Pippa is a "real" dog

In the past week or so, Pippa has suddenly gotten incredibly brave and decided that she might like to be a real dog and do stuff like play with toys and hang out with me in the office.  She's been coming in to the office while I work and laying down on the dog beds.  As long as I pretend she doesn't exist, she'll stay there and sleep or chew on a bone.  If I look at her for too long or say her name, she leaves...but she comes back after just a few minutes.

She's also started carrying toys and bones around the house, playing with them, and even playing with Charm.

I thought, instead of a lengthy text update, I'd just post a few photos of Pippa being a "real" dog.

Pippa's first day of laying in the office - in the dog bed at the opposite corner from my desk

Sharing a bed with Britty

She got brave and moved to the bed right next to my desk, and even brought a toy

laying down 3 feet from me, with her toy

playing with her toy, with Charm and Cobalt in the background, and Buster under my feet

playing with Charm and a toy, less than a foot from me.

Charm took her toy, so she went to find another (yes, Buster is still sleeping at my feet)

Cobalt staring at me while Pippa and Charm play with a toy

Cobalt watching Pippa and Charm play

Pippa and Charm managed to find their own toys (yup, Buster's still snoozing)

Pippa, caught her looking up at me!  

Pippa checking out another toy, and Cobalt checking out the still snoozing Buster

More progress!!!

Pippa is very slowly coming more and more out of her shell.  Today, while I was working, she came in to the office and checked things out again.  Then, she and Charm kinda started to play, just a teeny bit!  It was mostly some head bumps and circling around each other, but Pippa was actually interested in interacting with another dog, which is amazing for her!!!  This is the dog that tried to become one with her crate or a wall when she first came to me.  Now, she comes out of her crate (sometimes, mostly when I'm not looking), will look at me, and is starting to interact with the other dogs!!  She even brought a bone with her in to my office this afternoon, and lay down on a bed to chew on it for a bit.

Pippa started her heartworm treatment last week, and once that's done, she'll be a healthy dog (physically), and I'll just need to work on the mental side of things with her.  I've taken many dogs through heartworm treatment, and I know all the protocols.  I have to admit, though, to being a bit lax with Pippa, just because I don't want to discourage any progress she makes.  Pippa is incredibly sedentary most of the time, so I don't have to worry about crate rest (she does that herself) or taking her out on a leash to potty (the leash would freak her out and she's usually very calm about just going out, pottying, and coming back in).  Where I've been lax, though, is when she decides to get the zoomies.  It doesn't happen often...maybe once every few days, and it's a brief burst of zooming around the yard.  I'm so happy that she feels safe enough to run in joy that I don't want to stop her.  I figure, 5 minutes of racing around the yard two or three times a week is not going to negatively impact her recovery from heartworms, but asking her to stop may impact her socialization.

I'm just so very excited to see Pippa actually starting to act like a real dog - interacting with my dogs, getting the zoomies, carrying a bone or toy around.  This is pretty big stuff for the sweet girl.

Very short update - big break through

So - I know I totally need to update this blog. I kinda lost interest in it for a while (sorry!) and haven't updated in months!!! I may do a longer update this weekend, when I have some down time.  I've been busy with fostering and showing and training dogs and just haven't made the time to write.  

Pippa had a huge break through today, though. I'm sitting in my office working, and she calmly walked in and lay down in a dog bed in the corner!!! This is so huge for her. She got out of her crate, she came in to the same room as me, and she lay in a bed! Of course, then, I sneezed, and she got up and left. She came back in and lay down again, but I shifted position in my chair to try and get a photo of her, and she left again. She hasn't come back, but I'm excited she did that much!!!

This is even more awesome because we had kind of a set back yesterday. I took her in to finally start heartworm treatment and she freaked out at the vet's office and terror pooped all over their lobby and again all over their hospital floor. She hasn't pooped in terror in a while, so I felt really bad for her. 

She is on pain meds right now, which might be mellowing her out a little, but I'll take what I can get. She's been making slow progress anyway - she now spends more time laying with her front feet draped over the doorway of her crate than she does huddled in the back. If I'm not in the room, she will collect toys and either take them to her crate or just scatter them about the living room. I caught her sleeping on the couch late one night (not even sure how she got herself up there, but she did). She's making progress, it's just so very slow. The huge break throughs, like today, are just so exciting!!

Interesting moments in the life of Pippa

I've had a few interesting developments crop up in the last few days, with Miss Pippa.

Last weekend, I went out of town for a dog show with Charm.  My parents were so kind as to watch Britty, Buster, Willow, and Pippa for the weekend.  At my parents' house, the dogs were fed about an hour earlier than I usually feed them.  The day after I brought all the dogs home, I was in my office working and Pippa was in her corner on the dog bed, when 4 pm rolled around.  Pippa got up, came to the doorway of the office, and just looked at me.  I said hi to her and she wandered away.  A bit later, I heard an odd, sort of halfway bark coming from the living room.  I looked around and all the dogs except Pippa were in the office with me.  She'd been the one to bark and make noise!!!  Every day since then, Pippa has come to the doorway of the office sometime between 4 and 5 pm to remind me that she'd like her dinner!

