The Little Pack » progress

Further Proving My Theory

Holly — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 05:26:32 +0000

Tonight I was sitting on the loveseat with Jackson next to me and Baby Titten on the armrest furthest away from me, but next to where Cheyenne normally lays. Cheyenne came and pawed at me with her razor sharp talons and I told her no. She pawed at the coffee table and I told her she was pushing her luck. She then jumped up on the armrest and walked along the back of the couch before stopping on the armrest next to me, sniffing my eyeball and promptly pawing me in the face. No one ever said she was normal. She was trying to tell me that the cat was by her spot, and yes, I am also disturbed that I understood what she was telling me. This time I decided to test her. I said, “Cheyenne there is plenty of room to lay in your spot next to the cat.” I didn’t even say any of this like a command. I said it like it is normal to reason with your dog, as though we were having a conversation. And to my amazement, she went and laid down exactly where I suggested. If Cheyenne were a person, she’d be the brilliant kid in school practically failing because she was not applying herself. My new theory is that just like the brilliant kids in school who are not applying themselves, she is really just bored and needs to be challenged. Apparently by holding conversations. We’ll see how far this theory gets me.

Why Wouldn’t This Be About Cheyenne?

Holly — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 03:17:51 +0000

After the drama with Dixie the past few weeks, tonight finds me writing about a more familiar topic: Cheyenne. Also, I am thinking I have used the phrase “tonight finds me” a few too many times recently. But I digress. Cheyenne. Is too smart. For real. We have now had this unique, hilarious, spirited, stubborn dog for a little over 3 years. You wouldn’t know it, but she is 4 years old. You wouldn’t know it because until very recently she a) acted like a puppy on speed most of the time, and b) didn’t really know that much. Maybe that last statement is inaccurate: she knows plenty, just not the things I would choose, or have attempted to teach her. And to be fair, she sits almost every time now, lays down and even comes most of the time. But “Don’t smash the cat” and “Quit pawing” still aren’t going so well. So I have known all along that she is super smart, but not motivated and I finally have proof. She has this really fun game she plays where she refuses to come to bed at night and I have to put her on the leash inside the house to get her to follow me. A coworker of mine thinks she likes the extra attention, and I am pretty sure she is right. Sometimes I just show her the leash, and I say, “are you really going to make me use this? Inside? Really?” And with the last “really,” I drop my voice an octave, like I am tough, and I give her The Look. You know the one where I raise one eyebrow, and look super serious because I mean business, young lady, and pretend to be badass but really no one, even my dog, actually believes it, but it works because it plants a seed of doubt in her little brain, like maybe, just maybe, this time I mean it. And I don’t think I can actually raise only one eyebrow, but, you know, its sort of along those lines. Lately, more often than not, she then gets up and walks down the hallway and goes to bed. The other night she went into the bedroom, and while I was brushing my teeth, she slowly and deliberately wandered into the hallway and began to head back to the living room, all the while looking over her shoulder to make sure I knew what she was doing. Sternly, I said, “Shooey, no.” She waivered but decided to keep going. Sterner yet I said, “That is e-nough. You go back in the bedroom and go night-nights. Now.” And then I employed The Look. (Note to self: use of the term “night-nights” may hamper the effectiveness of my sternness). She did. Which proved to me she understood everything I said to her. I told she no longer had an excuse, I knew her secret. The next day she was super-excited when I came home, smashed the kitty excessively (I can’t even comment on how disturbing and ridiculous the last sentence sounds to me). So I put her in time out, in our bedroom, by herself. Which didn’t work, because she scratched at the door. So I went in there and I told her to sit and that she needed to calm down. Then I pointed at the bed and said, “get on the bed, go to your spot, and lay down.” She tried to look confused and wagged her tail as though she was unsure. Nice try Shoo Shoo. I am on to you, dog. So I pretended to raise my eyebrow, and cocked my head to the side like I meant it. And she complied. Which means she understood every single word I said to her and all 3 commands I had given at one time. They say that knowledge is power, but I am pretty sure that this knowledge doesn’t help me make her behave.

