Normally when I have a new foster, I spray them lightly with 'Beautiful' while they're still in the kennel, put the kennel in the center of a large Xpen in the backyard and allow my pack to smell the new guy but not do much more than that through the Xpen wires...
I didn't try this with Simba because I didn't get the sense he was ready to trust anyone - dogs or humans alike... And I felt he needed time to acclimate himself to the way I do things, the smells around here and the schedules... I figured he'd tell me when he was ready to integrate himself with the crew... This afternoon I got the sense he was ready to do that - he didn't want to stay in the Xpen by himself any longer and I felt he was ready to make a major leap of faith...
First I put a large Xpen up outside in the backyard, then convinced him to go into his kennel, carried it outside and then opened the door once I'd put it in the center of the Xpen... I purposefully wanted to do it when it was a bit chilly for introductions go better when it is not hot and sticky... (smile)... Everyone looked around at each other, but no high tensions or activity... Next I added another Xpen and opened it up so they connected... Still OK...
I figured I'd up the ante and so I put Frito inside this double Xpen area... Then Peanut (the alpha)... Finally BeeGee... No issues, no problems, no tension... The telling tail (tale) was to put Riley in there for he's our puppy mill puppy and a major work in progress... No problems, no issues... The only action was he marked the kennel and then Simba had to mark it on top of Riley's marking... Not a biggie... I expected that...
Waiting and watching for about an hour, I decided to take my leap of faith and I opened the side of the Xpen allowing everyone to come out... We spent the next two hours going in and out of the house using the 'inside' command and outside with the 'potty-potty' command... He's got it... Simba understands when I say that, we're all going inside and he's to follow with everyone else... Or we're going outside to go potty and I think I just about drained his poor little tank this afternoon/evening!
The past few days, we've worked on 'no' and 'easy' through the Xpen... Next step is 'come' on command and although he sorta/kinda has an idea what that is all about, I don't think he'd come on command most of the time, so we'll keep working on that...
Tonight I fed everyone together in the kitchen (Simba included)... I've repositioned his Xpen inside by my computer so the door is open, his doggie bed and pitty pad is in there, but he can come and go as he pleases if he so chooses to do so... For the most part, he's checked out the other doggie beds (but not the Chihuahua penthouse yet) and pretty much keeps me in his sight most of the time...
He definitely knows Peanut is the alpha and she's exceptional at teaching doggie manners to one and all... Simba's just started playing with toys and chewies, so that will take time as well... It's hard to be a dog when you haven't been one for quite some time --- or never maybe in his case --- for I deeply suspect Simba is a product of the puppy mills... His feet are so splayed (especially the front), the lack of canine manners and a vacuum with the human bond should be... That's typical PMP traits...
So overall, we made a HECK of a lot of progress today... We're not ready to take that quantum leap from Xpen to sleeping with mom and the rest of the crew, but we've indeed made good progress today! That's for sure!