For a few days now, I've noticed a stuffed toy carcass in the corner where Pippa likes to lay.  I assumed that one of my dogs put it there, since I've never seen Pippa touch a toy and my dogs are constantly dropping them in random places.  Today, I finally realized that Pippa might have brought that toy to her corner herself!  What brought me to that realization was finding the toy relocated to Pippa's crate.  I know none of my dogs would do that, so the only answer is that she put it in her crate herself.  I have no clue when she might have done that, but it was kind of exciting to know that she's been carrying a toy around!

This evening, for the first time ever, Pippa decided to lay in her crate with her front feet and chin resting on the door frame of the crate, instead of cowering in the back!  I tried to get a photo, but that spooked her in to retreating to the back of the crate.  Still, that's the first time she's felt safe enough to relax in her crate with the door open.

Every day with Pippa is just interesting.  She's a sweet dog, and she really wants to interact with me, she's just scared and doesn't know how.

Huge step for Pippa!!!

Check it out, two updates in as many days.  Dogs love to prove us humans as liars, and Pippa did it in spectacular fashion this morning.  Just as I say that progress is slow, Pippa takes a huge, brave step.

This morning, I got up really early to let dogs out and released Pippa and Willow from their crates.  Then, we all went back to bed for another hour to snuggle.  Pippa went to her corner, Willow jumped on the bed and curled up.  I was halfway asleep and heard the pitter-pat of doggie toenails on my wood floors.  Charm and Willow were curled up on the bed, and Pippa rarely moves from her corner, so I assumed it was either Buster or Britty just wandering, and ignored it.  It was a constant pacing, though, so I started to get curious, and when I heard the toenails approach the bedroom door and stop, I opened my eyes to see who it was.  There was Pippa!!!!  She had come to find me!  It took a minute to register, and she just stood there looking at me.  I said a soft "hey Pippa," and she scurried away.  I didn't think anything of it, except that she must have gotten curious as to where everyone was.  I got up a bit later and found that Pippa had left me a little "present" in the living room.  Apparently, her pacing and then seeking me out was her way of telling me she needed to go out to poop!  No big deal on the accident - wood floors make that kind of clean up easy.  What was a huge deal was that Pippa realized she needed to go do that outside, and was trying her hardest to get out there (the pacing and then coming to find me).  Now I know what those things mean for Pippa, and I'll be more vigilant in the future!  I think that's the first time she's come to seek me out in another room and it's just so exciting, even if it was just because she needed to go out to potty.

A long overdue update

I do apologize to all of you that have been waiting for an update.  Life got busy!  Also, Pippa's progress is very slow, so it has become more difficult to write about now that we've passed major hurdles (like not pooping when someone touches her or just walking upright).  I will try to post more frequent updates, but no promises!!

Pippa continues to make progress, but it is very slow.  She still seems to prefer her hallway corner or her crate, but she has now accepted a dog bed in her corner and will lay on it if I make sure that it's in her spot.  I haven't given her a blanket or bed in her crate yet, because she just eats the fabric.  Pippa has reached the point where she knows what "outside, go potty" and "kennel up" mean, and will willingly go outside when asked or get in her kennel.  I can even stand by the back door and call her to go outside and she will come...at a normal walk rather than a scurry!  I can stand near her kennel and call her to that as well, but if I'm too close, she won't go in, she just kinda circles around the living room until I move a step or two away.  She has become comfortable enough with me that she just looks at me with curiosity when I approach.  She doesn't scurry away from me and will just get up and walk away at a normal pace.  She still doesn't feel comfortable coming up to me and doesn't like it when I come up to her unless she's safely in her corner or crate.  She still won't eat or drink if I'm watching, but is interested in food.  Pippa knows what dinner time is, and if I'm too slow in bringing her food bowl to her, she will come out of her corner and look for me.  Lately, I've been feeding her in her crate, so she's a bit confused about where she's supposed to eat - her corner or her crate.  This evening, she heard me getting dinner ready and raced to her crate.  I didn't bring her bowl right away, so she went back to her corner.  A moment later, she was back in her crate.  Then her corner...and then her crate.  She ended up eating in her crate.  I would like her to learn that she can eat in different places and that it's all "okay."  Pippa has also learned that me asking her to kennel up is often preceded by me opening the treat jar.  The treat jar has a metal latch on it, and I always give her a little cookie when she goes in her crate.  So, Pippa has associated the sound of the treat jar latch with going in her kennel and getting a treat!  This evening, I opened the treat jar to convince Charm to come inside, and I heard Pippa hurrying across the living room floor and going in to her crate!  Of course, I gave her a treat for that, and then left the crate door open so she could go back to her corner if she wanted to.  Pippa is continuing to make progress in baby steps, but there is progress there.

