Today, I worked with Windy so more, hand feeding her hay. She is allowing me to slightly stoke her chin now, without jumping away.
Liza and Mocha decided to prune our trees. They are such industrious youngsters!

Liza- tree pruner extraordinaire!

It has been very windy for a few days in the West. I am glad- it has kept the BLM helicopters grounded and given horses a bit more freedom, for now.

I closed Windy into the corral 2 days ago so I can work on gentling her. She is actually “halter-broke” from her time used in rodeo. However, she is terrified of being touched. It all stems from the abuse she suffered as a bronc and tripping horse.
I can work her in slow circles and then she will stop and approach me, in an attempt to “join up”, but she will not allow me to touch her. I finally began hand feeding her hay and little by little I am touching her chin as she takes the hay. Anything but extremely slow movement on my part will cause her to jump away.

Windy

Abnormal behavior in dogs is often low thyroid function. Unexplained fear and aggression is common and many dogs are now experiencing thyroid dysfunction at 1-2 years of age. Please see info and consider having blood work done by Dr. Jean Dodds, who has researched canine thyroid disease for > 25 years. Plus, her lab is cheaper and more accurate. Your vet prepares the blood and you ship it.
www.hemopet.org/
Because we adopt old, ill and behaviorally-challenged dogs, 6 of our 7 are low thyroid and need thyroid supplementation. Most vets are not aware of the many subtle sign of low thyroid disease. It is not just a problem which causes dogs to be “fat and lazy”. It can cause behavior problems, seizures, allergies, skin problems, digestive problems, and more.