Its been a long day, just getting a chance to unwind here!
Once fall arrived, we had some breathing room with the storms being behind us for the time being. Molly was a wild child- She spend the next few months reaking havoc on our lives! We agreed to keep her on the meds since she was still anxious and with the compulsive behaviors, we were hoping she would mellow out a bit. She was constantly wrestling the other 2 dogs, especially at night when we were all just sitting around watching TV and she was busy stealing whatever she could sink her teeth into behind our backs. She learned how to get into the trashcan one day and she had trash all over the kitchen and all the training I had done with her, its like she forgot everything. She growled at me and bared her teeth like some kind of savage wolf. I just didnt understand......she would go from being a sweet dog to the devil. I was able to get her to calm down by trading off for something better. She was like Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I was lucky to be involved with a network of Golden retriever owners along with some very knowledgeable trainer and veterinarians. I had a few trainers tell me that Molly had a bad temperament and that even though we can learn to live together, that you can never really make it go away. It would always be there in her. Someone once told me that she was going to turn on us one day. That being said, it just made me even more willing to work with her. In my mind.....there was going to be success! I was going to do this! I was determined, regardless of what anyone said!
Mollys coat started to get fuller and thicker and it was time for her to get groomed! At the time, I had a groomer friend come to my house and groom my dogs in the basement. Molly was having no part in any of it and we had to muzzle her to even do anything with her. It was awful! We managed to get her on the table and I would stand there and talk to her and pet her and re assure her that it was not the end of the world. I remember the vibration of her growling, her entire body trembling....drool was coming out of the edges of the muzzle. My groomer was exhausted when it was all over. I was too. I could only imagine what she was thinking, but hey, at least she didnt get bit, right?
We were in for the long haul with her...cause her coat was thicker then Rufus and Amber and she was going to need more frequent grooming. I invested in getting my own grooming table and started to learn to groom them myself. There was no sense in putting her through added stress of someone else trying to manipulate her. I began to get her on the table weekly and just acclimate her to the whole process. She did calm down tremendously after a few weeks. I knew it was always going to be a negative thing for her but trying to get it as tolerable and positive was my main goal! There had to be some kind of agreement between her and I.
here is Molly right after a groom!
She is gorgeous-!!
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