Willow also deserves a bit of an update.  She's made more progress than Pippa, but she's got a different type of personality.  Willow has also learned what the sound of the treat jar latch means, and was even faster than Pippa in getting in to her crate this evening, when I opened the jar!  Willow has also learned that dogs get treats when they come inside when told.  Willow struggles with that, so I make sure to reward her for going through the scary doorway and coming inside.  Of course, even if she's already inside and the other dogs are coming in, she still thinks she needs a treat.  I went outside to bring Charm in, and when I came in, I found Willow sitting on the couch, looking at me over the back, waiting for her treat!  Since she came close to me voluntarily, she got a treat.  Willow is an odd little dog.  She rarely comes up to me on her own, she ducks and runs if I approach her, and she generally doesn't really want to be close to me.  The exception is when I'm in bed.  If I let Willow join me and my dogs on my bed, she instantly wants to snuggle and be as close to me as possible!  It's just weird!  She curls up next to me and seems to just love the snuggling...but only on my bed.  Willow has started heartworm treatment now and will hopefully be ready for a forever home after the first of the year.

And, a quick Kipling update.  He continues to make slow progress.  He will now occasionally approach and give nose nudges when he wants attention.  He still tends to run away if a person looks directly at him, but he's starting to see that people aren't as scary as he thought.  He likes to engage in play, and will play for a bit before he remembers that he's supposed to be scared.  Kipling had his first real bath, and survived the experience.  He even got his fur trimmed up a bit without to much drama.

I'm enjoying these fosters.  Willow makes me laugh often, with her antics.  Pippa surprises me daily with how strong the Brittany spirit is.  Both will make wonderful pets for the right family, eventually.  Pippa will take longer than Willow, but that's okay.  In the mean time, I'll continue to just quietly hang out with Pippa and help her learn that people really aren't that scary.

And, just for fun - I "tortured" the dogs by making them wear a pumpkin hat on Halloween - neither Pippa nor Willow were amused.

Willow with the Pumpkin hat and scarf.  This is the least terrified looking photo that I managed to take.

Pippa with the Pumpkin hat.  She was trying to become one with the wall.  

My crew, sporting Halloween scarves.  L to R - Charm, Buster, Britty

A new milestone

Today, Pippa hit a new milestone!  She was able to walk from the back of the boarding kennel almost all the way out to my car on leash!  Then, she walked from the garage in to the house on leash.  This is HUGE for her, as walking on a leash has been a challenge.  I'm not sure what has finally clicked for her, but I'm very glad that something did.  I think, just to keep it up, I'm going to be walking her around on leash every day for a while.

I went out of town last weekend, so Pippa and Willow got to go back to the boarding kennel.  The staff were all happy to see them looking so much better.  Willow and Pippa did well at the kennel and seemed kind of excited to see me when I picked them up.

Pippa just amazed me today.  I saw her walking out on a leash and almost cried!  Then, when I got home, she was actually pawing at the crate to be let out of the car.  She willingly waited for me to put her leash on and then she jumped down from the car.  She did try to hide in a corner in the garage, briefly, but I told her no and she just walked along beside me.  I can't even describe how exciting this is.  Both her walking on a leash and wanting to get out of the crate, and just her overall seeming to want to interact a bit more with me and the other dogs.

Another first for Pippa!

The little girl is getting more brave every day!  Tonight, she actually joined in getting in to mischief with my Britts.

At the back of my yard, I have a 4 and a half foot tall retaining wall, with 6 foot fencing on top of that.  My neighbor behind me is at a higher elevation and they have trees in their yard.  My Britts spend lots of time with their front feet on the retaining wall, watching for birds or critters in the trees and on top of the fence.  When I'm sitting on the patio, I'll often look up from a book or my cell phone or laptop and see the backs of two Brittanys stretched out with their front feet on the wall, heads turned upwards.  I usually call to them and ask them to get down, as Buster has been known to climb up on the wall to get closer to the critters.

Tonight, I was sitting outside, checking email on my phone.  I glanced up and saw two Britts side by side with front feet on the wall.  I called to Buster, and out of habit, was about to call to Charm when I realized that Charm was right next to me!  I looked again, and sure enough, the dog with her feet planted against the wall and stretched out to check out critters was Pippa!!!  Not only was she feeling brave enough to do what Buster was doing and check things out, she was right next to Buster!  Usually she keeps her distance from my dogs.

Also, I noticed this evening that when I went to feed Pippa, she was waiting for her food and didn't shy away from me like usual.  She's stopped flinching every time I approach.  She still watches me, but it's much less warily than she used to.  I think I'm actually seeing some real progress with her!

Pippa relaxed!!!

This evening, I decided to take Pippa's rehab up a notch.  I decided that she was going to come out of her corner and sit on the couch with me for a few minutes.  I've tried this before, but as soon as I take my hands off of her, she scurries off the couch and runs back to her corner.  Tonight, I picked her up and carried her out of her corner and over to the couch.  I sat down with her and started just giving her a little massage.  After a few minutes, she put her head down and seemed to be enjoying it!!!  I decided to shift positions a little and see if she'd snuggle with me at all.  She got a little anxious as I shifted us both around so that she was laying next to my leg on the couch.  Once I got her situated, I just rested my hand on her back.  It took her a while, but eventually, she put her head down and settled in.  Then, she took a deep breath and relaxed!!!  I was so happy for her!  Of course, at nearly the same moment, Buster scratched at the door to be let in.  I gave it another minute, then got up.  As soon as I moved, Pippa jumped off the couch and scurried back to her corner.  Oh well....we'll try it again tomorrow.  She is making progress, even though it's very, very slow.

