|
Lady ~ Lancaster Puppy Mill Rescue
One of 11 shelties rescued late September 2007
|
 |
| Summer 2008 ~ Lady loves helping her mom in the garden :) |
|
|
 |
| Lady & her new Mom, Penne |
|
|
Pup-Date July 2008
Thought you would like to hear about our Lady's progress.
I see more & more glimpses of a "normal" dog coming out in her. She is at ease in the house & back yard & is very curious about everything. She is VERY excited when I come home from work...barks, races around, giant tail wags. In the morning when I get up, she also races excitedly from bedroom to bedroom with many crouches & barking. What fun! We walk twice a day (about 2 miles before I go to work & a mile when I come home at night...she has become used to all the night sounds.) and she is doing very well on the leash with "heel" & "wait" & always knows where to turn into our street. After I put the harness on her, she trots to the door with tail wagging to go out for our walk.
She is also doing well with other training, & has not had any accidents in the house for many weeks. We have had several successful visits to Petsmart & to the park where you walked. Still cautious with people but seems less fearful. She & Oliver are becoming good companions & I see that he is teaching her more about how to act as a dog....she does not take treats from my hand yet, but when I give one to Oliver, she decides that she can do that too. Even though she rarely takes treats from my hand, if I drop it in front of her, she will eat it as I stand there & will also let me pet her while she is chewing. She is eating very well, comes to her dish with my standing there & also lets me pet her while she is eating. In the beginning I had to go into the other room before she would even approach her dish & then the slightest sound would distract her. What trust she is showing!
I have taken her over to Patricia's several times for visits of several hours; she is more at ease each time, is OK with the kids & eventually lays down & goes to sleep.
She is into chewing things (much like a puppy) so I have several "chewable" toys, but she seems to prefer my top bed sheet when she is bored. I think she is jealous of the cats now...when one of them comes onto my lap or up on the bed to snuggle, she "talks" & comes up close to cuddle, too. She had started to snarl at them, but quickly learned that I don't tolerate that, so now she just "talks".
|
1st Pup-Date from new mom, Penne [May 12th]
I took Lady out for 2 walks & she did well. 1st one around the common areas and area that goes behind our houses. She stayed with me & even knew the back gate to her yard [smart girl !!]. Twice when I wanted to go a certain direction, she did a sit-freeze...I waited & when she stood up, I moved again, more sit-freeze, more waiting, finally moved in my direction after several more times. (I am the pack leader now.) 2nd walk was out to the mailboxes at the end of the street... she trotted along as thouugh she had done this before, was frightened by a passing car, but quieted quickly. Then had her meeting with Oliver... I sat on the ground & held her while Patricia very slowly let Oliver come near. He was excited but gentle, no nervousness from Lady so I slowly moved away. They sniffed each other, Oliver really wanted to play.... but Lady looked at him & walked away (playing hard to get!). Then my neighbors on the other side drove up... the mother & 2 kids (ages 14 & 9) very gently & slowly came up to Lady ... she accepted petting & did not move away. So good 1st trials into her new world.
Last night she was waiting on my bed for me & stayed all night. No accidents. Am learning that a LOUD whine from her means that she has to go out, so down, out, piddled, & then came right back up to the door to come in without hesitation. Have spent the morning working at my desk & sewing machine & she stayed close by. After a while I noticed that she had left me and found her asleep on the foot of my bed. Seems as though she is becoming more secure... or just maybe the bed is more comfortable than the new rugs!!!
I'm glad that I have had the 3 days to concentrate on her transition, & I can tell that so much of what she learned from you [Ellyn] she is transferring to me. Kudos to you & George!!!! I'm off to work soon and am sure that she will be fine. I'll keep sending you updates.
|
************************************************************************************************************************************************
|
 |
| Saturday ~ car ride to foster home, weekend of October 6th |
|
| |
|
First couple of weeks in foster care ~ LOVES THAT SOFA !!!
|
Pup-Date April 9th
Had another late night, as Lady kept at me over and over, and I finally went into the back bedroom to see if she wanted to play. That was it!! Played for about twenty minutes, then she curled into me and went sound asleep. Of course I couldn't move, so I went to sleep, clothes and all and she was still with me when I woke this morning.
It is a continuous source of amazement to me how much each of these dogs are coming into their own.
Pup-Date April 6th
Lady went out on harness and leash for the first time to try a real walk. She did pretty well. Stayed fairly close to me, didn't try to slip the harness. Today is raining, so won't go out to reinforce the leash, but she was great. She did a flying "attack" leap into the bed last night, about 2 a.m. She only wants to play in the dead of the night.
So funny, she'd bury her head, roll over, mouth my hand and yip at me. Sleep was not an option for me, again.
Pup-Date April 1st
I don't know what has happened here.... spring maybe.... but Lady continues to expand her horizons and astound her foster mom.
