Charlie Joins the Pack

We weren't planning on taking on another foster dog until the end of January when I get back from a weekend trip that I'm taking but it didn't work out that way. Our new foster girl is named Charlie and she transferred to us from another foster home because she and one of the furry residents did not like each other.

Have you ever met someone that you just couldn't stand? That you tolerate as long as possible but then just explode? Well, that's how Charlie felt about Penny, a dog in their home. She has been fine with every other dog she met but Penny just stressed her out. It makes sense that dogs each have certain personality types and that some dogs they get along with and others make them crazy. So we should give them that option to avoid a dog, just like we wouldn't want to be forced to hang out with a person we can't stand.

To keep the peace we decided to move Charlie to our house since the personalities of the dogs here are more in line with what Charlie enjoys.

She met the girls and her and Salinas sniffed each other a bit and then went about their business, fine with co-existing. The meeting with Tilly was the same. Frodo was Frodo so he was a bit more verklempt over the whole thing but Charlie was fine with that and let him follow him around a bit.

This is Charlie's favorite dog bed and her former foster parents sent it with her and it will go home with her too. 

Chima is gets a bit more worked up when a new dog is in the house so I was very careful with intros between them and when I saw that Chima was getting obsessed with Charlie, I gave her a time out in the crate with a chew and then when she came out a half hour later everyone was much calmer and Charlie was old news by then. I'll still continue to watch all interactions between the dogs carefully for the next few days, noting their body language and giving everyone breaks until they feel comfortable. It's not because any of the dogs are bad dogs but because that's how dog introductions should be done. A bad first impression is hard to get past and the same thing goes for dogs' impressions of each others. If the humans set things up so those impressions can be positive ones, everyone wins in the long run.

Charlie snoozes while Chima keeps an eye on her

So what's Charlie like? Amazingly sweet, well house-trained, and a Olympic echelon lap-warmer. She enjoys a romp around the yard and likes to hang out with her humans and do whatever they happen to be doing. She's about seven years old and is a little bit on the plump side. We've got her on a grain-free, low carb diet with carefully measured portions so I'm sure that she'll drop the weight quickly. I know that Sal and Chima did when they first arrived.

Welcome to the pack, Charlie!