Daisy - A Week of Firsts

The past week and a half has been busy with a lot of "firsts" for Daisy.

Last week we had Daisy's dog park buddy, Sasha, staying with us. Sasha is a wonderful and affectionate yellow Lab who has a beautiful and calming personality. Her presence did wonders for Daisy while she was with us. 

Sasha is one of Daisy's favorite doggie friends. As soon as she sees her, she runs up to her all excited, bouncing around in excitement, tail wagging, and touches her nose. It's very cute! I think she kind of admires Sasha because she is confident and demonstrates a lot of knowledge on how to be a dog.  Daisy looks to her for clues on how to be a "Wonder Dog" and Lab. She watches what she does very closely and mimics her. Having her so close by all week meant that Daisy could watch her up close. It turned out to be a very good thing!

So what were Daisy's "firsts"?

• On the way to the dog park last Wednesday, Daisy actually nudged me for a pet. For someone who has never worked with a puppy mill dog this might not seem like such a big thing, but trust me, it is a VERY big thing. Daisy has never learned that simple gesture nor has she had the confidence to make the move to ask for a pet. But, in the car on the way to the dog park, Daisy asked for a pet. I was thrilled! Sasha has already influenced her!

• Daisy also attempted to go after a tennis ball and pick it up for the very first time. All week, Daisy watched as Sasha chased and retrieved a tennis ball that I threw for her. Having never played like a normal dog, Daisy has never really understood this whole fascination that dogs have with retrieving a ball. In fact, she usually has run away from the tennis ball in fear. Until last week...that's when I threw the ball for Sasha.  Daisy actually ran after it and picked it up first! Of course, she dropped it right afterwards so Sasha could get it, but it was a huge step. It means she wanted to play. 

• One thing that Daisy has always been afraid of is the vacuum. She will either hide in her kennel or run into the farthest room from where I am vacuuming. But, Sasha is more laissez-faire about the whole thing. She just lies in the same room waiting for you to finish. If she needs to move to get out of the way of the vacuum, she does so, but not in fear or in a big hurry. She simply gets up and moves somewhere else and lays down. Daisy seemed to be perplexed by this behavior. Her first thought was to run and hide, but after watching Sasha, she decided to hang out on the couch in the SAME room as the vacuum, while it was on. That to me was probably the most amazing of all. Who knew that having Sasha around would help her with that?

• Finally, Daisy had her first bath in the bathtub. I've been wanting to do this for awhile, but I was afraid of what her reaction would be. Last summer, I gave her a couple of baths in her outdoor kiddie pool. She might not have liked it, but it was an open space and she didn't feel as threatened, so she was less stressed out about the ordeal. I could also let her run off her fear before bringing her back to the pool to finish. But, in a tub she would have to contend with running water, a confined space and a hairdryer. The bath itself went fairly well - she did shut down a bit (not that uncommon with a puppy mill dog - they tend to curl up on themselves and freeze in fear) and she jumped out of the tub once after being soaped up, but otherwise it was not as bad as I expected. She definitely hated being toweled off.  But, the hairdryer was the scariest part for Daisy. She was absolutely terrified. I was able to get the drying process started, but decided to stop before she was dry. It was just too traumatic and I didn't want to have her regress in her progress. I think she was relieved. Poor girl! Now that the first bath is done, I think we will continue with the indoor baths, even in the summer. My hope is that she will become accustomed to the process over time.

The best part of this past week and a half is that Daisy has continued to make progress. Even the fear over taking a bath in the bathtub has not stopped her progress! At the dog park she displays a new confidence. She is more outgoing and more likely to engage another dog in some fun. Hard to believe it's already been a year. My Daisy Dog has made so much progress. I can't wait to see what she does next!

Daisy - A Day At A Time

Daisy and I picked up her friend Henry this morning and headed off to the dog park. The warm temperatures and this morning's rain have made the park a slushy and slippery mess. If you weren't dodging water puddles, you were fighting to stay upright. I am always amazed at how the dogs manage to keep their feet under them when it's like this. How do they do it?