Smart Pippa

Well - typical for a Brittany, Pippa is a very smart little girl, even when she's scared.  This evening, my Border Collie was dancing around in the hallway, so I asked her if she needed to go outside.  She danced towards the back door, so I got off the couch to let her out.  Britty, my BC, was being silly, and when I opened the door, she decided to go in to my bedroom.  She does weird things like that...she wants me to invite her outside, I guess.  Or maybe it's just because she's a Border Collie.  So, I'm standing there at the back door, and calling out "come on Britty, outside, go potty!  Outside, outside, outside."  Just as I moved away from the back door to go track down my wayward BC (who is 12+ years old and starting to go deaf), Pippa came around the corner of the hallway, headed outside!  Every time I tell Pippa to go outside, I tell her "outside, go potty" and apparently that's sunk in enough that when she hears it, she starts to head outside.  Of course, as she came around the corner, she saw me walking towards her and had to scurry back to her corner.  I got out of the way, called for dogs to go outside, and Pippa came around the corner again and headed out.  What a smart girl she is!  And, yes, the wayward Border Collie went outside eventually too.

Pippa is also a typical Brittany clown, even though I don't think she means to be.  She's a very short girl - probably under 17 inches easily.  Now, my boy, Buster, is a very tall Brittany at 21.5 inches.  Lately, every time the dogs come in from outside, Pippa and Buster have been at the front of the crowd.  Buster calmly trots in, while Pippa scurries.  Every time they are the first two in the house, Pippa ends up scurrying in, and somehow sliding UNDER Buster as she comes inside.  I'm not entirely sure how she's getting between his back legs to get under his body, since she's wider than he is (have I mentioned she's a fat little thing?).  Somehow, though, she manages to slide between his back legs, under his belly, and out between his front legs!  Every time, Buster gets this look on his face like 'what the heck?!'  He stops and looks back at me then back at Pippa before heading the rest of the way in to the house.  Meanwhile, Pippa has finished scurrying in to her corner of the hallway.

Every day with Pippa is an adventure!  She's adorable and I'm anxiously waiting for her full personality to come out.

Pippa's Back!

Yup, Pippa is back home with me now.  Actually, she came back to me on Monday night, but I've been too exhausted to post.  My friend that is watching Kipling asked if she could foster him for a while longer...she's enjoying the challenge of getting him to trust her.  I had no problem with that, so Kipling will get to hang out with my friend and her dogs for a while longer.  In the mean time, I now have Willow (another of the Magnolia dogs) here with me.  Willow was in temp foster care, and now we're trying to find a spot for her in the Denver area so that she can get free heartworm treatment.

So, Pippa....she's readjusting to my home.  It's taken her the last two evenings to remember that "outside, go potty" means that she needs to go out the back door, not run to her crate and sit in the back.  She is remembering, though, and that seems to be the only step back that she's taken.  She still loves her corner of the hallway, and I'm fine with that.  I do wish she were more willing to come out and be social, but I know it will come in time.

Last night, I sat outside with the dogs for a while, and Pippa actually was pretty active and peppy.  She gave a little bark of excitement, which is the first sound I've heard from her.  She RAN around the yard, and almost seemed like she wanted to play.  She was being silly and happy, and it made me smile.  She knows her name, and every time I say it, she looks at me.  In the yard, she even play bowed at me when I called her name and asked her if she was being silly.  I also managed to get her to take treats from my hand...I had some left over treats in my pocket from Charm's training class, so I offered them to Pippa.  She was more than happy to take bits of hamburger and cheese from me.

Today, Pippa has been pretty quiet, and I'm letting her adjust to having Willow in the house.  They haven't interacted much yet.

Willow is another of the Magnolia Britts.  She's been in a foster home that make phenomenal progress with her.  When she went to her foster home, she played keep away constantly and didn't want people to get close.  Now, she's willing to sit on the couch with me, and I can pet her easily.  If she gets spooked, she still bolts, and you have to approach slowly and step on the light line that she drags around with her, or you'll never catch her until she calms down.  This evening, she let me pet her, she wagged her tail, and she was even interested when Charm came in to the room playing with her squeaky toy.  As I type this, she's curled up in a dog bed in the corner,

Still alive!

Sorry all!  Pippa and Kipling have been on vacations of their own while I was on vacation the week of Labor Day.  Then, due to scheduling, and an agility trial this weekend, they just stayed on vacation.  Pippa is coming back to my house sometime this coming week, and Kipling will be rejoining me soon as well.

Over the Labor Day weekend, I was off in Monroe, LA, showing Charm in conformation.  Then, I was home for two days and back on the road to Colorado.  I returned from Colorado last Monday, and was then swamped with work.  This weekend, I was gone all day Saturday and Sunday at an agility fundraiser trial with Charm and Buster.  I had a great time with all my trips and events, and Buster and Charm had fun and were great dogs!