Dixie’s Treasure

Holly — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:03:45 +0000

The other night, I took Dixie outside. As she was doing her business, I wondered if she had something in her mouth, and upon further inspection, thought my fears were unfounded, so we went in the house. Moments later, I saw something long and dark hanging out of her mouth. I called my husband in for reinforcement. Dixie will bite if you try to take something out of her mouth. It is something we need to work on with her, but at 6 years old, I am not sure if we can break her of it. Its in her little dog DNA. She was bred to hunt little rodents after all. Speaking of little rodents… my husband got her to drop her treasure and excitedly told me to pick it up. It looked like a shriveled piece of poop. It wasn’t. Trying to think quickly and get rid of it before she captured it again, I grabbed a sock and picked it up. I suddenly realized that it was in fact, a small, dead, stiff little rodent. For whatever reason, although it was already dead and I wasn’t actually touching it, this freaked me out and I’ll admit it–I panicked! I promptly shrieked and threw the rodent–and the sock–out the front door. Meanwhile, Cheyenne was outside and immediately appeared to investigate what all the fuss was about. We told her no, and to leave it, and I am still in disbelief that she listened. My husband and I are still laughing about this one. Oh God in heaven what the neighbors must think…

Jack & Cheyenne…

Holly — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 03:20:37 +0000

Jack and Cheyenne have had a rocky relationship from the moment that they met. She loved him immediately, and he hated her from the beginning. He loved to chase his toy, and she loved to chase him. She flaunted her speed, which inspired him to prove he could outrun this new annoyance that had been brought into his life against his will. She would herd him as he brought the toy to one of us and he would glare at her, as if to say, hey, I am the one who is supposed to herd everyone else, noone herds me. Although she has only wanted to be his friend, she also delights in taunting him, by sniffing him, or putting her face really close to his face, or nipping at his back and running away really fast. I have literally seen her leap over his back repeatedly for no other purpose than to infuriate him.

Jackson, on the other hand, does not try to hide his dislike of her. When she comes near, he growls and shows his teeth, snarling at her. She disregards this warning and will often playbow him. Sometimes he will bite her hard enough to make her cry. Of course, being the good dog that he is, he immediately punishes himself and goes to lie down. He seems to resent her very presence, as though his life was perfect before her arrival.

Recently, however, his resolve has began to crack. We have known for last few months that he has been playing with her outside when we are not looking. Last week my husband stood at the door watching them chase each other and play until Jack saw my husband. He promptly bit her and snarled in her face. And then. Today. We woke up to Jackson and Cheyenne curled up together. Her head was literally on his back, and they were content as can be. He forgot that he is supposed to hate her. It all just a matter of time until he gives into loving her.

Cheyenne Responds to Visual Cues

Holly — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 04:45:23 +0000

I have noticed that Cheyenne responds better to visual cues than verbal ones. If I have her attention, she will respond almost without fail if I use a visual command rather than speaking it. If I hold my hand up, or tap her rump, she will sit. If I point, or tap the floor, she lays down. I am learning to be patient and just wait after asking her to do something. Most of the time she will do what I have asked, although sometimes only after an exaggerated delay. I can only assume this is evidence of her sight hound heredity.

She is finally begining to act like a teenager instead of puppy. She still has her moments though. We have seen quite a transition since Dixie came to live with us. Now Dixie is the newcomer, and because she associates herself with IO and Jack, by default, she is graduating into a “big dog.” I am amazed that she is beginning to take direction and have high hopes that in another 6 months or so, she will be a really good dog.

Chey, Before and After

Holly — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 04:07:52 +0000

The before picture is out of focus and taken with a lesser quality camera, but even so the changes in Cheyenne are obvious. She has put on 10 pounds or so in the time that we have had her, just solid muscle, and the forlorn look is gone. She has learned to trust and love us, and she is finally content. The confidence is visible. She has almost grown into her ears. When we adopted her we were told she was full-grown and not expected to grow any more, but I could tell that she wasn’t done growing yet. And sure enough with consistent guidance and unconditional love (and trust me, she has taught me the meaning of that one) she has grown, not only physically but emotionally as well.

When I think back, I am amazed at how far we have come together. She used to gulp her food down as fast as she could swallow it. And she would wolf down anything edible that came her way, as though she did not trust when her next meal was coming. A few years later and she has now realized she has the luxury of being picky about what she eats, daring even to turn her nose up at her dish if it isn’t to her liking. To me, this is proof-positive that she has accepted us fully and completely and has opened her little heart to us, knowing that we won’t hurt her.

For a long time after she came to live with us, if we approached her or moved in an unexpected way, she would immediately flinch, cower and begin trembling. She would tuck her tail and the demons she was battling came to the surface. The only thing I could do was to wrap my arms around her and try to love it out of her. And I did every single time. This went on for 2 years, and she was only a year old when we got her. Over time it has happened less and less frequently and has been about 6 months since the last incident. The only consolation was that each occurrence was an opportunity for healing. I have tried to see it that way, but I can’t begin to tell you the ways in which my heart broke every time this happened.

