Speaking of bad - first the bad and then the good?... Well, not bad really - more sad than anything else...
My daughter was able to get Simba's head through a mesh harness - it's not the right color (it's pink) but it is his size and it is much softer, giving because it is mesh... But that is as far as she could get Monday evening... Tuesday morning I decided I had to 'bite the bullet' and somehow get the belly band part fastened because it was hanging almost to the ground... I herded him into the bedroom early Tuesday morning with the help of my husband, away from any of the other dogs and we shut the door...
Twenty minutes of my best calm and soothing words, Simba eventually sat with his back to us and his head in the corner... I had no choice... Slowly, slowly I petted at the same time I snapped the clasp on it... Poor little guy - my heart was hurting inside, but I'm already breaking a cardinal rule around here with fosters - an ID tag... Once I got it shut, he scrambled out from my hands and promptly defecated all over the place from stress... sigh...
Well, that's the sad part...
Now for the good part... We've had so much rain here the past week or so, I had to edge and mow the back yard - can you believe it? In February? My guys know to go sit on the chaise lounge while I'm doing that, but Simba wasn't too sure what he should do... Eventually he figured it all out though...
And there is something about freshly mowed grass that causes dogs to get crazy!... Jack, my Jack Russell foster (don't ask!) loves to run, so he started one of those 'catch me if you can' chases in the back yard... And this dog can RUN and FAST!... Like greased lightening!... Usually the Chis chase him and he does it for at least 15-20 minutes before he runs out of steam (several times a day too!)... The Chis can't catch him despite all of them being pretty quick...
Yesterday Simba joined in the chase... I watched him stretch out those back legs like a Greyhound - way out!... Those back legs and knees are no longer wobbly and popping... Must be all my doctorin' and home cookin'... LOL... He had an awesome time, trying to catch Jack (and never did!)... But it did my heart good to see him running like that...
Simba stayed free all day yesterday and I only crated him back up when it was bedtime... He sleeps in his doggie bed in the Xpen and doesn't bark or cry there either... He learned quite a few canine manners in the past day or two - along with some commands... He definitely knows his name, "Quiet" and "No"... He's learning "Back" right now and "Come" - although as soon as you say that, he heads off in the other direction with his tail between his legs...
Today was the first time he was alone since he arrived... I had grocery shopping to do and I just couldn't arrange the schedule any other way... I put him in the Xpen and boy, was he happy to see me when I returned!... So happy I was able to pick him up in his excitement and for the first time since he's arrived, I was able to hold him! He won't give me eye contact and leans away right now, but he'll come around...
This afternoon when I crawled into bed for my nap, I let him stay free and he eventually found his way to the bedroom (no one is allowed in there unless I have invited them - I keep a gate closed and it is off limits to everyone otherwise)... I just let him look and observe... I watched him, he looked at the crew finding their usual spot to cuddle in like normal...
Eventually he watched two of the Chis go up and down the doggie steps and he tried it himself... Once up on the bed, he stepped on someone and was promptly reprimanded... He found a spot not claimed by anyone on top of the crate I keep by the side of my bed and did a couple of turns to get the blankee arranged properly and took a nap with all of us... He spent about 10 minutes looking around and listening, then drifted off to sleep...
Because I go to bed around 10PM and am up around 2-3AM each day, Simba's learned my odd routine now - and if I don't get that hour's nap in the afternoon, my back, hip and knee become unbearable... I know he knows I take a nap (or try to) every afternoon, but he's always been in his Xpen during it... I seldom allow the fosters to sleep with us - there's something about the order of the pack that causes disharmony if you allow your guys to be upstaged by the incoming and going fosters - my next step will be to transition him over to sleeping inside that crate by my bed at night... I believe all dogs need to know how to crate because of vet visits, the need in wildfire country to evacuate, etc... And while the crates around here stay open throughout the day (and provide great places to nap for the pups), if I can get him in the routine to sleeping in that crate I'll feel we've taken that aspect as far as we need to while we work on other things...
After the nap and before fixing dinner, we practiced being picked up, petted and then set down gently... Initially, he'd scoot immediately away, but I just did it again about an hour ago and he stayed in the same room with me... So that's a LOT of major progress in the past two days...
Simba does have an annoying habit though... He picks up the bigger stuffed plush toys, takes them to a specific doggie bed in the living room and humps them nonstop... Peanuts given him a few 'talking to's' about that habit already, but I'm afraid it's not done much good... LOL...
So, that's all the news for today that's fit to print... Onward and upward as they say!