Perhaps it's because they don't care how wet they get or how muddy their paws are (even when they get into the car!). They're focused on two things: playing and sniffing. Not a bad way to live your life I guess. But, I think I could skip the butt sniffing!

Daisy had a bit of fun with her friend, Brutus, formerly a 110-lb. Rottweiler, now a 118-lb. Rottweiler. She loves Brutus. He chased her through the woods and out into the field and through a huge puddle of god knows what. Her tail was up and she appeared to be smiling. She loves Brutus. Seeing her that happy always makes my day.

Later on, we went to the pet food store to pick up her dog food. I never know how Daisy will react when she goes someplace new with me. Sometimes she is okay and other times she is nervous and reverts to her old, fearful behavior of hiding behind me, slinking down, low to the ground, and freezing. Today's trip was an example of the latter. Usually she perks up when she is offered a treat - which she never refuses by the way - but, today she was a little more uncertain. I reassured her, but kept her moving so she didn't have time to dwell on her fears. 

I've been really focusing on helping Daisy to adjust to new situations and to build her confidence when she is in the house or out with me. Recently, I met a great lady in Missouri who has a lot of experience in rehabilitating puppy mill dogs (she took in 7 Australian Shepherds at one time!). What a blessing it is to talk to Carolyn and get her advice and help on helping to rehabilitate Daisy. She has several videos on YouTube that demonstrate the work she has done with her dogs (I've included some of them in the Links section on my blog). Her hard work and dedication is quite impressive.

Thanks to Carolyn's advice, I have been working with Daisy on a daily basis to help her build her confidence - something we're focused on for 2009. One of the things that Daisy does when she hears the command "Come" is to approach me from the side or from the back. She has a really hard time approaching me from the front. She seems to feel less threatened if she can circle around me and come to me from my side. I am not sure what the puppy mill owner did to cause such fear, but we have been working on it. 

We do a lot of practicing "come" using all her favorite treats as a reward. And, we are making progress (Yay!). Daisy would  still prefer to approach me from my side, but by shortening the space between her and I when I ask her to come; I have been able to get her to approach me straight on. We still have work to do, but it is so encouraging to see her becoming less cautious when approaching me straight on. I am noticing a difference in her confidence level at the dog park too. As I have mentioned before, Daisy usually walks very close behind me, almost touching my leg at all times. When she feels safe, she will break out and go play with her friends. I love it when she does this - there is so much joy and happiness expressed in those few moments.  Well, over the past couple of weeks she has been going off on her own, or off with her friends, more and more. I think it's because of all the work we have been doing. It is very encouraging to see her confidence build. Go Daisy Go!

I will continue to keep you posted on our progress!

And, for all those who rescue puppy mill dogs, it is possible to give them a good life. For them to live (to some capacity) a normal life. Like Daisy. it is a day at a time.

Daisy wants you to fight for dogs like her

Today, I wanted to share with you a link to my other blog No Dog About It. Why?

Because I want you to take action to help other dogs like Daisy. 

You see, Minnesota happens to be one of the worst states for puppy mills and puppy mill breeders. To be honest, I think it almost takes an act of God to get anyone to be prosecuted with a serious crime. Although, I sure do hope that one woman will be prosecuted for felony charges soon!

There is a State Senator (Senator Betzold) who is trying to change the laws for breeders, but the breeders in this state (both the good and the bad) have decided they would rather live with the few that give them all a bad name rather than demonstrate they are a good breeder by allowing annual inspections. 

Won't you help Daisy to ensure that more dogs like her don't live an awful existence like she did the first few years of her life? Please check it out and, if your heart compels you, write a quick note to your senator to let them know you want annual inspections of breeding facilities.

Daisy and I thank you.

Click here to go to my blog post.

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!