart and it got harder and harder. I resolved: no more chew toys; no more bones. Most of the time, it looked like Chinook started it but it was hard to tell. So, for the last 5 weeks, I have just avoided the situation by no bones or chew toys. It was very upsetting for me and for my niece & nephew & sister with whom I am living. Once, my sister had to help me pull them apart. I consulted some neighbors of my friends who "rehabilitate" shelter dogs. He told me that it was due to Chinook being young and testosterone filled (although he was neutered right after xmas) and the confusion of a larger pack. As I said, we've just avoided this situation for the last 5 weeks.

Then two times about two weeks ago, something else scary happened. Chinook saw a cat outside the window and started leaping & pawing at the glass, growling in a very scary fashion. When I tried to tell him "no" and redirect him, he turned his aggression and frustration at my other dog. The first time, I caught him just as he was about to attack her. In order to keep everyone safe, I put him in his crate. After about 10 minutes, he was calmer, that cat was gone and I let him out. The second time, he did attack and while trying to pull them away from each other, I found myself IN BETWEEN these two dogs. He snapped at me once, didn't even touch me with his mouth, but he's really starting to scare me. He's only 9 months old and already 65 lbs and quite strong.

Kali, my female, has always been very alpha and doesn't get on well with other alpha females although she's just rude with them, no actual biting. Normally, all her best buddies are males and she tends to play pretty rough. But, she had never drawn blood until one of the recent incidents with Chinook over the chew toy.

After all this happened, I consulted with James Ha - an animal behaviorist in Seattle and also Carol West (the breeder) and Christine Brown, breeder of the dam. They helped me put together a behavior protocol (attached) and, in the meantime, I have contacted behaviorist Elizabethe Shull in Knoxville. We don't yet have a date for a consult set up but, honestly, I'm not sure we'll make it that long.

Then, yesterday, three things happened. First, in the morning, Chinook stole a plastic rotissiere chicken container from the trash and ran outside. I went after him to retrieve it. He growled at me but easily gave it up when I traded him for a biscuit. It troubled me that he had growled at me but I didn't react. Later in the day, he was licking dishes in the dishwasher and as I said "no" and tried to lead him away, he growled again. I verbally corrected him and put him in his crate. Then last night, I was letting him out to pee one last time. Again he grabbed the chicken container (although I had 'triple-bagged' it) and ran to the back corner of the yard in the bushes. When I went out to get it, he had a wild, crazed look on his face and growled at me repeatedly, ferociously like a possessed wolf. I was scared to death and backed off. But, I knew that if I let him "win," I'd been showing that he was dominant over me. So, I went inside, put on my thick coat and pulled the sleeves down over my hands. I got a blanket, a flashlight and a leash and went back outside. Somehow, I managed to distract him with the blanket and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck. He bucked wildly and tried to bite me (or, at least appeared to but he didn't chomp down hard) twice. I managed to get the leash on him and led him back into the house. We had not gone two steps past the threshhold when, literally, he reverted back to him normal puppy self, wagging his tale and looking a bit confused why I was so worked up (panting and shaking).

I am desperate to get some help!! I'm afraid I may need to get rid of Chinook. I have tried the whole "ignore the dog for several days" routine. He sleeps in his crate most of the night and I have been hand-feeding him the days I am home (otherwise, he's at the dog sitters with one other male dog - a red bone coon hound and Kali). Chinook eats fine next to Kali.

FYI, started an obedience class on Feb 18th and he is learning that type of thing. But these problematic behaviors are not the types of things that they handle. I feel that if I don't get help right away, I may have to surrender him to the pound as my breeder will not take him back. Christine Brown in TN WILL take him but she'd at a Catahoula show this weekend and is not home. I don't really want to give up on him but this is becoming WAY TOO scary for me. I'm just a normal person - not a macho trainer.

I look forward to hearing seeing you next week - if we can make it that long.

THANKS.

Sha'ari Garfinkel

Would you like to make that a meal?

Today I had reason to be in downtown Waynesville during daylight hours. Normally, I drive through on the Smoky Mountain Highway first thing in the morning when I'm in a rush on my way to work. Then, I work until after dark and feel my way home along the windy roads. On my way to a training at another office and drove one of the roads I normally drive but this time it was flooded with bright sunshine and the mountains looked as if they were brushed with gold leaf. I noticed contours in the mountains that I simply can't see in the dark and am in too much of a hurry to see in the morning. After my appointment and at the suggestion of my co-worker who's been in the area a while, I took the long way home down Main Street which parallels the highway. I passed the courthouse, small shops & boutiques, bed & breakfast inns, a couple of antique shops and a country club. Being closer to the mountains than you are when you're driving on the highway, they looked much bigger and more formidable. One really gets the sense of these towns being nestled in whatever valley they could find, connected by roads which could only take one path through and around the mountains. It was truly lovely.

