Wednesday, March 28, 2012

About Two Weeks: Lessons from Elle

This past weekend I came down with a bad case of new parent syndrome.  Elle and I had gone to the vet Saturday and picked up heartworm preventative for her.  We had Elle's most recent medical history but none of her history prior to being rescued and the vet wanted her covered for Parvo so she had a vaccination.

Sunday morning was particularly quiet.  I hadn't been woken by Elle's tail thumping on the wall or her loud yawning.  She didn't have her head in my face reminding me that it was morning and she needed food.  In fact, where was Elle?  I popped out of bed and she was still sleeping, curled in a ball.  As I woke her up she made a whimpering sound that wrapped itself around my heartstrings and yanked.  I panicked. 

I reasoned that if she ate food she might be alright and survive whatever ailed her.  She passed the food test.  Still, no tail wagging, no following me around the house.  Only yesterday she was in perfect health.  How could she suddenly be so ill she whined?  I felt her nose.  Hot and dry.  She had a temperature.  More panic.  Why was I panicking?  I have had dogs my entire life?  Why couldn't I remember what to do?

I checked her entire body for signs of injury.  No swelling, no redness, all the limbs bent at the right places. Lord how could I have managed to kill off this giant dog in a week? Was this going to be my first trip to the emergency vet?  Finally it came to me: aspirin.  I Googled it.  Yep.  You can give dogs aspirin; I had Shasta and Aiden both on baby aspirin at one time.  I opened her giant mouth, popped in some baby aspirin, gave her a Milk Bone chaser and waited.  An hour later the old Elle was coming back and I began breathing again.   It had probably been a reaction to the vaccine from the day before. 

In two weeks I've learned a great deal.  Elle is a good communicator.  She is going to tell you when she needs or wants something.  My job is to figure out what she is saying.  She is a bit leery of new sights and sounds, yet her curiosity frequently gets the better of her and she investigates despite her misgivings.  She didn't love going on walks at first but she tolerated them.  Now she happily holds her head up so I can attach the lead.  She truly struggled with the concept of the dog door being more than a window.  No longer.  It is now both a window and a door.  Elle has let go of her past and embraces today.  I think I will be learning a great deal from Elle.

Friday, March 23, 2012

Over A Week:

It has been over a week since the Irish Wolfhound Ellie (aka Elle) entered my life.  Right now I would summarize her as the largest puppy I've ever had.  While she is definitely adult in size, on the inside she is still a pup.  Everything is new to her and she is curious about absolutely everything.  She is quite content following me from room to room.  Often she gets herself into spaces too small to turn around so she has had to learn to go backwards.  I just realized I should capitalize on that and teach her the command "back". 

She no longer views our walks as punishment and when I rattle the leashes she starts to get excited.  I admit we all could use more walking.  This wind has been problematic.  Yesterday it was blowing down trash cans as we were walking which was spooking Elle.  Then it tossed sand in my face.  We turned tail and went back home.

The dog door is a work in progress.  It took Chance a while to really master the dog door in the wall.  Elle should catch on soon.  It has only been a week.  She is very proud herself that she can can "sit" which I find adorable.  She is so willing to try new and strange things. I should have that attitude.

 We have a vet appointment tomorrow to establish her as a patient.  It will be her first car ride since the long trip from California.  She is still holding back "playing", maybe just waiting to see if the other shoe is going to drop.  When I came home for lunch the two dogs were sleeping peacefully together in the shade on the patio with the wind rustling through their fur.   

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Day Seven: Settling

I was greeted by two dogs inside the house at lunch today.  Chance definitely taught Elle how to get through the dog door.  Sadly she only thinks it goes one direction, inside.   My job now is to get her to go out of the thing.  
  
