To truly appreciate Cinnamon's journey from puppy mill rescue to family pet, we are keeping the earlier pictures and progress notes [moving to lower part of personal page].
Cinnamon's Journey from Puppy Mill Rescue to Adoptable Sheltie
1st picture, taken 9/28/07 at Hillsborough Kennel [1st stop in rescue process]; scared little face.... estimated 8-10 yrs old, small ~ 14", about 20 lbs.
Cinnamon as of January 2008 ~ look at the difference in her eyes, body language
First couple of days Terrified little girl. Also extremely depressed [puppies taken away recently]. Not eating or drinking.
October 3rd - 10th Doing much better ~ eating and drinking now; spending more time exploring. Day by day there are tiny changes .... her nose twitches with all the new smells and her ears follow sounds when she's outside. She's discovered the bird bath and has decided it's her personal drinking fountain. OK, so we keep it extra clean now. At some point she'll maybe discover the 2-3 water bowls INDOORS. She doesn't like to be left alone downstairs and will rattle the crate, barking loudly for someone to get her. Now she sleeps upstairs in the "main bedroom" in Buddy's old crate [which is huge]. By the 2nd week Cinnamon trying to get Buddy to play with her. She spins around chasing her tail, then when she catches it, she looks up at him like "aren't I just the cutest little thing you ever saw?" Out of the corner of my eye, I caught glimpse of her wagging her tail at him. Very coy ~ she thinks he's quite handsome :)
Wed. October 3rd ~ exploring the living room
Wed. October 3rd ~ now interested in sounds of birds, different smells ~ becoming more like a "normal dog"
Wed. October 3rd ~ sees her reflection in the oven glass ~ who is that ????
Pup-dates October 12th - November 30th: Doing better in terms of being handled/picked up/carried. Still wants to run, but "tolerates" it more. She goes in & out the back door without hesitation as she follows Sashi & Buddy. She now has the "sheltie wiggle" when seen from behind. And her tail is higher ... it's wagging as she trots around the patio !! She puppy-play bows and woofs at Buddy. Then gets all cute and coy, chasing her tail, rolling on the carpet. Cinnamon is taking food from my hand now ~ she especially enjoys roast beef, chicken and that little bit of liverwurst used to wrap pills. Actually, she barks if she thinks I'm too slow handing out the treats and now puts her paws up on my leg to get closer to the food !!
Housebreaking is still hit or miss. She hasn't quite gotten the concept. Will run outside, sniff air .... watch other dogs "go"... then might sniff area & "go" ~ or trot back indoors and "go". Rainy days especially difficult because for all of my adopted & fostered shelties, rain means STAY INSIDE. Sashi & Buddy will hold out for 18+ hours rather than get wet. Cinnamon figures the living room is as good a place as any.
Area rugs were sent out for cleaning & we had slippery wood floors for a few weeks. No accidents during that time ~ thought it would be OK to put rugs back..... Well, Cinnamon christened the living room Oriental twice in less than an hour [even though she'd JUST been outside ]
OK, so everyone will be slippin/sliding on the wood floors for another couple of weeks while we fine-tune this housebreaking stuff.
Web Art Courtesy of Clan Duncan Shelties www.kennelcity.com
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