There have been some changes on the homefront:
Ms. Hannah Banana got adopted to our home about a week and a half ago. She is a two-year-old yellow lab girl. We might be her third or fourth residence. At her last residence she spent the day on a chain in the backyard, and the night in the kitchen. Shelter before that, and who knows what before that. She had a litter of puppies before she was 18 months old. She's had a rough life, and came to us so anxious. She is absorbing so much attention right now.
There are a lot of problems she doesn't have, but she does have plenty. Her first week, she would not stop pacing and panting. She was like a shark that couldn't stop moving. It has been lovely to see her relax enough to be able to take naps.
It is clear she has never been on a regular walk before, and pulls like a truck. She is 60 lbs of muscle. She is highly sensitive to sounds and does a lot of alert barking. Car rides are full of barking. The vet trip was a complete trauma. She doesn't really know her name, as it was probably given to her at the shelter only 4 months ago. She is terrified of the wide world, and is currently cloistered to the kitchen and backyard (as am I for much of the day) as we work on taking little visits to the front yard and the sidewalk.
And, she is also sweet as sugar. She has a good heart, and all of her difficulties seem to stem from anxiety and fear. Her baseline anxiety level is going down every day which is also amazing to watch. She learns incredibly fast, has that Labrador willingness. She wants so much to be good! We have already trained her into a chest-clip harness, which helps with the pulling. Labs can apparently be talked into lots of things with a sing-song voice and treats! My old cattle dog mix would never have fallen for any kind of routine like that.
Hannah is also still -- and will be -- a puppy / adolescent until age 3 to 5. So much energy!
Working with ideas and expectations has been interesting -- I didn't think I'd pick a dog that needed so much rehab, but here she is. A Jizo mission in fur. I can't say it was entirely an emotion-mind decision. We had waited a year and four months since Cody died. Thankfully with the remainder of this Sabbatical I have the time to work with her.
I have so missed having a dog. What a pleasure to have a new friend.
5 comments:
Woof Woof!!
Just looking at her beautiful face makes me know how loved she feels with you! Look at her face--she is open and loving. That's what I just cannot get over about dogs. I'm so glad she found you! Yay!
Lucky, lucky puppy! to land in your loving, compassionate home after the life she has lived in a couple of short years...it's a miracle. My first dog love was a lab and they are such lambs to train...you are so right about that innate willingness. They don't want to be smarter than you, they just want to be loved! I am so happy for you and Patrick! Let the book of Hannah unfold...
It is so lovely when animals can respond to safety and love. We feel that same gratitude to Sheba, our new old cat, who day by day finds some new way to make this house her own. It seems we humans are harder to untrain.
Thank you Jomon for the gift of your blog! and for very thoughtful comment at Mind Deep. So much love oozing out of you, and just plain Dharma kindness.
What a lucky dog this girl is, to have you as her new mom :)
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