Elle is showing me just how much of the wolfhound personality Aiden had in her.  (My Aiden was part Irish Wolfhound and part terrier which made her possibly both a sight and a scent oriented dog.)  Aiden had the strongest jaws I have ever seen.  Before I knew better, I used to give my dogs beef rib bones.  It had never been a problem as I had never had a dog make even a dent in the bone.  Aiden literally pulverized rib bones into bone meal.  I figured that was the wolfhound part of her as they were bred to fight bears and wolves.  Now I meet Elle.  She too is a "heavy" chewer.  I bought her a heavy duty Nylabone on the way home.  I also was sent a web site for elk antlers via her foster Mom's friends who own some of Elle's relatives.  Now  I've just got to get her one of those!  I wish I had known about these for Aiden. 

Today Elle's Break Away collar arrived and I expect her name tag any day.   It's been a week and we are all beginning to settle.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Day Six: A New Trick?

Today I felt better as I've been recovering from this flu that has plagued me.  When I came home for lunch the dogs and I took a two mile walk.   I'm not up to the usual three miles yet even if they are.  Elle did great.  We met two neighbors with new pup and they wanted to know if they could introduce the puppy to my dogs so the pup would get used to new dogs and situations.  It went smooth.  While Elle lacked  interest in the pup, Chance and the pup were instantly play mates.  When we arrived at home I put both dogs in the back yard and shuttled back  to work.  

When I came home I was greeted with a big sloppy kiss. That in itself would not be unusual except that I had left both dogs outside and the dog that greeted me was Elle; she doesn't know how to use the dog door yet, or does she?  What is Chance teaching her when I am gone?  I have the urge to get a nanny cam. 

Monday, March 19, 2012

Day Five: The View from Up Side Down

Elle has been in my life five days.  She has learned "sit" and will stick her head in through the doggy door.  It's all she knows and that's a start.  She also gets up at the crack of dawn which is something we are going to need to work out.  

My plan for today was to leave Elle outside, Chance inside, come home at lunch and walk them, and repeat.  The weather forecast messed up Plan A.  It was forecast to be 9F outside at 8AM and I could not lock a dog outside in that kind of cold.  So Plan B was invented.  Elle has never been indoors until the last month at her foster Mom's house.  She had a reputation for seeking items out and chewing them up a bit.  So I spent last night doggy proofing my house.  As I left this morning I said a prayer to God to protect little Elle from chewing or swallowing anything that would harm her.  

Success!  I came home for lunch and no damage was done.  I would like to think I am lucky, but the more likely explanation is that Elle is not quite herself yet and I dodged a bullet.  Yet she is more comfortable than when she first arrived (as seen below).  So comfortable now that there is a small chunk of fabric missing out of her dog blanket as she nibbled it away after dinner.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Day Three: Wag of the Tail

I woke up to the sound of a tail thumping against the wall.  Without opening my eyes I knew it was Ellie. It was her first tail wagging since she had come home. It was 5:30 AM and we had avoided the cleaning up of pee.  I could hear the scurry of toenails outside on the patio, Chance was giving her play bow again.  Maybe today would be the day she would play.

Day Two: Already Attached

I hadn't brought a new dog into my home with another dog already resident for eight years and I suddenly realized that I didn't have a clue as to what I was doing no matter what I thought before.  It was a restless night and all of us were up and down every hour.  Ellie had sipped down a lot of water and giant dogs piddle giant puddles.  I had been trying to avoid a major clean up.  I was not successful.  Eek gads.....she may need potty training as well.  

As I was up most of the night, I read about training dogs as opposed to puppies.  There is a difference.  Something changes in a dog's mindset when it reaches adolescence. So far I had never had a dog who didn't know any commands.  Initially I had wanted to change her name, not that I didn't like Ellie, simply that I wanted a name that reflected meaning for me.  Yet she comes when called by her name.  That's all she's got on the training level and I don't have the heart to mess with it.  Ellie had been slated by a breeder for "breeding purposes only" thereby negating the need to train her at all.  She came from a malnourished, under stimulated environment covered in feces and filth.  

