In the last week, my wife has been out of town, and I have worked from home to take care of the pups. As part of this task, I have begun taking Lizzie to the dog park. Miyuki Park, about … Read more
One day, the posts will trickle, but for now Cerbie is still new, and he is still bringing lots of new experiences, so the posts continue.
Last night, both Lizzie and Cerbie slept on doggie beds in our room. No crate, no issues, no drama. Excellent.
The new feeding station arrived, as Cerbie is about as messy as our Tate was with his eating and drinking.
Well, it’s official. Cerbie is ours. Yesterday afternoon, I went to Paypal to pay the adoption fee.
Monday, the second full day came and went without any major issues. Cerbie – as we now call him – did splendidly during the day. After the early morning walk where Lizzie’s tantrum in Barb’s office was the sold downside, he settled into a calm day. I seem to recall someone mentioning that he needed lots of exercise. Monday, you could have fooled me by how much time he spent sacked out on the couch.
From 3:00 to almost 4:00 while Barb was at the gym, I reclined on the couch to watch some TV, and Cerbie was sleeping next to me. No sleep agression there (a common Greyhound issue).
About 12:45 yesterday, Cer arrived. As mentioned, he is another of the Kauai dogs, bred to hunt wild pigs.
He is a big-ish boy, probably 60 pounds, white with brindle patches. The arrival was fairly inauspicious, quickly got him and Lizzie in the back yard. Some of the usual peeing and sniffing, and Victoria who dropped him off headed back home. He is super sweet and friendly. He is also a boy, as the first thing he din in the yard was hike his leg on the decorative boulder we have. (and the roses too)
The last three weeks have been trying, but in a good way. As you may recall, we became the temporary respite for two of my sister’s dogs, Sugar and Ted, as she lives close enough to the Carr fire that she (and – truthfully – we) was worried about losing her house. To help, we took two of her three hounds in (Grizz, the old man, could hang with her at work).
Work has been busy the last couple of weeks (even with the Independence day holiday this week) so I haven’t had time to jot down any notes on Lizzie.
We have been working on getting her more comfortable with other people, and other situations. We know that one day, we will have to take her to that dreaded place, the Vet, and are confident that will be traumatic.
However, Barbara had a conversation with the trainer at the local “Unleashed by Petco” store, and the recommendation was to bring her in for short meets, give her a treat, then leave.
Lizzie has significantly progressed from the shy, retiring girl when we first met her at Alyce’s house, first bonding with me, then playing like a fool, then being bonding with Barbara. However, much work needs to happen.
In the mornings now, first thing, she practically insists on being harnessed up and going out front. She is pretty good at exploring the neighbor houses, but she isn’t much interested in moving beyond that comfort area. Sometimes, she wants to go out a second time, and then it is play time, and alas, she is impossible to control, so we head in quickly. Still, it is encouraging that she wants to go out.
It has been a while since I have written, certainly time to get back to the world of Lizzie. Last Monday marked the 2 month anniversary of Lizzie’s arrival. The initial transition was rough, but she quickly bonded (with me at least), and continued to improve.
At about the 5 week mark, she began opening up to my wife, and became more comfortable around her while I was at work. Still some rough edges, backsliding on the potty training, and the destruction of a couple of beds (we now have a ballistic nylon tough bed for her “den”.) Additionally, she began going on a short front yard roam every morning.
Last weekend, Lizzie had my brother and sister in-law in town with their two Maltipoos. That started a bit rough, with Lizzie hiding most of the weekend, but she was much more brave by the time they left on Tuesday afternoon, even playing with the lil’ pups.
This weekend, Barbara’s brother is in town. Lizzie was (and is) a bit more freaked out. Barking, hiding, growling. Not so good. Of course, Barb’s brothers are big, loud, and not dog people. Lizzie was not happy.
