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.