More Doggy! With pics!

[acanthusleaf]

Ok, I'm finally getting around to posting about the lovely Bubbly Dog.

She is so good in the car! She understands car rides and just sacks out in the back seat. She prefers being in the front with her head in my lap, but that isn't always practical. I can leave her in the car with the windows half down, walk away into the grocery store or gas station, and there is no drama. I'm highly impressed (and grateful). For a dog who has lost her mommy, then her companion dog, then the cats, then gone to a new home, she has no real separation anxiety.



I have resolved to get her out into the world to interact with other people and dogs as much as I can - every day if possible. Her first trip to the dog park was very good. Lots of drama about the Gentle Leader collar - pawing and rubbing her face on the ground. Afterward I loosened the nose part a couple of millimeters and the drama has gone down quite a bit. She found another dog a bit bigger than she is who liked to run. Boy does Bubbles like to run. The other dog could corner better, but when he was pulling into the lead, it was like she switched into overdrive and *really* started to run. Wow. Only one fight - she got into the face of a dog who didn't really want to play. He let her know this was not ok. I stepped in to separate the fighting dogs while the other dog's owner just stood there saying nothing and doing nothing. Oh well, no blood, no foul. She needs to learn. I made sure she had some good fun and running around after that, but took her home at the first sign of her getting tired. She slept very well that night.

Saturday morning I took her to PetSmart to get a portable crate and some anti-flea drops. Much like Teresa posted long ago, Miss B had a Complete Meltdown. Howling like she was being tortured. The place was packed, and it was not only adoption day, but also 'Take your dog's photo with Santa' day. There were two *enormous* Great danes, looking elegant in spite of the Santa hats they were wearing. These dogs were five feet tall *sitting down*. They and most of the other dogs were pretty unruffled by the Bubble freakout going on. I guess I'll have to work up slowly to Petsmart.

Later on Saturday, we went over to Jon's, and trekked down to the beach. Jon went kayaking and Bubbles and I explored the beach and walked along the beach trail. We were right at the rivermouth, and Bubbles spied another dog on the other side of the river chasing a ball and decided to go join him. She got two big leaps into the water before leaping into the main channel and finding no ground beneath the water. She swam perfectly well back over to the shallow part and got out and shook seawater over me. This didn't seem to traumatize her, even though I was laughing at her pretty hard. She followed Jon out to the sandbar, and bounded happily back to the beach when he launched. We then walked (back on the leash) along the beach trail for a while, getting her used to having bicyclists and inline skaters go past. Lots of new experiences for Bubbles.



This is my usual view of the dog:



We stayed over at Jon's house that night, an on Sunday morning Bubbles got a chance to play with Max and Maggie, the dogs next door, with whom she had been barking through the fence. They are bigger than she is, and were happy to run around and tire her out. Again, only one fight. After that they got along very well, and I hope she will soon pick up some of the doggy social skills she has always lacked. Teresa had said Bubbles was a nerd, and she was right. I think that Max and Maggie will be good playmates/teachers for the Bubbly dog.

Progress! Gradually Bubbles has settled into my house and no longer has to get up and follow me *everywhere* I go. She seems to think that when I go into the skinny little room with white tile and sit down for a moment, I am obviously doing that so that I can pet her. It's a real relief to not have her being *quite* so Velcro about it all. She is learning that I don't do rough play, and that she can have attention and love and still remain calm. We are making big progress on the 'calm' front, at least when she is alone at home with me. She hasn't been too interested in her toys, though she still picks up that old stuffed bee (well, half a bee) sometimes. I had great success this morning though with a new Nylabone. She left me alone for twenty minutes! She's still pretty spastic when going to a new place, but hey, it's only been a week. I'm very pleased with her progress, and it's so nice to have a doggy around.

Comments

[kahnegabs.livejournal.com]

Oh thank you for the report on Bubbles.
You are obviously the perfect new "mom" for her. I'm so excited to see what a wonderful new life she is leading. The water play is such a great thing for a bubbly dog like her. Jack and Shadow say "Hi!"