It was one week ago that I met Hope in Kentville after her trip from Inverness. And BOY has she progressed so much!
She is such a sweetheart and so laid back.
She has started getting relaxing and getting used to a home life. No more counter surfing, not as much timidness.
We actually got her on our bed yesterday ... we've been trying all week but all she would do when you try to coax her on the bed was lay her head on the bed and lick you and then give up and just lay down on the dog bed she was sitting on. Well yesterday I was able to run with her (holding her collar) and run onto the bed and so did she! But as soon as she was on the bed she dropped down (looked very uncomfortable) and shut down. So then we patted and patted and gave treats and she started to relax on the bed. She wouldn't move around on it but she would move her head up to see us which was a big improvement.
I also trimmed her nails. I use a dremel to do nail trimmings, so I took things really slow around her so she wasn't scared of it. She let me do her back feet perfect but then by the time I got to the front she started getting antsy, so I called it a day, and meant to try later that day but forgot. Will have to do that today!
We also learned that besides the food aggression she also guards her bed. This must come from her days living alone. I guess if there was a really good dry place to sleep she wasn't gonna let another stray steal it from her. Makes sense. She also won't go anywhere near any of the dogs when they are laying on a dog bed. She must think they want to guard it too.
She absolutely loves walks! She gets so excited about them. I swear, she is learning things from the dogs. She sees Rinaldo get all excited and making noises and she does the same thing! She is awesome on walks, no pulling, just walk beside your side.
She also gets really excited when we get home from being out. We gate her into the kitchen, and the other three have free roam of the house when we are out. Well we get home and they're all going bananas! Even Hope! We left her last night for almost 4 hours (the weekend before we left her for 3, and times before that half hour, hour, etc and worked our way up), and got home to Hope snuggling with the dogs. Yup, she jumped the gate LOL! Must have gotten lonely I guess.
The one thing about her that I am not used to is when she barks. We have woods behind us with a big sand pit that people walk through usually they have dogs. And BOY, when we are sitting on the back deck ... and she sees someone walking ... it's such a loud bark! She usually only barks once or twice, but still. I am used to dogs who don't even bark when someone comes to the door, so when Hope barks do I ever JUMP!
Overall she is settling in well. She is such a great dog ... she will make someone an awesome companion that's for sure!
I like to cross my paws.
Group shot!
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