004 | Ruff Around the Edges with Vanessa O’Sullivan & Darwin

After several years an MRI finally reveals brain abnormalities in Black Mouth Cur Darwin’s brain. Rather than give up and accept the status quo, Vanessa keeps trying out new training ideas and management strategies to improve quality of life for everyone in the multi-dog (and cat!) household.

Strap in for another long episode people. Follow along as Vanessa recounts how a perfectly behaved puppy changed to an anxious adult dog after puberty.

We discuss how assumptions can lead to blind spots. For the longest time, Vanessa and Ryan had assumed that the move from the US to The Netherlands and the plane ride over had been the triggering event for the decline in Darwin’s behavior.

Going through old photographs looking for clues in Darwin’s body posture, they realized that assumption was false as the signs had been there earlier. Vanessa tells us what it took for her to gain confidence in her own knowledge of dog behavior.

A short improvement in behavior after quitting Darwin’s anxiety medication gave them hope briefly, as did the possibility of maybe being able to participate in an RTMS trial at the Belgian University of Ghent, but none of it was meant to be.

Darwin’s anxiety is such that having to make simple decisions such as “Should I get on the couch?” are stress inducing for him.

Muzzle training turned out to be a blessing in disguise. As a bonus side effect to the muzzle training, it became a tool to help Darwin relax.

You can find Vanessa on Instagram: @overseas.with.pets

As soon as her dog training business website officially launches, you will be able to find it here too.

A link to the scientific article that got Vanessa to contact the university of Ghent is here:

TMS improves anxious aggressive behaviour in dogs: A case study