At the two and a half week mark, it has been an amazing amount of progress in the lizzie front. She is almost unrecognizable from the shy, retiring hound that we first met at Alyce’s house on April 16. She plays, she zoomies in the yard, she uses the dog door (at least when it is dark), she is affectionate, she is a toy whore, and she loves treats.
But it is not all skittles and unicorns.
I guess that my celebration of her sleeping in to 3:30 and 3:45 was premature. Alas, she was up at 3:00 AM sharp. The good news is that she goes out and does her business.
Today, she has been a little less rambunctious, that is good.
Yesterday, her stylish Hotdog collar arrived. I was worried that the 1″ thick version would be too much, but it isn’t. It is a perfect match for her, purple with light pink lettering. She is definitely rocking it.
Saturday was an accident free day. However, she still adamantly refuses to go out on her own if it is light outside. There has to be something driving this behavior. I am sure it will get better with time, but it is puzzling.
On Friday, we turned my closet in the master bedroom into a little dark, quiet den for Lizzie. Removed the clutter from the floor, moved a perfectly sized orthopedic bed in, and placed a floppy, but thin bed on top of that so she can “nest” (it is adorable, she nests like a greyhound). She quickly took to it, and on Saturday, except for about 10 minutes she was in her crate, she slept and remained in her new den.
For those who have been following the saga of our newest hound, Lizzie, there has been a significant amount of progress as she adapts, and comes into her own. She is a pint sized whirling dervish, especially when she wakes up in the morning. Indeed, in the morning (aka – when it’s dark) she readily goes out into the yard, either when I open the back door, or, through the doogie door we have.
However, during the day, she just doesn’t like to go out. At all. This has lead to several mistakes of the potty training sort, and is frustrating, because in the AM, as well as late at night, she is really good about going outdoors for her business, but during the day, it is predictable that she will eliminate indoors. Often (or mostly) on pee-pads, but still indoors.
The end of the first seven days of Lizzie had shown an enormous transformation from a shy crate dweller to a fun, high-energy pupper, there remain a few things to work on. First, improving the house training, as accidents still … Read more
Saturday, April 21 – About 10PM last night she needed to go out, so we went, and she had her stool, and then back to sleep. About 1:15, I hear the dreaded sound, the barfing dog (I swear, that should … Read more
Friday, April 20 – I woke up about 4:30 (a good night for me lately), and she was sleeping curled up with her back to the opening of the crate. I take that as a sign that she is beginning to trust her environment.
I did venture out and looked at her stool, and I was extremely pleased that it was both large, and perfectly formed. I suspect that her prior diarrhea was due to the change in her food, coupled with the stress of a new living arrangement.
And that is where the expected ended.
Monday, April 16 – we met Lizzie, a hound who has had a bit of a rough history. The story about her is incomplete, but the belief is that she was bought to be a hunting dog in Kauai to hunt the feral boars. She didn’t work out, so she was dumped.
She is sweet, good around other dogs, but is very shy around people. She was moved to the mainland in December 2017, and has been in foster care since. She does bond with people, but it takes time to build trust.
We picked her up around 3:00PM, and returned home about 5:00. She was curious of the house, but still very timid. We borrowed a crate for her from the rescue group, and she was very comfortable inside it. It is important to give her a safe space.