So - Pippa has been staying with my parents while I've been gone.  Pippa has adjusted well.  She lays in the corner and seems to enjoy being brushed and petted.  According to my Mom, Pippa actually barked the other day - just one little bark - at thunder.  She didn't seem scared of it, though.  The report from my parents is as follows:  "Pippa is very curious as to where we are and even though she does not get up and look for us she will turn her head and try to see us when she hears our voice. She will look at us now and not turn her head away when we bend down to pet her. She does seem to enjoy the attention given to her. She watches us a lot as we are sitting in the same room as her and at times will sit up for awhile instead of laying down."

Kipling has been staying with a friend of mine who has experience working with fearful dogs.  She's been enjoying working with him.  Kipling has learned to leave cats alone, and has started coming up to her voluntarily at times.  Kipling was playing keep away and didn't want to go in his kennel - the cat got irritated at him, and chased him in to his crate and held him there until my friend rescued him.  He's been learning how to live with cats and Belgian Tervurens and that there are dogs other than Brittanys out there.  

I'll update more once they come back from their "vacations" and get settled back in at my house.

Day 24: Dogs are weird!

Day 24:  Two whole days without internet means no updating!!!

So, my opinion that dogs are weird has been re-affirmed.  Kipling has decided over the last two days that coming in the back door is scary.  So, now we have to play this game where he stands in the doorway, but won't come in until I'm not looking.  If I turn around too soon, he runs back outside.  It took me an hour to get him to come inside the other night.  I finally had to hide in my room, wait until he was firmly in the living room, and then vault the sofa to get to the back door and shut it before he could bolt back out.  Not sure what's going on in that little doggie brain of his.  Pippa has suddenly decided that "outside" means "crate" and so whenever I make her move from her corner, she throws herself in her crate.  I now have to shut all crate doors to get her outside.  The last weirdness for these two - they won't walk over a towel on the ground.  They have no issues with throw rugs, but apparently the towel in front of their crate is scary.  Kipling and Pippa keep sliding in to their crates because they scurry around so much, and I was starting to worry that they'd hurt themselves.  Kip has bad hips and a bad knee.  Pippa is just such a round little thing.  So - I put a towel on the ground in front of their crates.  Pippa was desperate enough to go in her crate that she finally ran over it.  Kipling, I had to lead to his crate by his collar.

On the plus side, Pippa continues to respond more and more to me.  She's continuing to look at me whenever I say her name or talk to her.  She's continuing to come find me if she hasn't seen me in a while.  Kipling is getting braver too.  He actually came up and licked my toes while I was sitting on the couch last night.  He also kind of asked to be petted the other night.  Charm was standing in front of me, getting petted, and Kipling came up next to her.  I slowly reached out and started scratching under his chin.  He relaxed in to me as I kept petting his chin and chest.  I stopped and moved my hand away just a bit, and he moved forward and touched his chin to my hand again.  We did this about 3 times before he decided it was scary and ran off.

So, it's still slow progress, and yes, dogs are weird!

Day 21: Quiet Day

Day 21:  Today, I gave Pippa and Kipling a quiet day, as I was busy with stuff for work.  They seem to do better with a day off after a day of excitement.

Pippa spent most of the day in her corner, but she was sprawled out and relaxing.  She's back to going to her crate or going outside when I ask her to  She's been keeping her eyes on me and just watching to see what I'm going to do.  When I approach her, she just waits to see what's going to happen...am I going to pet her or ask her to move or offer her a treat.  Outside, she's very relaxed now and will trot around the yard exploring.  When I ask the dogs if they are ready to come in, she runs up to the door with everyone else.

Kipling has relaxed in his crate most of the day (with the door open) or explored the yard with Charm.  He has continued to come up and put his chin in the palm of my hand if I put my hand out and look away from him.  Tonight, I sat on the floor and petted him a bit.  He found that stressful, but seemed to start to relax a bit near the end.  He's getting braver about things...he is starting to explore and play with toys and chew on bones.

Both are making slow progress in their own ways, and I hope it will continue!

Day 20: Major Progress!!

Day 20:  Today saw major progress for both dogs!  It was so exciting after yesterday's setbacks.  Maybe the dogs just needed a day off yesterday.

Today, Pippa got to take a little trip.  I'll be going out of town in a week, and my parents are going to watch Pippa as well as my own dogs.  So, today, Pippa went over to my parents' house with me to check things out.  Britty went with us to keep Pippa company (and 'cuz Britty always gets to go).  Unfortunately, Pippa got sick in her crate on the ride over.  We carried Pippa, in her crate, outside so that we could clean the crate and Pippa.  That was a bit traumatic for her...she had to be caught and hosed off.  Honestly, she acted like we were trying to torture her.  After managing to catch Pippa, getting her hosed off (and getting myself soaked with water in the process), my Dad dried her off with a towel.  That was the only part that Pippa seemed even remotely okay with.  We set up the crate inside, and she promptly threw herself in the back and huddled in the crate like she used to do at my house.  I had to resort to taking the crate apart and carrying her outside to get her to potty.  My Mom did get Pippa to lick peanut butter off of her fingers, so that was progress too.  When it was time to leave, I made Pippa go outside for one last potty break and my Dad took her crate out to my car.  Outside, Pippa was right on my heels, following me around and staying close to me.  Once we came back inside, Pippa panicked because she couldn't find her crate to hide in.  Here's where the HUGE progress comes in.  I knelt down near her, and she came to me!!!!!  I know that I was just the most familiar thing there, but still, it was a huge thing for her to come to me.  She's never done that before.  She usually stays at least 4 feet away at all times.  I picked her up and she latched on to me with her legs.  I carried her out to the car, and put her in the crate.  Fortunately, the ride home did not result in her getting ill.  When we got home, I lifted Pippa and her crate out of the car, and let her loose in the closed garage.  We had a bit of a struggle getting in to the house, as Pippa decided she needed to hide in a corner of the garage.  I managed to get her inside and she instantly settled in her corner again.  She seems thrilled to be back at my house, where things are familiar.

