Catching Up

It's been a busy summer so far full of vacations and super busy work schedules so blog posts have fallen down to a low priority spot on the to-do list.  Hopefully I can get things going again now that most of our time consuming summer activities are out of the way.

First off - Danzi's adopted! She found a great family in SW Washington where she has 2 furry brothers to play with and a nice fenced back yard. Her mom and dad just love her to pieces and we are sure she is going to be very happy in her new home.

Other than that, Seuss stayed at another New Rattitude volunteer's home that is just about a mile from our house. He was a charming guest (although I am guessing he was hard on her garden since he is an obsessed hunter) and got along great with her two tiny terrier/chi mixes.

Bored Seuss, waiting to be let out back to hunt

We have a new dog bed in our living room that I made out of reclaimed items and Seuss loves it since he can lie there and look out the window to watch for squirrels and crows to bark at. In fact all the dogs have taken turns trying it out and using it to give them a better view of the back yard.

Seuss on patrol

Sal squirrel watching

Frodo telling off crows

Chima takes her turn patrolling for squirrels while Sal rests

Cone Free

After nearly a month wearing a cone I am happy to report that Seuss has officially had his cone removed permanently.

He had to wear it so long because anytime it was removed he would chew off his scabs and we'd have to start waiting for them to heal all over again. Today he was officially scab-free and so off came the cone.

To celebrate he and Danzi had an impromptu wrestling session, initiated by Danzi. Everyone is happy that Seuss has lost his cone since he tended to deal with it getting in the way by just barrelling ahead and knocking things (and dogs and humans) out of his way. Chima and Sal were especially irritated by his coned butt-sniffing attempts.

He's still licking his front legs a bit but my hope is that once he gets used to having access to his front legs again that will stop.

The only time his leg seems to bother him now is after he's been lying down for quite awhile. Then it is stiff and he limps along for a minute or so. After that things are loosened up enough that he is free to terrorize the backyard squirrels with Chima and Sal.

Introducing Danzi!

Because we had already committed to rescuing a dog when we learned that Seuss was being returned we have ended up with full house. Mr. Seuss had a week to settle in and then yesterday our new foster girl Danzi arrived.

Soon after arriving and still pretty worried

Danzi is kind of a supermodel of sorts - long legs, and quite the pedigree. However she is a good example of what happens when a dog is purchased as an acquisition and not a companion. All the good breeding in the world won't make up for the attention, socialization and exercise that is needed by a young dog. Danzi spent her two year life in a back yard full time and was tethered near the back door of the house at night. The result was a bored dog who ended up doing a lot of digging - a choice activity for terriers with nothing else fun to do.

Checking out the back yard but sticking close to the humans

She didn't get the exposure to everyday things that puppies need to get and the result is that she is somewhat skittish. Not horribly but it is pretty stressful for a dog to have to experience so many new things at once.

Not too shy that she can't go check out a possible snack

She's only been with us for less than a day and we've discovered several things we are working on. She doesn't seem to have experienced stairs but after some worried attempts last night seems to be getting the hang of them. The TV also was pretty worrisome to her but she soon learned it wasn't able to harm her. And thirdly, she was a bit nervous crossing thresholds to enter the house from outside and we will continue to work on that. I am guessing things like the vacuum, dishwasher and washer/dryer will take her some time to get used to as well.

Regardless of her undersocialized start she has been great with the other dogs in the house (and there are a lot right now!). She loves people too and they don't seem like they worry her at all. And last night she did great in her crate for the night.

Overall she seems to have the kind of temperament where she is a bit nervous but is able to quickly work through things after having a bit of time to assess them at her own speed. I never force new things on dogs but instead like to let them make the choice to approach and explore something that worries them. The results are that using this technique they are able to work through things much more quickly. If I had dragged her on leash down the stairs I can guarantee you that she wouldn't be able to tear up and down them the next day like she is doing now.

She was tethered in the car on the drive home but still managed to get as close to the people in the front seat as possible. 

She is crazy fast and can jump in place a good 4-5 feet straight up in the air. The girl is quite the athlete. I look forward to seeing her relax enough to tear around with the other dogs in the coming week.