The First Days

The first few days of having Annie have proved to be difficult. Not difficult, in that shes a bad dog, but difficult because shes so lost and sad. I've never met a dog like this before. Something so broken and so afraid; and yet something so gentle and quiet. 

The day she went to the vet was very surprising. It was eye opening for me, because she wasn't aggressive or overly scared. She did very well for the vet exam, let everyone touch her and check her out. It was a really good sign. 

Then as we got home from the vet, she barked at one of my cats. I thought for sure she was coming out of her shell and she was going to be just fine. I thought that she was going to be ready to take a bath the next day and meet everyone. I thought wrong. 

The day after we went to the vet, Day 2 of having her, she barely came out of her crate. She did some out when I put my dog, Woody, in with her. I think she only came out because I knocked the back of her crate with the fence, so it startled her out. Either way, she was out and she met Woody and peed. No aggression when she met Woody, they sat a few feet from each other and I petted him while she looked on. It was a good sign, ignoring is better than fighting, so I'll count that as a plus! 

Yesterday, Day 3, she didn't come out of her crate at ALL. She stayed in there all day and all night. No going to the bathroom. I did manage to hand feed her some hot dogs, she was so gentle in taking the food from me. I put some hot dogs into her food and she did eat some food and the hot dogs, so that was good. But still didn't come out. She did eat the wet food I put in her crate, also a good sign. Eating is important, but pooping and peeing is important too!

So last night, I wrote down in my written journal of her, everything that has happened and my thoughts about what should come next. I decided that I should either take her crate away or take the top off of it. After texting with my mom a bit, we both decided that taking the top off would be a better first step than just taking it away completely. 

I want her to be comfortable, happy and feel like she has her own "place of safety"; but I'm also afraid that her crate is going to become her crutch. And shes not necessarily feeling safe in the crate, shes just hiding in there because I think she knows that I won't reach in there to get her. Shes just trying to avoid me. 

So she'll still have her own place to sleep and hang out, as I believe all dogs should have. But she won't have a hidey-hole or cave to camp out in all the time.  

Today, Day 4. 

I took the top off her crate today. She did not like that. She did come out of the crate though because it made a loud popping noise. 

She came out and immediately pooped and peed, which is great! I was so excited about her going to the bathroom! 

I took her blankets out and put them in the wash and gave her a new blanket, but she has yet to get back into the bottom part of the crate. Which is fine. I think having her out and contained is better than her being hidden away. It will make it easier to hand feed her and get to know her and let her get to know me. 

My general plan is, going slow. Slow and steady is going to win this race. 

1. I'm going to let her get to know me, my voice and my smell by reading aloud to her, for 10-15 minute sessions a few times a day, maybe. 

2. Hand feeding is going to be a big thing too. I'm going to start hand feeding her a few times a day I think. Until she gets to know me. I'm going to make a chicken, to start feeding her, as I hate feeding too many hot dogs. I know she'll like the chicken!

3. I'm trying to keep my visits with her short and to the point. Meaning, I go in and read and leave, or go in and feed and leave. I don't try to touch her or interact with her, because I feel that would just stress her out more. 

3. Also, my dog, Woody, I think is going to be a big help. I'm going to try to start walking them other outside. I think having another dog around, might help to boost her confidence. And putting him in her pen with her a few times a day will help them get to know each other too and maybe bring them to play. So hopefully she'll relate to him better than to me right now. Woody is a really good dog, hes very gentle and calm, plus if she did get aggressive with him, he wouldn't do anything about it. 

I think hes going to be a big help in showing her that I'M not scary, that I'm the good one! 

4. Finding the right kind of toy for her. I need to find the kind of toy she likes. So far, she hasn't shown any interest in any of the toys I have for her. One has a squeaker, two are little stuffed animals, a few bones. No interest yet. I don't know if its because shes scared or not, but most dogs like to play with things. I'm going to try to get a large variety of rubber, crinkly, squeaky toys, and some balls to see if any of them strike her fancy. I hope I can find something that she likes. And I hope that Woody will show her how to play with toys because he loves ripping things apart and finding the squeaker. 

5. Having Stanley the cat in her room with her. He was dumped at my house a few days before I got Annie. I think having Stanley in there with her is a good thing too. I think her seeing me pet and feed and take care of another animal is a good thing. I think her having something else alive in the room is positive too. Annie did growl at Stanley one time, but he meows constantly, so she was probably trying to tell him to shut it! 

I'm going to continue to blog about her and our journey together. Hopefully we take more steps forward than backwards, but who knows. Its all up to her! 

Thanks for reading!