Kipling had to stay at home while I was out today.  So, he was in the crate most of the afternoon.  He seemed okay with that, though.  This evening, I was sitting on the couch, and Buster decided it was dinner time.  Kipling was in his crate, with the door open, watching Buster and I "talk" to each other.  Buster was barking at me, then giving me hugs and just being a silly boy.  Kipling got very brave and decided he wanted to join in the fun.  I had a hand outstretched, and Kipling came up and put his chin in my hand!!!!   I said hi to him, scratched his chin a little bit, then went back to playing with Buster, Charm, and even Britty.  Kip didn't like being ignored, and every time I looked at him and put out my hand, he'd come up and put his chin in my palm!  Huge progress for the boy.  This evening, he's come up to me several more times and let me pet him briefly, or just stopped to see what I was doing.  He's coming in and out of the back door with no issues again, and seems much more settled than he has been so far.  I'm not sure what happened between last night and this evening, but I'm thrilled that it did happen and Kip is starting to trust me more.

Day 19: Bit of a setback

Day 19:  This morning, Pippa was being a very brave girl.  I left her out of her crate while I was in the shower.  Once I was ready, I went in to the living room just to check on the dogs, and Pippa actually peeked around the hallway corner and came in to the living room just a bit to find me.  I was thrilled that she seemed to be getting braver.  Then, this afternoon, I had a bit of a set back with Pippa.  My Mom came over, and it surprised Pippa.  I was trying to get Pippa to go outside and she freaked out because Mom was standing in the kitchen.  Pippa pooped on the floor, then threw herself in her crate.  I had to loop a slip lead over her head and drag her out of the crate.  Since then, she's been afraid to go outside when told to.  She keeps trying to put herself in her crate.  It's okay, I knew there would be setbacks, and we'll work through it, I'm just sad that she is still so scared!

Kipling, on the other hand, is getting comfortable enough to cause mischief.  I had some spools of ribbon on the coffee table.  I was in the kitchen and I heard him chewing on something.  I didn't think anything about it, because he's been chewing on dog bones.  I happened to glance over after a while and found him on the dog bed eating the cardboard spool for the ribbon!!!  Fortunately, he didn't eat any of the ribbon, just the cardboard.  What is it with Brittanys and cardboard???  Anyway, I just laughed at him and took the ribbon and spool away.  He's still very skittish about approaching me if I'm looking at him, but will take treats from my fingers if I face away from him or he's in his crate.

Both had scary stuff happen today - Kipling got a waterless shampoo bath and brush out, as his fur was getting kinda nasty feeling.  He needs a real bath, but we'll work up to that.  Pippa had to get her collar changed out.  I bought her a name tag, and decided that the collar she was wearing was too big.  It was very traumatic for her to have me removing and putting on a collar.  Poor baby.  They survived, though, and are both soundly sleeping in their crates now.

Day 18: Pip and Kip try Panda Express

Day 18:  Yesterday was fairly uneventful for Pippa and Kipling.  We spent lots of time practicing going outside, getting in crates, and taking treats from my hands.  I've been working hard with the dogs, and decided to give them a little break yesterday.

Today was a bit more eventful.  Pippa is really starting to understand when I tell her to go outside or go to her kennel.  She still spent most of he day in her corner, but ventured out when I asked her to.  She did get up several times just to change positions and she's starting to sprawl out in the corner, rather than laying in a tight little ball.  This afternoon, when I had all the dogs outside, Charm decided that Pippa needed to play.  Pippa was trotting around the yard, and Charm raced up to her and proceeded to bark and play bow at her.  Pippa was a little confused and just kept looking at Charm then at me.  I'm hoping she'll figure it out and start playing a bit.  I think she kind of wants to and I know that Charm can be very persistent.  This evening, I was sitting in the living room, and Pippa got up to peek around the corner to see where I was.  Then, I was outside with the back door closed, trying to coax Kipling inside.  When I opened the door, Buster, Charm, and Pippa (!) all came outside to see what I was doing.  I was very surprised to see Pippa at the door with my dogs.  She has started going in and out on her own.  She won't ask to go outside, but my others go out often enough that as long as she goes out with them, we don't have any accidents.  After our adventures outside, I picked her up and sat her next to me on the couch.  She let me hold and pet her for about 10 minutes before she squirmed loose and ran to her kennel.  She's still hesitant to take food from my hands or to eat while I'm watching, but she does like treats so I often walk by and drop treats in front of her. 

