Stella: First Night
Stella had an excellent first day. She showed respect to Glimmer and Violet, she offered play to Glimmer, she accepted being kenneled when I had to lay down for a bit of a nap – she didn’t whine or cry or anything – and she did a wonderful job of accepting her food from my hand when it was time to eat her supper. She did react to my husband coming in the house – she barked, growled, and hackled – but to my great surprise, she only did this for about a minute before settling down and just being watchful.
Stella’s first night in the kennel was… awesome. She didn’t resist going into it, she didn’t whine or cry or try to chew at the gate, nothing. She just laid down and went to sleep. She slept peacefully all night.
Just as I did with her supper last night, I hand-fed Stella her breakfast this morning. Stella is very uncomfortable with human touch. She will accept it, but she does a lot of lip-licking and her body tenses up. Among other things it helps create and nurture, hand-feeding also helps build and nurture trust. And Stella desperately needs to be able to trust humans.
This morning, I am showing Stella trust by allowing her to be without the muzzle. I have to earn her trust, but she also has to earn mine, and giving her time off from her muzzle while keeping her on a relaxed, loose leash is proving to be very effective.
I am very happy to report that since her initial reactive behavior towards my husband, Stella has not repeated that reaction. She has growled a couple of times and she becomes tense and alert, but she has not barked at him or tried to lunge at him. He even stood in front of the kennel with his back to the gate while I was first getting up, and she did nothing. No barking, no whining, nothing. Instead, she watched, she remained calm, and when I opened the kennel door for her, she came out calmly and quietly and then she waited while I put her collar and leash on her. It was beautiful.
Based on what I’ve observed in her so far, Stella has a long way to go before she will fully trust humans. But, she wants to trust, she is trying, and she is doing her best. That’s all I can ask of her right now.
Stella Arrives: Day 1
Miss Stella arrived this morning, and since she’s been here, she has shown only a little bit anxiety. The initial greeting between her and Glimmer was very positive – Glimmer actually surprised me by offering a play bow – and Stella has allowed Glimmer to be fairly close by ever since. Stella also met Violet from a safe distance away; Violet was watchful, but kept her back to Stella, which was great.
Stella did her business in the back yard – no problem there – and her first introduction to the kennel she’ll be sleeping in at night was very positive. I will have to work to encourage her to go into it, but she has a couple of her owners’ items in there to give her comfort. I’m hoping this will help her feel more comfortable when it’s time to put her to bed for the night.
About an hour after her arrival, Stella was relaxing in the dog bed in my office and decompressing. Because she was so calm, I removed her muzzle, and found that she had her halti on underneath it. Once the muzzle was off, she relaxed even further. About half an hour after Stacey, my assistant, left, I removed Stella’s halti and attached the leash to her collar. Almost right away, Stella curled up in the dog bed and went to sleep. She is currently fast asleep in the dog bed even as I’m writing this.
Overall, aside from some initial anxious whining, Stella has been becoming more and more calm and relaxed. She has shown curiosity about Violet, but she has not attempted to interact with the cat at all. This may change by tomorrow, but for right now, Stella seems to be content just napping in the dog bed while she processes the day’s events.
Because she is reactive to strangers, Stella will be muzzled again when my husband is on his way home. She and he have not met each other yet, so the muzzle is a necessity for his safety. It is my hope that being in a calm and relaxed environment most of the day will help her feel more relaxed about him coming in. We will find out in a couple of hours.
Stay tuned for more updates on this beautiful girl. We’ve already made a truly wonderful start….
Happy Dawgs Obedience Training 