Then, I stopped by Subway and ordered my normal Spicy Italian footlong with both halves wrapped separately. There, I had the opportunity to "make it a meal" for $2.00 by adding a "side" and a drink. Side options included various types of chips or a serving of boiled peanuts which sat in a hot vat near the door! My sister says that I absolutely must try them. And, I will. But not today. I couldn't. I tried. They simply looked too much like graying, waterlogged index fingers, all "pruny" and pocked. I went for the Baked Lays instead. Next time....

Heading for the Hills

I have had several moments of profound and utter sadness and homesickness. I guess that this is normal - I mean, it's been a month since leaving my home of 12 years. There is a tendency in situations like these to idealize one's former life. Literally, I have caught the following words running through my head: "Why did I have to go and screw things up. I had a PERFECT life." What??? If it was so perfect, dear, why did it even occur to you to leave? Of course, I know this is not true. But it was known and there are so many unknowns here. I'm already weary of being in transition mode but, what little certainty and structure I have had is about to change. My job is about to become a travelling crisis mental health person. For the last few weeks since I started, I've been reporting to a mental health center but the state is requiring us to "hit the road" and be more accessible to the rural populous. What that means is I may end up the day right up against the Tennessee or Georgia border, over two hours from my (sister's) home. So, I could end work at 8:30pm, not make it home until 10:30 pm and have to turn around and leave for work around 6:45 pm. Of course, this would just be three days in a row. So, I'm trying to find a place to catch some zzzz's and take a shower out in the hinterlands. That also means that I would not see the dogs for three days and, truth be known, that is what scares me the most. I'm very dependent upon them for love, grounding, giving care, fun, hugs and more. I also know how much my older girl Kali pines for me when I'm not around. Just the thought of it makes my heart ache. If all of this change wasn't enough, my sister and I had talked about me moving out by April 1st. I am looking forward to us having our own place though...

My new job is very, very challenging with a lot to learn. The laws for involuntary commitments are quite different here in NC than they were in WA. Basically, anyone can go to a magistrate's office and take out a petition to get anyone involuntarily committed to a psychiatric or substance abuse treatment facility. Then, the sheriff will track them down and haul them into the closest emergency department for an evaluation which is either upheld by the first examiner (physician or social worker and some others) or shot down. If it is upheld, that person is hauled off for treatment, many times unwanted and sometimes unneeded.

Here, I am acting as NC's version of what is known in Seattle/King County as a "County Designated Mental Health Provider," I will be responsible for correctly handling a bunch of important legal paperwork which basically limits peoples' civil rights. The agency I work for is both a provider and a regional authorizer of services (in WA I think they are called RSM's - bascially what the hospital authorization folks do) so many of people call on us - both lay people and professionals, frantic family members and put-upon law enforcement personnel. We do lots of assessments in a fairly isolated office without much support and no medical people for vitals, administering of meds, etc. It feels very dangerous and risky. The procedure is complex and there are few resources for basic things like transportation. I've actually witnessed a situation here where a client was involuntarily commited b/c of lack of transportation. You see, with an "IVC" (involuntary commitment), the county sheriff is required to transport. I will never complain about the WA mental health system again.

"Where Have All the People-of-Color Gone?"

(NOTE: This post may sound very much like another one. That's b/c I thought I lost this one and rewrote another one. I'm just too tired to re-edit right now so, deal with it. Besides, this one is funnier....)

Well, truth is, they weren't here to begin with.



But, before I get too far into this, let me first say that I am sorry there has been such a gap between postings. Here is the truth: for some reason, everything I was typing as I was trying to write a new posting was transliterating itself into Hindi!! Really! Seriously, it started doing that all on its own. Is the universe trying to tell me something like, "take thyself to Mumbai"? Or, are there people in India who are actually interested in really about Appalachia in their native alphabet? As interesting as this blog may be to some, I find that very hard to believe.