Kipling has finally figured out what "go kennel" means, so I no longer have to play "catch the dog" when I need to leave.  He's willingly going in when I tell him to now.  He's still very skittish and it takes lots of coaxing to get him to come up to me.  He does love Charm.  Yesterday, Charm was laying on her dog bed and Kip decided that he needed to lay on top of Charm!    He loves to play with her in the yard, and they have lots of fun running around.  This evening, I thought Kip had already come inside and started to shut the door just as he was coming in.  That apparently traumatized him and he wouldn't come in the door.  I sat outside and tried to lure him towards me with treats.  He wasn't having any of it, though.  When I opened the door to go back inside, all the other dogs ran out.  I left them outside for a bit, then opened the door and stood back and Kip rushed in with the rest of the dogs.  I decided he'd had enough drama for the day, and sent him to his crate with a treat.  He was quite happy to settle down with a treat.  

So - Pip and Kip's big adventure for the day...I went to Panda Express for lunch, and I always save a bit of orange chicken for each of my dogs.  My dogs will all carefully take food off of a fork, so once I'm done eating, I give them each a little bite off of my fork.  Kipling watched first Britty, then Buster, then Charm each enjoy their piece of chicken.  He was very interested, but kept his distance.  I offered a bite to Pippa and she licked at the chicken on the end of the fork but wouldn't make a move to actually take it in to her mouth.  I tried giving it to her from my fingers, and she still just licked at it.  Finally, I set it on the ground and walked away.  She quickly gobbled it up!  Kipling was still watching, so I put his bite of chicken on the fork, held it out to him, and turned half away from him.  He stretched forward and carefully took the chicken from the fork.  I had an extra piece and I offered that last bite to Kipling...he decided he really liked Panda Express and happily took that second piece of chicken from the fork.  Silly dogs!  Now I'm going to have five drooling, begging dogs watching me eat my Panda Express, instead of just three dogs.  Oh well...they enjoyed it!!!  

Kipling laying on top of Charm

Day 16: The Pip and Kip Show

Day 16:  So, by popular request, this is going to now be the Pip and Kip blog, rather than just Pippa.  It'll still be mostly about Pippa's journey, but I think Kipling's journey is important too.

First, a little about Kipling.  He's also from the rescue in Louisiana.  He's a 4 (ish) year old boy.  He's very sweet, but just like Pippa, very scared of people.  Where Pippa just turns in to a lump and tries to pretend she doesn't exist, Kipling dances just out of reach and keeps moving at all times, lest he be caught.  I think Kipling will actually recover faster than Pippa, because he's at least willing to interact with me and come to me.  He just needs to learn that it's okay if someone reaches for him.  He needs to learn that loud noises and sudden movements are not going to hurt him.  Kipling LOVES my dogs, his little stubby tail vibrates 100 mph when he's around my dogs and in the yard playing with them.  He happily explores my yard, plays with the other dogs, and has even tried picking up a toy or two.  Like Pippa, he won't eat if someone is watching him, but he will drink water.

I made a tiny bit of progress with both dogs today, but I think the big, noticeable steps may be slowing down a bit, so I may not be updating daily if I don't see any significant changes from one day to the next.

Today, I worked from home all day.  Kipling was brave enough to lay down next to my desk chair and let me pet him for quite a while.  Then, he got up and went to the dog bed across the room.  He went to sleep in the dog bed for a couple of hours.  Usually, when I work from home, all the dogs hang out in the office with me, so Kipling seemed to find it safe and settled really well.  I did have to play "catch Kipling" this evening when I needed to leave to take Buster to Obedience class.  Usually, "catch Kipling" ends when I manage to corner him in a hallway or room and then get to the side of him and manage to put a hand on his back.  At that point, he freezes to see what I'm going to do.  I spend a few minutes just petting him, then take him by the collar and gently lead him to the crate.  I don't want to set him back, but sometimes, it's necessary to just get him in the crate.  I'm trying to avoid collar grabs with him, but since he freezes when I manage to touch him, that's working okay for now.  He will occasionally take treats from my hands, but I have to sit very still and wait patiently for him to come to me.  If I try to grab him as he's taking a treat. then it takes several more tries to establish his trust again.

Pippa is continuing to venture out of her corner of the hallway.  If she doesn't know where I am, and can't find me, she'll put herself in her crate.  I left her in her corner when I went to take a shower, and when I got out, she was laying in her crate.  If she doesn't see me for a while, she'll venture out of her corner to just locate me, and then she goes back.  She's gotten comfortable enough in her corner to get up, move around, and change positions.  She can see me in my office from her hallway corner, and every now and again, she will sit up, check to make sure I'm still there, and then lay down again.  She is now fairly reliably going outside and to her crate when I walk up to her and tell her she needs to.  Pippa still won't eat if anyone is watching and she will only drink a tiny bit.  She will lick gooey treats off of my fingers, and she will take small treats from my hands.  Today, I even got her to lick peanut butter out of the mostly empty jar.  That was scary for her, because apparently peanut butter jars are scary.  Once she realized there was good stuff inside, though, she was willing to lick out of it.  She did keep her eyes on me the whole time, to make sure nothing bad was going to happen.  Pippa continues to be interested in my dogs, and loves to watch Charm hunt birds in the yard.  Pippa isn't quite brave enough to join in, but she'll stand at a distance and watch both Charm and the birds.  She's making progress.  It's slow, but steady.  I'm getting less and less of the wide eyed, terrified look when I approach her, and more curious looks as she watches to see if I'm going to ask her to move, or pet her, or offer her a treat.

