Has it really been 72 days since our last blog post?
Wow.
I won't even attempt to catch y'all up on 72 days worth of info. It would be dull in a repetitive kind of way. Lots of work, lots of school, lots of fun hanging with family and friends; that about sums it up.
I will tell y'all what happened with Daisy...
Daisy was doing ok the first two weeks were home. Her behavior started to decline about week 3. Little was known about the first 5 year of her life aside from the knowledge that her previous humans spent no time with her and she was in isolation quite a bit. She had been at the sanctuary for about a month before we scooped her up.
Life became stressful. Daisy did not like anyone if their names were not Matt, Jeannette, Cassidy or Savannah and in that order. Friends could not visit with out her losing her mind. Walks could not be taken without her barking and pulling to go after any living creature spotted. A trainer from the sanctuary came out to our house and worked with us. We emailed back and forth with different trainer as well. We modified the house and our schedules to give her safe spaces, access to what she needed, and minimal contact with neighbors. The dog park was no longer allowed.
By week 5 we had Matt's parents visit and it took almost their entire stay for her to get comfortable. Even then it wasn't 100%. It was week 6 when her aggression became too much. Aggression is a strong word. I understand as by this point I had read every single Cesar Milan book, and watched all episodes of his shows. Based on blogs and articles and the trainers, Daisy had self confidence issues. We strongly believe there was some aggression mixed in.
Matt's sister and her family came to visit and Daisy would growl and bark at their infant. And at them. Even after they had been with us for a couple of days. After they left, Daisy became her normal loving self just with us. But 2 days later I was sitting with the girls on the carpet reading a book and Daisy was nearby. She crawled over and began to growl at Cassidy. I clapped my hands and said her name in a strong, sharp way and for lack of a better word, she snapped out of it. By this time, a bevy of emails and phone calls had flown back and forth between us and the sanctuary. They were so helpful and kind. They were quick to respond. None of us were prepared for what happened the day before Daisy returned to the sanctuary.
Matt had taken Cassidy too Communion class at our church and I had brought Savvy home. Savvy had fallen asleep. I parked in the garage, picked up Savvy and barely had the door open before Daisy squeezed past me. She ran out of the garage, across the street, and attacked a small border collie who was being walked by his owner. It all happened so fast. It was terrifying. I had never seen her get so much speed. That alone was impressive, especially for a 70 lb dog! But she must have spotted them outside the window because she did not hesitate. The other dog's owner kicked her several times, hard, to stop the attack. Luckily, the other dog is fine and the owner, while annoyed, was understanding and continued his walk. (I haven't seen him on our street since- I feel so awful!) I managed to get Daisy inside and she came in, and laid down. Completely out of breath, panting, foaming saliva everywhere.
I called Matt and we emailed the sanctuary about what we should do. They were quick to email and call us back. We all agreed: Daisy needed to go back. Lots of tears followed from everyone. The next day we took her back, carrying a sundry of treats ad toys she had come to love. It was awful. Hopefully Daisy gets what she needs from professionals, not from a high energy family who had never had a dog before. We were not a good fit in the end. But we learned a lot. Above all, we learned from the glimpses of what could be, that we wanted a dog in our family. So we tried again.
After more research and more talking and visiting with the shelters in our area, we agreed it would be best to get a puppy. We still wanted to adopt, avoiding the breeder route completely. As luck would have it, the humane society in truckee, ca was getting loads of puppies every week for about a month. Out we went to visit and I fell in love with a chihuahua/terrier mix. Then Starsky and Hutch came out to play. Both pure cocker spaniels, they were a package deal found wandering the streets of contra costa county. One is 10 years old and the other is 1.5 years old: a puppy and a senior. We took a week to talk about it. Should we get one dog that is a true puppy at only 8 weeks old? Or do we get two dogs who could keep each other company? What sealed it was watching the girls play with them. This was something we did not experience with Daisy. In truckee, there was a very large and open education room where we sat and played with dogs for almost 2 hours. The room had large windows and we watched the dogs interact with strangers passing by as well.
It has been almost 3 weeks and such a completely different experience. These two, who we named Biscuit and Gravy, are the dogs we were hoping for! They love playing with the girls. They love people. They love other dogs. They are not aggressive. They love the dog park. They are fun and love each other as well. Also, because they are smaller, the girls manage them easier and can help us walk them.
They are not perfect. Far from it. They have some bad manners and behaviors we are working on. Biscuit likes to jump on our dining room table. He has learned very quickly to not do it when we are home, but I am sure he does it when we leave! Gravy is still such a puppy he likes to chew on card board boxes and hide shoes. But their behavior issues are manageable and trainable. They clearly were with an owner who did not train them or have boundaries. Gravy is puppy enough he learns quickly. Biscuit is smart enough to learn, but stubborn and old so he comes around slower.
At the end of it all, we are happy to give these dogs a home and welcome them to our family.
