Progress report Week 5

Its been hills and valleys these past two weeks.

Quinnie has decided that we are friends, but occasionally she forgets. She will always come out of her crate for petting if I sit down in the living room but hasnt been very consistent when in the yard and hanging out in the house.

She also had a brief few days where she forgot that doorways were her friend too. Getting her inside became the chore that it used to be and on a few occasions I had to crawl around the yard to catch her and bring her back inside.

She is still a night mare on the leash, all panic and belly crawling. I brought her for a quick car ride to a nearby park and when she got out of the car she tried to crawl underneath it. To be hoenst, I have no idea what I was expecting, but, lesson learned. At this point we are just working on getting out of the house, into the car, going for a drive and coming back home without it being a traumatic experience. Lots of praise but she is so scared she could care less about treats.

Quinnie has started to bark at guests. I'm not entirely sure if that is progress or not. She is clearly scared of them but where she used to stay quiet and hope that no one noticed her in her crate she now barks in warning.

Turning Point 11.17.09

Turning point, it sounds ominous doesn't it?

Today was a great day! Earlier Quinnie and the other dogs were running around my house, I was busy at my desk, typing away, when out of nowhere this multi-colored muzzle appeared beneath my elbow and pushed my arm.

Quinnie and I are now the best of friends. I cannot sit down without her coming over to me and trying to crawl all over me to give me kisses and get some pets. She loves affection and handling and the moment I stop she starts pawing and squirming and doing everything in her power to get me to start back up again.

So, after 3 weeks of housing, feeding and cleaning up after this baby it appears that the cold war is over. I'm sure I have said this a hundred times in the 3 weeks that she has been with me, but its hard to believe this is the same dog...

3 week Progress Report 11/15/09

It's finally safe to say that she is in fact progressing.

She is still the same normal and happy dog when she is in the backyard with my other dogs. She is playful and loves to run around and wrestle with them. When I am in the yard standing or walking around she is now walking normally around me. If I am upright she will stay about 3-5 feet away and follow me around the yard but if I squat down she all but tumbles on her side for belly rubs.

The biggest (and best) change that I have noticed is that she no longer has issues with coming in and out of the house (unless I have company). She will even come in if I am standing in the doorway (not just behind the door).

She is also okay with me approaching her crate and no longer shrinks to the back or side walls. More importantly I no longer have to be conscious of my approach, I can walk in straight line to her, body facing forward, making eye contact and she will still stay toward the front of the crate... head down but tail wagging feverishly.

Every evening I sit in front of her crate (with the door open) petting and talking to Harley and Tuck and she now sticks her head through the door to sniff and greet me. She is comfortable with all handling and occasionally paws at my hands for more. When she greets me I massage her head, tug on her ears, give noogies to her muzzle, and tell her what a weirdo she is over and over again. She seems to find it all very relaxing and I just laugh at her and wonder if she will be the longest ADR foster EVER...

She is still not housetrained and I think that is going to be our biggest hurdle. Housetraining in my house has always been me giving lots of praise when the dogs do their business outside and if I catch them in the act inside I make a ton of noise and promptly escort the dog outside to finish their business. Unfortunately, making a ton of noise and rushing her out the door isn't really an option with this one.

I do let her loose in my house to explore when she comes in from outside but only for about 20 minutes. She is fascinated by the puppies and if I have one in my lap, you can all but guarantee that Quinnie's head is there too.

She has started to take notice of what is going on outside of the fenced yard and she is unfortunately a barker. I of course treat her like I do the rest of my kids and yell at her to shut her mouth, its really only effective if I come outside and take notice of what it is she is barking at, which leads me to believe she just wants me to know what is going on.

When friends are over and she is outside she does bark at them while keeping her distance. If they sit on the ground or crouch down she will stop barking, move closer to sniff (10ft away) and occasionally chuff. A friend of mine, who visits often, has not been shaving the past week or so and Quinnie has taken a noticeable dislike to him recently. She has always been very reserved but she is down right weary of the beard. I have never felt that she has been abused as much as she has been under-socialized but this has me wondering.

2 week Progress Report 11/8/09

This week I made an effort to put myself in her way. In the evening I sit in front of her crate with the door open and I play and pet and chatter to Tucker and Harley. I think she is wondering why in the world I insist on doing this right in front of her space. She lies in her crate tail tucked and watching but makes no effort to poke her head out the door or otherwise acknowledge us. The only thing I have notice is that after a few minutes she no longer pushes herself against the back wall but rather just accepts that I am there.

She is doing better with the doors and I can now stay in sight when I open the door and she will come into the house. If I didn't know better I might say she is a bit OCD. She climbs the steps, touches a paw to the door frame, then turns and leaps off the stairs, circles around, climbs back up the stairs and comes all the way in. She does it every time regardless of how much momentum she has coming up the steps or if she is sitting at the door pawing to come inside.

Turns out she LOVES puppies. Unfortunately she is most definitely a boxer as she cant seem to not bat them with her paws. Vegas, who is the boldest and healthiest of the litter is completely unphased by her but the others are nearly as scared of her as she is of the world. So for a short time every day I let Vegas and Quinnie into the front yard to interact.

No real leaps and bounds this week. She does great with the big dogs and is most comfortable when she is outside. She is very interested in everything that I am doing but is infinitely more interested if I am doing it with a puppy in my arms. She is sweet and scared and she seems to want to interact with me but just cant bring herself to do it just yet.

The biggest concern I am having is that she is irresistible to anyone over the age of 25. You cant help but want to fix her and everyone seems convinced if that they just go over and introduce themselves to her she will understand that they mean her no harm and she will be magically cured of her debilitating fear. Oddly, tell an 8 year old that she is scared and they innately seem to know to just give her her space. So I found that I am constantly begging them to just ignore her, just let her be. I have 8 week old puppies here and people are more interested in her than they are the itty-bitty adorable loving puppies that aren't terrified of them.

Fortunately , I found a cure. I make them hold a puppy and sit on the floor and Quinnie is so interested in the pups that she will willingly do just about anything to stick her face in theirs and lick and sniff them... including letting a stranger pet her.

1 week Progress Report 11/01/09

Oh my goodness, what a long week.

I am starting to feel like a bit of a monster. It is so hard to have a dog in your home who is just TERRIFIED of you. When I approach her crate I walk toward her in a curved line, I look away from her, I lick my lips, and I turn my body to the side, heck, I even get on all four and crawl. And still she sees me approaching and pushes to the farthest corner of her crate, tail tucked and still and doing everything she can to avoid me.

Since the spay surgery on Friday she appears to be slightly more relaxed. That is to say she is doing somewhat better with doorways. Its no longer a 2o minute ordeal to get her in the house. I can now call the other dogs, leave the door open, walk into the next room and when I hear her mad dash through the dining room, into the living room and in her crate I can come back in and shut the door. It is still ridiculous, but it is progress.

I picked up a litter of puppies today (also from Fitchburg) and interested is an understatement. This whole week she has shown no interest in being anywhere except her crate and outside but when the puppies were scurrying about the kitchen she made a quick detour to sniff them through the baby gate.