I picked up Lady yesterday. She rode pretty well in the car after about 15 minutes, which is good considering that she has hardly been out of the backyard. We stopped at PetSmart where she charmed everyone she met. Everyone kept saying that she certainly doesn't look or act like she's 10. She really liked all the kids that stopped to pet her. We went home, and she adjusted to being in the house within an hour. She met my cats without incident, even though she'd never been around a cat before. My oldest cat likes dogs, and has started rubbing up against her already.
I gave her a bath, and she did great. Her fur is now really soft. She knows sit and come. She does jump up-very lightly, but not very often. She seems to only do that when we're outside. Since she's always been an outside dog, she technically isn't housetrained. She has only had one accident, and that was my fault. I didn't pay attention when she whined, so she went downstairs in front of the door that she uses to go outside. I put her outside while I was cleaning it up. She went out and pottied again, then came back to the door, looked at me through the screen, and barked once. That was the first time I'd heard her bark. It didn't take her long to decide that being in the house is so much better than being outside!
She pulls on the leash, but we'll begin working on that with the Gentle Leader tonight. She's been sleeping in a crate, and even going into the crate on her own. I'm keeping her crated when I'm gone, at least for now, until I'm sure she understands that you only potty outside. I'm going to make a vet appointment to get her up to date on her shots and have her spayed.
She is a love bug that is completely content to just sit next to you, and if you're petting her, then she's in heaven. If you'd like to make this girl part of your family and help her make up for all the attention she's missed, you'd better e-mail placement
ragom [dot] org pretty soon. She's not going to last long in foster care.