So, back to the topic at hand. There are soooo many white people here in Western North Carolina. It is kinda creeping me out. After 12 years in Seattle and, most of that time, living in a neighborhood where Caucasians were the minority, it is very strange. And, yet, it's not as if there isn't diversity. Somehow, when everyone is basically the same color and speaking the same language, class differences appear more apparent. And, no where else are these differences more apparent than at the great equalizer, Goodwill. West Asheville Goodwill had a grand re-opening today and, boy, was it ever interesting. Looking around...and listening, one could see exceedingly well-groomed dead ringers for New York transplants checking out the used golf clubs and testing their swing in the aisles. On the other end of the spectrum were people who looked like they'd rolled out of bed, not washed their faces let alone their hair, in about a week, wearing torn Panthers sweatshirts, dirty jeans and workboots, lazily wandering about, looking for a deal. It's as if the class differences have taken the place of the racial/ethnicity/color differences I knew from Seattle. This is what passes for diversity here in Western North Carolina.

Lately, I've been accidentally calling people on my Blackberry by not locking my keyboard. I called my friend Kathleen inadvertently the other day. She said she heard four minutes of me talking to the dogs, reassuring them that we were "almost home." She said it was cute but I wonder. My mom called to say I called her three times and she overheard similar conversations with the dogs. I know I've done this a couple times with my friend Les b/c I later notice his number on my outgoing phone log. One could say that his is all completely accidental. Or, Freud might say something different. I do know that I am very lonely for all my old friends and am missing my old life in Seattle. Perhaps I am calling out subconsciously.

(Edited for the purpose of job preservation)

I haven't met too many people b/c I've been too beat after work to seek out social situations but I think that will change here pretty soon. Other than having some time with my sister's family and having easier access (7 hrs away) to my parents, I'm not sure what good it is doing for me to be here. Sometimes, I find myself asking, "What the hell am I doing here?"

On the positive side, the days are mostly bright, sunny and clear. And, the people are all very friendly. The dogs and I are loving a nearby part of Pisgah National Forest known as Bent Creek Experimental Forest. There are lots of trails, streams, waterfalls and a lake. Yesterday I slogged (slow jogged) three miles in preparation for my upcoming 5K in early March.

Today, I awoke feeling quite ill and called in sick for the first time. So, after this brief period of uprightness, I am back to bed.

How about this one?

So, I've written two additonal posts since the Jan 28th one - it's just that you can't see them. Because, they got messed up! The first one kept transliterating everyting into Hindi for some reason and I couldn't understand what I'd written when I went back to re-read before posting. Thank goddess I did. The second one didn't save at all. It is challenging to get over feeling like I need to try to recreate them.

Well, of all the things I wrote about, what sticks in my mind as worth mentioning again has to do with the poverty and/or substandard living and or perceived genetic anomalies, all of which may or may not be related. In my graduate training as a social worker, it was drummed into us to question stereotypes and to avoid willfully or inadvertently propogating those. Well, that does present a problem for me with what I'm about to write. You see, I've been observing hillbilly-dom vs. Appalachia in Asheville vs. that horrible description of Caucasians, specifically "white t _ _ _ _ _." I can't even write it, I feel so ashamed. It goes against everything I believe about not judging people, accepting folks within the social context of their lives (not mine), not putting my own values onto other people, etc. etc. But, I can't deny what I've seen.

Yesterday was like touring a bizarre sort of people museum. To begin with, I went out jogging in the morning. I had my cute running outfit on, complete with white & blue piping stripes and matching running shoes. I'm barely up to a three mile slog (slow jog) up and down the hills in this West Asheville neighborhood. Well, just as I'm cresting one of the hills, I see a couple in the distance. With each foot fall of mine and theirs, we get a little closer to each other. That's when I notice that despite the 24 degree weather, he is wearing a short sleeved t-shirt and jeans with a pair of tennis shoes. She, on the other hand, s wearing some type of flannel pajamas covered with a ratty, dirty light blue terry cloth robe with the collar pulled up around her neck. She is barefoot and staring at the ground, not looking up for a second. I say somewhat lamely when we are in speaking range, "Are you guys ok?" Of course, the guys says, "we're fine." Like what would you expect him to say...."We're really fucked right now and could use some help from a perfect stanger"?? What was their story? Was she a victim of domestic violence, barely escaping with her life and he the male "friend" who is secretly in love with her and keeps trying to tell her that she deserves better? I guess we'll never know.

Then, I went to Goodwill. Not just ANY Goodwill but the new, grandly re-opened Goodwill. There I saw the most number of people in one place who looked like they had fetal alcohol syndrome. It was really sad to see, the high foreheads, lowered ears and eyes which appeared to focus in two completely different directions. I know it's wrong but what's running through my mind right now is "Dueling Banjos" from the film, Deliverance.....