Thursday, February 5, 2009

Daisy and her Fears



I'm lying here on the floor (typing) and watching Daisy, who is on the couch. 
Instead of lying down in her usual spot on the couch, she is sitting up and looking around; eyes shifting back and forth, in fear. It makes me sad to see her this way. I know the cause, but it's one of those things that you can't always prevent.

You see, while I was making dinner tonight the smoke alarm went off. Not for long mind you, but just long enough for Daisy to become terrified. The shrill sound absolutely terrifies her. Usually, I plan ahead and set up the fan to blow at it so it doesn't even go off, but tonight I wasn't expecting it to go off at all. 

Sometimes I hate technology.

The last time the darn thing went off (a few months ago), Daisy sat shaking like a leaf in her kennel and I had to use treats to coax her out.  I tried to reassure her and distract her with doing something else - that usually works.  Tonight however, Daisy chose to follow me around the kitchen, skulking around, low to the ground. I decided that a jaunt outside would be a good way to distract her, and it was, but as soon as we started to head back inside she was fearful again. In fact, she would not come back inside the house for about 5 minutes. She spent that time pacing around the car in the garage. I gave her some time and left the door to the kitchen open so she could come inside on her own terms. And, she did. That is progress indeed!

Scary noises and things can come from all sorts of places when you're a puppy mill survivor. I hope that with time, the smoke alarm will become less scary, but the reality is that it may always be a frightful thing to her. I can't really blame her if it does either. I hate the sound of that darn thing too!

2 comments:

  1. I hope Daisy overcomes her fears. I saw your blog on facebook. You're doing a great thing.

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  2. Thanks Paula! It's really amazing, but her transformation over the past year has been slowly progressing to one that is less fearful. I am hopeful that she will become a "whole" lab someday.

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