Friday, April 08, 2005
Jewel Comes Home to Us!
I'm happy to report that Jewel is settling into her new home here. Jane dropped her off Thursday afternoon, and we've spent a lot of time with her since then. Jewel is just about the sweetest dog I think I've met, and has the cutest expression that melts my heart. And if I ever decide to get satellite TV, I bet her ears have great reception! Heh.
We've had exactly two indoor pees and one poop as she sorts out what is inside and outside, but none since yesterday afternoon so I think she's figured it out. Carol helped me slowly introduce Jewel to my two dogs. First was Izzi, the consummate playgirl who is submissive and will play with any dog for hours on end (her favorite playmate these days is Carol's Misty, another SCL dog). Then we brought in Mardy, my 7 year old Irish Shedder who has never been in a pack and never will be part of a pack, thank you very much! The requisite butt sniffing ensued, with Jewel definitely being the most interested of the three in exploring the fine subtleties of posterior scents. Jewel and Izzi played for a while and got out their aggression in one very limited incident that they seem to have successfully used to probe each other's boundaries. There's been no sign of aggression since. And Mardy is happy to sniff butts but just growls a little when Jewel steps on her, as she does with most dogs. So everyone is settling in for a new home situation.
Jewel is not eating well yet, but I think we'll sort through that quickly. I'd really like to put some weight on her and get her coat healthier.
I work at home, so she's going to be loose indoors most of the time. Initially I'm using some baby gates to restrict everyone to limited rooms. When I left for a couple of hours last night I put Jewel in a crate in my bedroom, and she did fine. I also crated her last night and didn't hear a peep all night long. I'll probably do that for a few more nights until I'm sure she knows indoors from out.
So far, she is looking to be a delightful addition to our little home. And sometime this weekend I'll take her over to Carol's to start meeting some of her dogs, since hopefully she'll spend a lot of time with me over there. And later today we'll take our first walk together, hopefully with my dogs and a couple of Carol's.
P.S. Jewel asked me to let you all know how happy she is that you have been so concerned about her. "I haven't been very happy lately as you know, but I think you people say something about third time's the charm. Maybe that will be the case this time. Don looks and smells kinda funny, but not too bad."
We've had exactly two indoor pees and one poop as she sorts out what is inside and outside, but none since yesterday afternoon so I think she's figured it out. Carol helped me slowly introduce Jewel to my two dogs. First was Izzi, the consummate playgirl who is submissive and will play with any dog for hours on end (her favorite playmate these days is Carol's Misty, another SCL dog). Then we brought in Mardy, my 7 year old Irish Shedder who has never been in a pack and never will be part of a pack, thank you very much! The requisite butt sniffing ensued, with Jewel definitely being the most interested of the three in exploring the fine subtleties of posterior scents. Jewel and Izzi played for a while and got out their aggression in one very limited incident that they seem to have successfully used to probe each other's boundaries. There's been no sign of aggression since. And Mardy is happy to sniff butts but just growls a little when Jewel steps on her, as she does with most dogs. So everyone is settling in for a new home situation.
Jewel is not eating well yet, but I think we'll sort through that quickly. I'd really like to put some weight on her and get her coat healthier.
I work at home, so she's going to be loose indoors most of the time. Initially I'm using some baby gates to restrict everyone to limited rooms. When I left for a couple of hours last night I put Jewel in a crate in my bedroom, and she did fine. I also crated her last night and didn't hear a peep all night long. I'll probably do that for a few more nights until I'm sure she knows indoors from out.
So far, she is looking to be a delightful addition to our little home. And sometime this weekend I'll take her over to Carol's to start meeting some of her dogs, since hopefully she'll spend a lot of time with me over there. And later today we'll take our first walk together, hopefully with my dogs and a couple of Carol's.
P.S. Jewel asked me to let you all know how happy she is that you have been so concerned about her. "I haven't been very happy lately as you know, but I think you people say something about third time's the charm. Maybe that will be the case this time. Don looks and smells kinda funny, but not too bad."