Over the years there have been so many behavioral difficulties with her, and I have to admit that I was not at all prepared for what I was getting into. As frustrated as I sometimes feel, the pictures offer a wonderful reminder of where we started and how many victories there have actually been. They prove that true progress has really occurred. I am proud of the rapport we have built together. She has tested my patience and resolve and in the end, taught me more about myself and faith than anyone. I am confident that those sad days are behind us and that she will continue to surprise and challenge us. Although I am sure the sailing will not always be smooth, I am sure that journey will be well-worth whatever struggles lay ahead.

Pinch Me

Holly — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 03:22:34 +0000

Tonight Cheyenne obeyed my (almost) every word. She sat every time I asked her to sit down, laid down every time I asked her to lay down and even went to the door when I asked her to go inside. Better yet, she was extremely excited when I told her she was a good girl. Of course, she celebrated by chasing down and smashing the kitty. But no matter. She cared what I thought. Outside, when I used my serious voice, she stopped in her tracks and sat. And when we came inside she was submissive to me–she laid down and rolled over without me asking. Is this the beginning of her wanting to please me?

Cheyenne Learns from Jack…

Holly — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 03:42:03 +0000

…and not the way we would have wanted her to. First, it is important to explain that getting Jack to eat has been an ongoing battle from the beginning. I first tried feeding him Wellness. He hated it. I tried mixing it with Eukanuba, he picked out all the Wellness pieces out of his dish and spit them out. I gave in. And so it began.

People say an animal won’t starve himself, but Jackson is living proof that that is not true. I used to free-feed him and IO when they were little and I was of the opinion that if he was hungry, he would eat. Well, unfortunately, that premise did not hold true in Jack’s case. He got so thin that not only were his ribs visible, but so were his hip bones. At the vet’s office he weighed in at a mere 19 pounds. I was given a choice: separate him from IO at mealtimes, and give him a few weeks to see if he put on a little weight, or do tests right then to rule out things like liver failure. Although we knew more than likely he just wasn’t eating, I opted for all the tests, so that if there was a problem we could start treating it immediately. I was told by my vet to try putting broth and cheese on his food… sigh. Turns out, all tests were negative, in a few weeks he began to put on weight, and consensus was that he was being overly polite to IO, letting her eat all his food to prove his loyalty to her. She has the opposite problem with food, by the way, so if he has dog anorexia, she has dog bulimia. Over time, and many, many different foods later, he will not even consider eating his dinner without cheese on it. And if he goes too long without eating, I take him through the drive-thru and get him a plain cheeseburger, or make his new fave–chicken, brown rice and broth with a little dog food mixed in.

So fast-forward to the addition of Cheyenne. When we first got Cheyenne, she had been surrendered twice that we knew of and major trust issues. She would swallow as much food as she could at every opportunity, as though she didn’t know when she might eat again. Two years later and all of a sudden she has become picky, refusing to eat her dinner, waiting until we put cheese on it to eat it. And lately, picking out the cheese and just picking at her food. So now, here we are, putting cheese and broth on her and Jack’s dinner, and instead of being annoyed, I can only see it as good. For Cheyenne to be picky about her dinner means that she completely trusts us and knows she will never go hungry again. And that makes me incredibly glad.

Progress!!!

Holly — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 04:27:29 +0000

Tonight Cheyenne was obsessively pawing at me–my arms, my face. I asked her “What do you need to do?” (which means “Sit”, don’t even ask…) and she sat, but continued to paw, inlcuding trying to paw at my feet when I told her no paws. Sigh… that’s a Shoo-Shy for you, desperately trying to find the loop hole. So anyway, I pointed at the floor in front of me and said, more to myself than anything, “If you want loves, you need to lay down.” I had absolutely no expectations. After a (very) prolonged period she sighed, laid down, and rolled over! I was stunned. I hadn’t even said it as though I was asking her to do anything. Which only proves just how intelligent she really is, and also just how uncooperative she really is. It isn’t that she doesn’t understand what is being asked of her, its that she doesn’t understand why she should comply with my requests. I had stopped touching her and she really wanted attention. I am beginning to think that she is affection motivated, even though I have never heard of such a thing. Hey whatever works. Even if it is only 60% of the time.