Miko's First Walk

While she was boarded in the Taiwan vet office, Miko worked with a volunteer who trained her to walk on leash. Robin, Miko's original fosterer, helped to get Miko more comfortable walking in a new environment.

The result was that Miko was fantastic on leash when we walked her for the first time, together with Boomer & Phoebe. Miko does a great heel, virtually never pulls, and follows whoever is holding the leash without hesitation. Even when she's scared of that person. It's almost like it's been ingrained in her that she must follow the leash-holder no matter what.



See all that pink she is swathed in? Since she's a fearful dog and a high flight risk (and I have already dealt with way too many dogs who have bolted when startled), Miko wears both a harness and a martingale collar, with a separate leash attached to each. I've heard too many stories of people saying, "They slipped out of their collar" or "They got out of their harness." One of those stories ended tragically with the dog being fatally hit by a car.

(That's not a happy face, that's a panting "I'm still anxious" face.)




During the walk, Miko had to walk past strangers and endure a radio blaring. She did not spook at all, though I think a part of that had to do with the fact that she was walking within a calm pack.

Miko's First Night

Miko is the first fearful dog we've taken in since Sugar about 2 years ago. And she's our first new foster dog (Jewel doesn't really count) since taking in Popeye about 16 months ago. For a long time, I worried that adding another dog would be too overwhelming for me with my increased work load and the extra care that goes into Popeye. Dogsitting Reese a few months ago showed us that having a 4th dog was doable--although Reese is an "easy" dog. In fact, Reese is so easy(except for his potentially annoying whining/talking habit--this dog just won't shut up sometimes!) and provides such a good distraction for Popeye that having him is almost like having minus a dog. Well, minus 1/2.

I'm actually shocked that Tyler agreed to have 4 dogs in the house, let alone 5. He was always very adamant about 3 being our limit. I hope nobody talks sense into him.

Although, with Miko being so fearful, her presence will not even be felt for at least a while. She is still feeling scared and confused by the change in environment. Everybody that she has gotten comfortable with is gone. I have actually met Miko a couple of times before this, and Robin did bring her to our house before, so that this would not be a completely sudden change. But it's still a big step for her to have to learn to get comfortable again.

With all of our previous fearful foster dogs, we were the first long-term home they knew. As they became comfortable in our home, there was nobody they trusted more than me. This time, with Miko, we get a chance to experience what the adopters of all those other dogs experienced--being a second home. Miko trusts Robin, and her sidekick David, most. Now they are gone. She sometimes looks out the window for them.

She is withdrawn and does not engage with the other dogs or with me or Tyler, although she sometimes cautiously follows one or the other of us around the house. She will freeze if we look at her. It's very reminiscent of how Isis was when we first got her. We don't try to pet her though we sometimes feed her treats. I managed to put a leash on her and was able to take her outside to the backyard. She is a high flight risk so she must have a leash on her even in the backyard. Although is she still very scared of me, she walks very well on leash and does not fight it.

Her place of comfort turned out to be the corner in our kitchen, beside the dining table. Probably because this is where we hung out with Robin and David while they were here. So we put her dog bed there, along with a dirty shirt of Tyler's and a dirty shirt of mine so that she could get a little more used to our scent. The other dogs don't bother her and she has no problem showing them her teeth if they do.



We will see how this plays out in the next week or so.

Goodbye Jewel, Hello Miko

It's been a nice little indulgence having a pup like Jewel around for the past week. She took Popeye's snarling and snapping, something he does to all new dogs in the house if they come unaccompanied by a new human, in stride and after a few days, managed to get him to play with her. Popeye's crack is tug-of-war so any dog who will tug with him is a friend.









A couple of days ago, we also added a 5th dog to the mix. Reese, who is brother to our Phoebe. Reese stayed with us before. He is super submissive and lets Popeye do whatever he wants to him so of course it didn't take them long to become friends.



But Reese is very muscular and powerful and often overly enthusiastic. We had a slight mishap today when Reese was chasing a tennis ball in the yard and rammed into the side of Popeye's cart, not only causing him to tip over but breaking a couple of the buckles on the cart in the process. Popeye was not phased and luckily we had some spare buckles so that the cart was soon back in action.



Last night was our last night with Jewel.


"Call me when that puppy is gone."


Today, we got Miko, the fearful dog that Robin has been fostering for the past few months.





Robin's done a great job with Miko, helping her to become comfortable in a home for most likely the first time in her life. She comes to stay with us for a while in the hopes that being part of our dog pack, alongside well-socialized dogs, will further her progress.



Here she is cuddled with Logan, Robin's own Formosan Mountain Dog.


A few last "ahhhh" pics of Jewel.







Having Jewel was great, but the world is filled with dogs with greater issues and greater needs. Over a dozen people have expressed interest in adopting Jewel and she won't have any problem finding a forever home. What I am able and willing to give to her a lot of other people are able and willing to give to her. She doesn't need me. Jewel is the kind of dog I would love to spend forever with--if there weren't so many other dogs that needed me more.

Jewel cont'd

She climbed up on my chair by herself.

Jewel Video

Jewel

Jewel was one of the 6 puppies that recently came in. She is staying with us until this weekend, at which time she will go to Robin for fostering and we will take in Robin's current foster dog, Miko.

Jewel's one of those "easy" dogs. Even for a puppy, she's not hard to manage at all. She's simply a delight, and I kind of view her as a selfish indulgence since she doesn't have any "issues" I need to help her with. It's dogs like her that make me think that people who don't foster just don't know what they are missing out on.

Puppy Breath

I know it's been a while since my last update. I've been a busy busy bee with work. I'm also trying to spend less time on the computer in general, as it hurts my fingers and my back. And lately I've had my hands especially full trying to find foster and adoptive homes for this bunch.

http://www.youtube.com/user/whereisbrowning#p/u/1/d6ZhmoeL7G8

http://www.youtube.com/user/whereisbrowning#p/u/0/5aUiYdd5ZKM

(Thanks, Linda, for the videos.)

More to come.