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.