Last night she hopped into bed, and this time I had a soft chewy toy for her as she wants to chew on the bed clothes. The toy had a little attached animal, and Lady grabbed hold and we played tug of war!! She pulled and shook her head and play growled. When I dropped the toy, she dropped down on the bed and dug her nose under my hand, trying to get me to play some more. She rolled over, play barked, mouthed my hand and just generally had a really good time for over 20 minutes. She played so long and so cutely, I was laughing out loud.
This is a new girl and I am busting my buttons.
|
Pup-Date March 25, 2008
This weekend she just "blossomed" !! Off the couch a lot, drinking water in front of us, sleeping on the floor, and this morning she decided she wanted to eat from the bowl on the floor rather than have us put it on the couch. She is even trying to snitch food from Pebble's bowl. She was so wonderful on her outside visit to Petco, too. I think leash training and potty training will not be to far behind now. Of course, she continues to use the puppy pads. I cannot recall her ever using the floor or carpet. What a wonderful companion she will be.
**************************************************************************************************************************************************
|
Pup-Date ~ March 21, 2008
I've known that Lady will do a little roaming at night but mostly it is always downstairs. This week I have a young dog staying with us (just a little over a year) ~ an Australian Sheep Dog. He is so smart and it takes a lot to keep him from finding the wrong things to entertain himself with. It was his toy that Lady first picked up and began to carry around the house. He is an "in your face" kind of dog. At night he prefers to sleep in his crate downstairs and seldom comes in the bedroom except at 6 a.m. to lick faces to get us all moving. Last night I'm in bed and all of a sudden there is yipping and barking. It is Lady doing it (believe me I know her bark and she has only done it when I am trying to get in the house after being gone.)  Then I hear Koda's bark. Not growling, but play barking, both of them talking to each other for about five minutes. I didn't go down because I didn't want to interrupt the interaction as Lady has not really shown any interest in any other dog. I was so surprised, I went back to reading my book and about 15 minutes later looked out over my sea of sleeping dogs (my three all sleep in the bedroom) and realized the number had increased by one. There was Lady, asleep on the floor at the foot of the bed. I was shocked. This was a first. She always stays on the sofa and other than running up to jump on the bed for consolation petting when the others go out for a walk, has not chosen to lay down any where other than the little bed I've put next to my desk where she stays there when I'm working (she is there now, sleeping). Major night! Playing with Koda and choosing to sleep on the floor in the bedroom. Oh how thankful I am for little improvements and bless Koda for his persistance.
Ellyn
|
Pup-date February 19, 2008
I am so, so excited about Lady. For all the time she has been with us she has never, ever shown an interest in any kind of toy. Once she figured out we were feeding her food that she liked .... that was about all she really was interested in.
On Friday, one of my petsitting clients, Koda. came to stay the weekend. Lady actually got off the couch to welcome him. He had brought his favorite toy, a blue rubber open weave ball with an extra large goody inside. That night I was in my office and here comes Lady, ball in her mouth, settled into her bed by my chair and played.
I went out Saturday got more of the balls (red for my crew), big goodies, and here are the pictures of her. She brings it with her when she joins me in the office and periodically plays on the sofa with it.
** working on housetraining ~ still using potty pads **
|
******************************************************************************************************************************
|
PupDate January 28th
I can tell her trust is beginning to grow. As I write this, she is curled up in her little bed by my chair in the office. She still won't leave the sofa except to go outside or to come upstairs. She watches the other dogs play, but will have none of it herself. Slowly she has expanded her area in the yard, though she continues to circle my flower garden, eventually she will run along the fence line. If I kneel down, and call her very excitedly, her tail will begin to wag and she'll run up to me, but then stops. If I'm making over the other dogs though, she will crowd in to get petted. She has started to bark at night when I come home from work along with the rest of the pack. I'm very glad my neighbor is not home yet so he doesn't have to hear the noise while I'm struggling to get my key in the door.
|
Pup-date December 1st
Now she is given the opportunity to go outside with "all of the gang" before they go on their walk. She really has no interaction with the dogs, other than they are "around"....she pretty much keeps her distance both in the house and in the yard.
But the last couple of mornings when George takes the three on their morning walk, Lady starts running up and down the stairs, whimpering, very evident she is upset. She does not exhibit this behavior when George leaves by himself or when the dogs go out to the yard. Seems she doesn't understand where the dogs are going and becomes very anxious that they won't come back.
** Keep in mind that we don't know how many litters of puppies have been taken from her or how many adult shelties she's seen removed from their cages/never to return because mill owner had no further use for them. **
|
Pup-date November 14th from Ellyn
Today was such an exciting day for Lady. I was sitting on my bed (I live in a two story) doing some paper work and who jumps up? Lady! Not only did she jump up she actually put her nose against my arm and my nose, than settled down and laid with me for almost 30 minutes! I will take the cuddle and keep working on the trust and then maybe we can do something about the leash. She still slips her collar and she chewed through the harness, so I think she is pretty clear about how she feels. Bought my first digital camera and waiting for it to arrive and I'll forward some new pictures. Yesterday she had eaten all her food and then fell asleep with her head on her little stuffed dog. Too Cute!
|
|
