Coming and Going

Frannie the larger cocker/poodle mix has gone out to foster. Friday afternoon we picked up Donovan, a 1.5-year old Shih Tzu boy who's a real sweetheart. I took Zuzu the Brussels and Norman the Chihuauzer along for the ride, so Donvan already had a couple of friends by the time we got home. He settled in immediately, and has been a joy to have around. I think he'll place very quickly.

The trip was good for Zuzu. When we left the house she was huddled down, frozen in place. But by the time we got home she was sitting up, looking around, and interacting with everyone. Just this morning, she went outside all by herself. In the last week she's worked her way through the kitchen gate, then down the hall, and then this morning, hesitantly and with lots of coaxing, past all the noisy dogs in the family room to the door and, finally, over the threshhold and outside to me in the yard. This is big progress, and it'll make both her life and mine easier. (I won't have to carry her out any more.) In a couple of days she should be able to do it with only minimal coaxing.

Bibi cracks me up. She's such a bright, funny little thing. She's getting braver all the time. When she got here she wouldn't meet my eyes. Wouldn't even look at me. Now she watches me all the time, doesn't look away when I look at her face, and her tail wags when I talk to her. Once I capture her and take her over to my chair and sit down with her in my lap, she really enjoys the skritching (and, recently, combing/brushing). Last night she got so relaxed she draped her chin over my forearm and went to sleep. She still moves away if I move toward her, but she comes a lot closer to me if I stay put and coax her. She's getting there. Someone's going to be lucky to get her, there's a very neat little dog lurking in there.

Cider continues to improve, the lesion on her leg is healing nicely. She's a good little girl, very sweet and affectionate. She's a big lap dog, she can't think of anything she'd rather do than snuggle. She's very responsive, she'd be a great companion for a single person.

Minnie came back. She seems happy to be here. I'm thinking maybe she needs to be in a home with another dog, and a fenced yard so she can get out and play/exercise with her canine companion. I took her (and several others) over to play, yesterday, with an adopted alumni, and she really enjoyed herself. She gets along with everybody - human, canine, and feline - and is surprisingly mature for an adolescent.