I am devastated to report we have decided NOT to adopt
Katie, the beautiful, sweet, amazing Borzoi who has become Lilly’s best, best
friend over the last year. After several weeks of overcoming many dog-dog
obstacles, about which I am endlessly proud of all three dogs, the final
decision rests in my own human failings … as so many outcomes for pets do.
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We’ve been brainstorming why our house might make Katie nervous or wild. It’s hard since we’ve already eliminated or mitigated all the things that made Lilly a wreck, and she’s much more sensitive. So, it’s hard to think of new things. Here’s what we’ve come up with so far. …
Over the weekend, Holly posed a very keen question about the ongoing Katie saga. She asked, “I guess my question would be … not can you give Katie a home, but should
you.” That, dear readers, is the issue, isn’t it? It keeps me up at night, which considering I’m still getting over being quite sick, is not good for my health — physical, emotional, or otherwise. To explore this dilemma, I pose the following imaginary adoption interview. …
After Katie panicked inside our house, during yesterday’s visit, we did more in-and-out games to build her confidence for coming inside. I showed her all over the house, but she seemed particularly fearful of the basement, so we did not go down there. BUT, we struggled with two things when she was inside: 1) She would not lay down and relax. Period. and 2) Anytime Lilly showed any bossy or resource guarding behaviors (usually over me or Tom), Katie responded with invitations to play. …
It’ll be a while until things are back to normal around here, but I wanted to update you on my one attempt at combating Lilly’s new whine strategy — whining to Ginko. …
Despite Tom’s clever toenail cast made from superglue and paper towel, Ginko is still suffering from his badly broken toenail from last week. It’s snapped about halfway up and hanging there at a 70% angle, still somewhat attached. Poor buddy. And, when Ginko is in pain, he’s a very clingy boy. We’ve taken to calling him Barnacle Bill because he is STUCK to one of us at all times. …
Despite the continuing onslaught of germs, I’m actually up and working this morning on a relatively normal schedule since I have an interview at 9:30 am for my next Healthypet Magazine article, so Lilly and Ginko are jockeying for standby nap positions. I just watched the most interesting negotiation between them. …
So, the germs are still hanging on, which means I’m working as much as I can muster, then sleeping. Sometimes that means 3 hours up, 1 hour down. Then, there are days like today, when I’m up for about an hour, then down for 2-3. I don’t get this sick very often — maybe every 3-4 years, so Lilly has only seen me down for the count like this maybe once before. And, she’s not liking it. …
After I shot the photos from yesterday’s post, I sat in the sun myself. Suddenly, Lilly came to my defense from what appears to her as bugs crawling on my back. Turns out, they were shadows from spots on the glass door. (TMI, perhaps, on my window cleaning efforts.)
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In our continuing efforts to notice dog language based on what we learned from Canine Body Language: A Photographic Guide by Brenda Aloff, I shot these two photos of the dogs sitting inside one of our sliding doors in the sun. Both looked at me, then looked away in unison. I love these pics of my golden-eyed pair, sharing a dog bed in the sun.
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