Wow.
I won't even attempt to catch y'all up on 72 days worth of info. It would be dull in a repetitive kind of way. Lots of work, lots of school, lots of fun hanging with family and friends; that about sums it up.
I will tell y'all what happened with Daisy...
Daisy was doing ok the first two weeks were home. Her behavior started to decline about week 3. Little was known about the first 5 year of her life aside from the knowledge that her previous humans spent no time with her and she was in isolation quite a bit. She had been at the sanctuary for about a month before we scooped her up.
Life became stressful. Daisy did not like anyone if their names were not Matt, Jeannette, Cassidy or Savannah and in that order. Friends could not visit with out her losing her mind. Walks could not be taken without her barking and pulling to go after any living creature spotted. A trainer from the sanctuary came out to our house and worked with us. We emailed back and forth with different trainer as well. We modified the house and our schedules to give her safe spaces, access to what she needed, and minimal contact with neighbors. The dog park was no longer allowed.
By week 5 we had Matt's parents visit and it took almost their entire stay for her to get comfortable. Even then it wasn't 100%. It was week 6 when her aggression became too much. Aggression is a strong word. I understand as by this point I had read every single Cesar Milan book, and watched all episodes of his shows. Based on blogs and articles and the trainers, Daisy had self confidence issues. We strongly believe there was some aggression mixed in.
Matt's sister and her family came to visit and Daisy would growl and bark at their infant. And at them. Even after they had been with us for a couple of days. After they left, Daisy became her normal loving self just with us. But 2 days later I was sitting with the girls on the carpet reading a book and Daisy was nearby. She crawled over and began to growl at Cassidy. I clapped my hands and said her name in a strong, sharp way and for lack of a better word, she snapped out of it. By this time, a bevy of emails and phone calls had flown back and forth between us and the sanctuary. They were so helpful and kind. They were quick to respond. None of us were prepared for what happened the day before Daisy returned to the sanctuary.
Matt had taken Cassidy too Communion class at our church and I had brought Savvy home. Savvy had fallen asleep. I parked in the garage, picked up Savvy and barely had the door open before Daisy squeezed past me. She ran out of the garage, across the street, and attacked a small border collie who was being walked by his owner. It all happened so fast. It was terrifying. I had never seen her get so much speed. That alone was impressive, especially for a 70 lb dog! But she must have spotted them outside the window because she did not hesitate. The other dog's owner kicked her several times, hard, to stop the attack. Luckily, the other dog is fine and the owner, while annoyed, was understanding and continued his walk. (I haven't seen him on our street since- I feel so awful!) I managed to get Daisy inside and she came in, and laid down. Completely out of breath, panting, foaming saliva everywhere.
I called Matt and we emailed the sanctuary about what we should do. They were quick to email and call us back. We all agreed: Daisy needed to go back. Lots of tears followed from everyone. The next day we took her back, carrying a sundry of treats ad toys she had come to love. It was awful. Hopefully Daisy gets what she needs from professionals, not from a high energy family who had never had a dog before. We were not a good fit in the end. But we learned a lot. Above all, we learned from the glimpses of what could be, that we wanted a dog in our family. So we tried again.
After more research and more talking and visiting with the shelters in our area, we agreed it would be best to get a puppy. We still wanted to adopt, avoiding the breeder route completely. As luck would have it, the humane society in truckee, ca was getting loads of puppies every week for about a month. Out we went to visit and I fell in love with a chihuahua/terrier mix. Then Starsky and Hutch came out to play. Both pure cocker spaniels, they were a package deal found wandering the streets of contra costa county. One is 10 years old and the other is 1.5 years old: a puppy and a senior. We took a week to talk about it. Should we get one dog that is a true puppy at only 8 weeks old? Or do we get two dogs who could keep each other company? What sealed it was watching the girls play with them. This was something we did not experience with Daisy. In truckee, there was a very large and open education room where we sat and played with dogs for almost 2 hours. The room had large windows and we watched the dogs interact with strangers passing by as well.
It has been almost 3 weeks and such a completely different experience. These two, who we named Biscuit and Gravy, are the dogs we were hoping for! They love playing with the girls. They love people. They love other dogs. They are not aggressive. They love the dog park. They are fun and love each other as well. Also, because they are smaller, the girls manage them easier and can help us walk them.
They are not perfect. Far from it. They have some bad manners and behaviors we are working on. Biscuit likes to jump on our dining room table. He has learned very quickly to not do it when we are home, but I am sure he does it when we leave! Gravy is still such a puppy he likes to chew on card board boxes and hide shoes. But their behavior issues are manageable and trainable. They clearly were with an owner who did not train them or have boundaries. Gravy is puppy enough he learns quickly. Biscuit is smart enough to learn, but stubborn and old so he comes around slower.
At the end of it all, we are happy to give these dogs a home and welcome them to our family.
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