She is two and would have been bred in her next heat.  My understanding is, that of the three Irish Wolfhounds Ellie's foster Mom took in, only two made it.  One is so afraid that she shivers when she sees new people.  She had a benign tumor removed and a  large sliver of wood pulled from her gums between her teeth.  One died as she had a cloth item trapped in her stomach and the surrounding organs necrosed.   After the one died, the two remaining girls were found outside baying together mournfully one night.  The voice of a wolfhound  will move your soul. 

Rumor has it that the Irish Wolfhound community may be a bit closed minded.  Through the years I have found that many purists can be over the top with self righteous indignation no matter the topic.  The wolfhound community had strongly voiced their opinion that the eleven dogs rescued should be distributed only within the Irish Wolfhound community.  These dogs were breeding stock after all.  

The maintenance and necessity of  pure blood lines has value and purpose.  Yet it is not the only reason for breeding and adopting dogs. Certainly it is not a more noble cause than the rescuing of dogs out of inhumane situations and putting the dog's best interest first.  Being at at the top of the food chain means we can afford to demonstrate benevolent behavior and put the best interest of individual dogs above our own desires occasionally.  Sometimes it isn't about what they can do for us, but what we can do for them.  (This is coming from a woman who buys "free range" eggs as the thought of even a chicken unable to walk around as nature intended is offensive.)

I hadn't expected Ellie to stir emotion in me.  Last June 16 I lost my Aiden, an Irish Wolfhound/Terrier mix, to old age.  She was ten.  We had eight lovely years together.  The last three had been just the two of us as her soul mate Shasta, a very large German Wirehaired Pointer had died.  Never having adopted the same breed  twice, Ellie has taken me back.  She has some of Aiden's antics and the same beautiful, naturally black line that surrounded Aiden's eyes.  
 
Chance, my Rough Collie rescue, has made play bow at Ellie a couple of times.  She has yet to buy into his games but she did slap him with a big wet tongue.  Chance is smiling that silly smile again.  It was his smile in his picture that had prompted me to adopt him.  The three of us napped off an on all day after our short walk.  As the sun set, the wind began screeching outside and the freezing rain pelted the windows.  I closed the bedroom door and when I climbed into bed I could see the outlines of Chance and Ellie sleeping; their rear paws were just touching.  We have to make this work as I am becoming attached already.

Day One: All Tuckered Out


We made it home safe and sound. As a rule I NEVER go over the hill in the winter when the weather is dicey.  Yet I knew this dog was supposed to be mine.  At least I thought I knew.  When Michelle asked me if I had chains or snow tires I was stunned.  I'd never thought of it.

 Ellie is a curious Irish Wolfhound girl collecting all the smells, both inside and outside, that she can.  We took a short 15 minute walk together, the three of us, so Chance and Ellie can begin to pull together as a pack.  The walk went quite well.  We met another dog and two neighbor children and Ellie was a champ.  Chance finally relaxed and played a little ball and raced around in the back yard.  Later Ellie flipped upsided down on the grass and wanted a belly rub.  Chance came over and licked her once.  Later she did finally settle in the living room and was going to sleep.  Chance did something that unsettled her and she gave him a growl;  I think he was trying to get her to play by waking her up.  He didn't flinch.  I gave them the "no" noise.  It stopped.  It happened once again.  I did the same.   They are just now both finally settled into the bedroom on their beds and I think there will be lots of sleep had by all tonight.  She does give some big, sloppy kisses, I will say that for her :)
I tried to get Ellie to "sit" for her dinner without success.  She did understand "waiting" after I placed her food bowl until I gave her the "okay", but that was by body language, not by a command.  Not having been a pet, she doesn't have basic commands.  I just figured that out.   It isn't a bad thing, just a place for us to start learning.  I'm very grateful her foster Mom taught her to get in and out of the car.......that is so useful!  On a similar note, she hasn't used a doggy door ever.  I started to get her used to the flap tonight and she is a bit gun shy about it.   She seemed confused tonight as to where to settle down and sleep.  Her foster Mom emailed that she had never slept inside the house. 

Right now Ellie is dream "running" in her sleep.