Oh my goodness, the difference a few days can make.
As I've said, Daisy was used to being an only dog, imagine what it must have felt like coming into a house with two other girls and having to learn how to share ... everything. Here is a recap of Daisy's first week.
Daisy's first day was very stressful. We took all three girls for a walk to let them slowly get used to each other, this is our normal introduction routine. Everyone seemed to do fine. We allowed the girls to explore the fenced in yard leaving the leash attached to Daisy, just in case. There were a few grumbles, some we had to pay close attention to. As far as body signals, very few, mainly uncertainty. We allowed Daisy some personal time in her kennel, she needed time to destress.
As the week has progressed, we have discovered several things about Daisy. First, and probably the most important, Daisy likes to use her voice. If you don't understand her, it might sound angry ... but it's not. Daisy has a very deep voice and when she "talks" it comes out like a growl sound, what I refer to as a grumble, but she does not intend it to be mean. It actually took us a couple of times of watching her to understand her mannerism. Needless to say, it took our girls a couple of times to understand she didn't mean anything by it too. Now that our girls understand her there is harmony between them.
We believe strongly in allowing for slow progress in our foster home. During this first week there have been no toys or bones allowed out. We are also working on some behavior modifications. Daisy feels if she barks long enough and loud enough she will get attention. Instead, when she starts this behavior we turn our backs to her, as soon as she stops barking we turn back to her and she gets lots of pets. This is working very well. Daisy is also learning how to relax ... she loves to be pet and certainly has the Golden nose nudge. However, with three girls, it's sometimes more dogs than hands, so Daisy is learning to take turns or lay down and wait.
One of the most interesting things we have discovered about Daisy is that she will always wait until last to go out the door. It doesn't matter if she is first to the door, she will back up and wait until the other girls are out and then she will take her turn. It doesn't matter if they are going out or coming in. I find this very cute and makes the door rush so much easier.
Once Daisy has received her wellness checkup and been cleared by our vet, we will be talking with a family that may be interested in meeting this special girl. I'll let you know more soon.
By the way - I know the pictures of Daisy are not so great - every time I bring out the camera and get one picture taken she will not allow me to take another ... I guess she is a little camera shy.
