Today marks an entire week that Jackie has been with us! It has gone amazingly well, which is a credit to both Jackie’s good natural temperament and the great job her foster family did with her. We still have a road to travel in front of us, but I am very optimistic about Jackie’s future!
She met and has continued to interact with both Rosco our elder statesman with patience and gentility, and with our velcro dog Gunner with equal patience and willingness to play. Her already solid house training has transferred to her new environment; she has been 100% mistake free in the house.
Jackie was already good on leash and she is still just beginning to understand being reinforced to look up at me while out for a walk and for coming to me. We haven’t yet begun formal education for a recall (other than reinforcing every time she comes to me on her own) and neither have we started to learn heeling. Positive reinforcement for walking on a loose leash is going well.
We’ve purposefully avoided interacting yet with any other dogs or people outside our immediate family. Each day we try to go a bit longer on our walks, slowly building confidence in the new and wider environment. Yesterday we were unexpectedly joined by a friendly and calm doodle while out for a walk on the river trails. I didn’t have time to “manage” the meeting as the other dog was off leash and approached us before we even realized, but both the doodle, Brady, and his retiree mom and dad were gentle and friendly, so it was a fortuitous introduction to some fellow citizens in the neighborhood. I’m grateful because I don’t want to risk Jackie getting scared or overwhelmed by anything in her greater environment, so it was a good interaction with a calm, friendly dog that added to her confidence while exploring the great outdoors.
For me the biggest challenge has been keeping her interest in her daily meals of kibble, which she has been slow to eat. She certainly isn’t the voracious eater that Rosco is, and isn’t even as interested in kibble as is Gunner. She’s eating well, albeit slowly, which is healthier than bolting her food anyway. We will gradually work to build her physical condition and fitness over time.
Each night we gather in the living room and Jackie is on the big lounger dog bed in front of the sofa where she loves to get pets and belly rubs. Just last night for the first time she climbed up to me while sitting on the sofa and lay with me on the chaise lounge with Gunner and Rosco for a good cuddle puppy pile. And she joined us for the first time upstairs and curled up in Chris’ lap for our entire movie. Jackie is a love and we’re happy she’s feeling more at home each day and night.
Jackie in the glow of our Saturday night movie, sharing a lap with Gunner on the sofa with Rosco in the nest bed at our feet:
Pearls:
- A successful first week! Milestones include mistake-free potty habits, beginning the early stages of bonding with her new family, learning the schedule and dynamics of her new home
- Walking on a loose leash is going well
- Finicky eater? Certainly not the chow hound her brothers are
- Novel environments on the river trails are continuing to be positive and confidence-building
- Jackie is slowly getting used to having more access around the house, including our first time upstairs in the home theatre to join us for movie night
