I'm A Nutcase, I Swear!
Joe and I went to Petsmart to see the rescue pups - DON'T do it!! We saw a pitiful small miniature poodle, Puffy, and asked about him, b/c he looks a lot like our sweet Potsie we lost last year. Gee...
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Today was a breakthrough day! Puffy ate his breakfast during the day while we were at work (1/4 c.) - hooray! He also ate about half of his dinner tonight - I added just a little bit of canned Evanger Duck (smelly stuff!!). He's liking the Victor Grain Free Salmon - it's also very smelly and the kibble size is tiny - good for small dogs. We jettisoned the cheaper kibble the rescue sent home with us. Fortunately, his tummy is okay with the sudden change.
Puffy also graduated from the 15 ft. long web line to his 6 ft. leash today in the house. He's allowing us close enough to touch him most of the time, and the leash allows us more control for the times we need to round him up and he has other ideas. He's also decided that sitting with/on us on the couch is a great thing, which thrills us to no end! This means that he's starting to accept humans in a positive way.
Don't get me wrong - Puffy's still VERY skittish and still trembles when first picked up. However, he's quickly learning that we give him good things to eat, and great ear/neck/back scratches, and he stops trembling quicker with each positive experience. As long as we move extremely slowly and speak slowly and in a low tone, he doesn't freak out too badly. We couldn't ask for more for only three days.
Puffy loves following our Benji-looking dog, Nash around the house. Here's a photo of Puffy and Nash - Nash in the chair and Puffy near him on the floor. They'll also lay together next to me on the couch, with Maddie in her usual spot behind my head on the back cushion.
Overall, we're very happy with his progress so far!
Puffy also graduated from the 15 ft. long web line to his 6 ft. leash today in the house. He's allowing us close enough to touch him most of the time, and the leash allows us more control for the times we need to round him up and he has other ideas. He's also decided that sitting with/on us on the couch is a great thing, which thrills us to no end! This means that he's starting to accept humans in a positive way.
Don't get me wrong - Puffy's still VERY skittish and still trembles when first picked up. However, he's quickly learning that we give him good things to eat, and great ear/neck/back scratches, and he stops trembling quicker with each positive experience. As long as we move extremely slowly and speak slowly and in a low tone, he doesn't freak out too badly. We couldn't ask for more for only three days.
Puffy loves following our Benji-looking dog, Nash around the house. Here's a photo of Puffy and Nash - Nash in the chair and Puffy near him on the floor. They'll also lay together next to me on the couch, with Maddie in her usual spot behind my head on the back cushion.
Overall, we're very happy with his progress so far!