Kipling, I hope will be ready for adoption in a month or two.  Other than his fear, he's healthy and ready to be placed.  I just can't put him in a forever home until he is willing to come up to people rather than keeping 4 feet away at all times.  Pippa...well...she's going to be a long term foster.  She needs to go through heartworm treatment, but that's not going to happen until she's a little less fearful.  I expect I'll have her at least 6 months...maybe more.  That's okay.  She's really an easy foster, and I can wait for her to learn to trust people.

Day 15: It's Alive!!!!

Day 15:  Today, Pippa took the initiative to move out of her corner several times!  Looks like there's a real dog that's been hiding under that lump of fur and terror.

This morning, Pippa did everything I asked her to with very little prompting.  She went outside, she pottied, she even went in to her crate when I had to leave the house.  It was another day in the office, so I didn't get to spend much time with her this afternoon.  I'm working from home the rest of the week, so I'll get to spend more time with her.

This evening is when the huge progress occurred.  I was sitting outside, enjoying some ice cream and the not to hot weather.  I had the back door open and all the dogs were outside with me, except for Pippa and my old gal, Britty.  I heard toenails tapping on the wood floor and then on the concrete of the patio, but I just figured it was Britty coming outside, and didn't bother to turn around and check.  Then out of the corner of my eye, along the fence line, I saw a little liver and white dog!  I looked up and saw Buster laying in the grass, so I turned to look more fully, and there was Pippa!!!  She'd decided to join us all outside without any prompting from me.  Heck, since she'd already gone potty, I was just gonna leave her alone to stay inside if she wanted to.  Normally, when the back door is open, Pippa races inside and hides.  Tonight, she spent some time exploring the yard, and then calmly wandered back inside after a bit.  It was so exciting to see!!!

Later, after it got dark, I was inside, sitting on the couch, checking email.  It was fairly quiet, dogs were all laying around, tv was off, and my laptop keyboard doesn't make much noise.  I heard Pippa get up from her corner of the hallway, and walk in to the living room just far enough to look around and see where everyone was.  I looked up and said hi to her, and she turned and went back to her corner.  It seems like she's starting to trust me and wants to at least know where I am, even if she's not quite ready to hang out in the same room with me and the other dogs.

I decided that since she'd been so brave, we were going to try something new for her "get Pippa used to being touched" session.  I picked her up and set her on the couch next to me.  She wasn't too sure of that, but let me massage her for a few minutes.  Then, I got distracted by one of the other dogs and took my hands off Pippa for just a moment.  That was all she needed to scamper off of the couch and back to her corner.  That's okay...we'll keep trying.  Eventually, she's going to become a "real live dog"

Oh, and I know this is Pippa's blog, but I have to brag on my other foster, Kipling.  Kip is also very terrified, but he's at least more active than Pippa.  He's very wary of loud noises, sudden movements, and people in general.  Like Pippa, he has about a 4 foot comfort zone and tends to play keep away if you try to move inside that zone.  He really likes my dogs, though, and is picking up things quickly from them.  He's already figured out that if Charm rings her bell at the back door, I'm going to come open it, so he runs to stand at the door when he hears the bell!  Tonight, he was outside playing with Charm and when he came in, he play bowed at me!!!  Not sure he meant to, but it was really cute and he was so happy!  He's been very peppy today, meeting new people at the vet clinic, rolling around in the grass, sneaking up next to me to see what I'm eating, playing with the other dogs, and even standing on his hind legs to peek over the back of the couch at me.  

Day 14: Getting to meet new people

Day 14:  I missed updating yesterday, so I'll hit that one first.  Yesterday, Pippa got to meet new people!  She was very brave and allowed herself to be petted.  She was hiding in her corner at the time, but she didn't cower quite as much as usual, so that's definitely progress.  I was gone most of the day yesterday, out on a play/swim outing with Charm.  While I was home, though, Pippa did a great job of moving when I asked her to, without being picked up.  She's starting to relax a little, and even stretched out on her side in her crate, rather than being all curled up in a ball.

Today, I had to go in to the office, so she had to be in her crate while I was gone.  Once I got home, though, she willingly went outside on her own, and trotted around the yard for a while.  She came inside and ate her dinner, the relaxed in her corner.  She's been doing very well with going to her crate when told and going outside when told.  She still doesn't like to come out of her corner unless something disturbs her, and then as soon as she thinks its safe, she's right back in her spot.

I wish I had more to update, but we're pretty much holding steady right now.  Pippa is relaxing more and more, and starting to act more like a "real dog" but it's going to be a long, slow journey!

And a quick OMG update!!!  Pippa just wandered out of her corner and in to the living room.  She peeked at me and when I said Hi, she scurried back to her corner.  But, she came out all on her own!!!!!