I’m going through a bit of a hard time right now, really in my head and I can’t find the right words or the motivation to write lately. So I think I’m going to take a break from blogging for a bit. I promise I’ll come back, I’ll try not to stay away too long.
Lest you think all I am is grumbles and worries, I leave you with this:
Things are going really well with Daisy and our new puppy, Jenny. While they haven’t had another off-leash encounter, they have been hanging out, on leash, in the same room, going for walks together, and touching noses without incident. Daisy has pretty much lost interest in Jenny, which is a really great sign. I knew it was going to be OK, we just have to take it slow. We need to do a lot of training work with Jenny; being a puppy, she has horrible manners and she just wants to jump all over Daisy, which I don’t think would go well. While Daisy has no burning desire to chomp her in half anymore, if put in the position to have to lay the smackdown, I’m sure she would. And I don’t want her to have to do that. So they won’t meet off leash again until Jenny calms her puppy butt down a bit.
Also, I had an appointment with the Neurology department at UCLA yesterday about my muscle twitches, and they told me they are benign fasciculations. They did a complete neurological exam and I passed with flying colors. They still want to do an MRI just to make 100% sure that all is well, but the doc said he is already “99.9% sure”. He said that after the year I’ve had, it’s no surprise that my body is manifesting stress this way, that it is actually extremely common. So, that’s a load off my mind.
Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, especially of the new puppy, but I am going through camera withdrawal. I haven’t mentioned it, but when we left France back in July, we lent our Canon Digital Rebel XTI to my brother in law, who was subsequently robbed in Prague. Now some Czech douchebag is running around with our camera. So we just have our little point and shoot, which is a lovely little camera, but not the one I want to use right now. We have a new one on the way, so new pics of the puppy will be here soon!
Also, I opened an Etsy store for my photography, in case anyone is would like to buy a print. There are only three available right now, but there will be more later. I love how easy it is becoming in our world to share things like this. I don’t care if anyone ever buys anything, I just like the idea that people can see them.
Meet the newest member of our family:
She is a 4-5 month old pit bull mix, and we got her from the same shelter where we got Millie and Jethro. She’s very sweet and kissy, very exuberant and happy to have a home.
Her first meeting with Daisy did not go well. Daisy basically tried to rip her tiny throat out, but we were prepared for that possibility (Daisy is historically dog aggressive, but had been fine with Maggie), so we stopped it immediately. Then we called a dog trainer, Karen, that had been recommended to us, and she fit us in right away for a training session over at her house.
We brought both dogs over to her home, where the name of the game was “together but separate”. They were in the same back yard, but separated by a fence. We waited until they lost interest in each other, then brought them into the same part of the yard, but six feet apart on leashes, Karen the whole time shoving sausage into Daisy’s mouth. Then it was walking them down the yard together, a few feet apart. Then we went inside the house into Karen’s office, I sat in a corner with Daisy, Hawk sat on a couch about five feet away with Jenny. I was so proud of Daisy, she laid there like a good girl and barely paid attention to Jenny. It may have worked in our favor that it is so hot here today (about 110 degrees), because Daisy was pretty tired. By the time the session was over, we had them about five feet apart, both laying down and not paying any attention to each other.
Karen said to do basically the same thing at home for the next 2-3 weeks. Get them used to being around each other, but without direct access. After a few weeks, we’ll work with her again and go from there.
Karen said that we should have gotten a male dog, because it’s easier to have dogs of the opposite sex. But Daisy got along great with Maggie, and I think that this will work, we just have to be patient. Plus, there’s no way we could have walked out of that shelter without Jenny once we met her and played with her. She is such a love and I am so happy that she is a part of our family now.
