Socialization

Molly attended her first barbeque today. She did great with all the people. She was scared to death of Roger’s black labs and was barking at them with her tail tucked right between her legs. We ended up putting her in her crate for the first half of the party so she could calm down and didn’t hear a peep out of her. The second half of the party she came out on a leash and took treats from Bill’s hand and was shy and skittish but good.
She went on her first four wheeler ride the day before yesterday. She does fine with the four wheeler and runs and plays with the other dogs. She will run with whichever dog is running the hardest. She has learned to play ball but not bring the ball back yet. Molly is a lot faster now than when she first came. She plays tug of war with Chloe. She also likes jumping on the bed or couch and hiding behind Zack  when she gets in over her head.
She is having quite the time with Bear cat. She jumps into situations before realizing that she is going to be cornered and then when she is stuck against a wall or at the bottom of the stairs with the cat in the way she starts screaming her head off like she was being killed. She is quick to cry and cry loudly over the little situations but also recovers quickly. She comes in the house most of time when the door is held open.
Molly is filled with mischief. She grabs shoes, blankets, clothes, anything she can get a hold of and runs around like crazy.
Overall she seems to be making good progress.

Alyson

The Saga Continues

Molly is coming along slowly and nicely. She has been exposed to Zach jumping on a trampoline (which she wanted to put an end to quickly), the lawn mower (didn’t care) cows and baby goats (stared intently) and cats (she barks… working on that). She nows comes in the house when we open the door within a few minutes. Today she let me reach down and pick her up when she was on the porch without running away. That does not happen all the time but it is good it happens some of the time. She comes running with the other dogs and waits for a treat sometimes following their example and sitting and sometimes not. She had her second vet visit. She had to be carried to the scales to avoid Patrick being totally embarrassed  by dragging her across the floor. She did well with the her shots and the examination. Kyle (Animal Doctors Veterinarian) did outstanding with her and spent time coaxing her out of under the exam table. If you are looking for a vet with the utmost patience and calm demeanor Animal Doctors is the way to go. Nina and Kyle are outstanding (Blair is dearly missed). Kyle is very worried about her teeth as what we thought were puppy teeth are adult teeth and in very poor shape. We have some supplements for her but not sure that is going to do the trick.
She sleeps all night in her crate. Sacked out. We left her alone for the first time in the crate and she had no issues with it. She continues to respond appropriately to the other dogs and submits to them. Daisy and Shelbie have no patience at all with her. Cody tolerates her. Chloe will entertain her for hours but it tires her out. I had a hard time waking Chloe up when Zach had to go to school this morning. She just rolled over and said… nope… I’m good. And of course Molly was still a source of boundless energy.
There are three steers and a heifer who decided to visit us today. They were running loose in the road so we herded them in to the driveway area. Molly barked at the gate when people came to see if the cows were theirs. Still working on getting her used to everything and working on getting her used to coming inside when asked, going out when asked and approaching us for a treat. We have started to target bathroom behaviors as well as watch me and sit. To date she has had only three accidents in the house in seven days. Not too bad!
Alyson

Day 4

Molly is sleeping well in her crate next to the bed. She stays quiet even when one of the other dogs causes a commotion in the middle of the night. She is still wary of coming out of the crate in the morning but doesn’t object to her leash being clipped on. She hasn’t mastered the walk out of the crate yet on her own but comes fairly easily with pressure on the leash. She seems to have mastered the up on the stairs well and went up them without an issue today. I should have walked her to her kennel but took the easy way out and let her loose in the backyard with Chloe. Getting her back inside is still an issue and requires patience. Patrick worked with her this morning with treats and eating out of his hand. Zach was very excited to see her this morning. He wanted to take her out to the kennel this morning but I am more reserved about him being close to her until she gains more confidence. She is still lunging toward people and barking when she is in an open area and not on a leash. Even though we want to give her space to run and play and be a puppy we’ve come to the decision that she needs to be on a long line and not just in a fenced in area until she gains more confidence and stops the unwanted behaviors. She walked well on the leash today and was playing with the other dogs. Cody put her on her back today and she jumped up and licked his face afterward and he put her down again. Patrick put her on the long line this evening and worked on approaching her, treating and then leaving her.

She barked at me and came forward when I went to give her dinner tonight but then retreated to the indoor enclosed area. I stayed in the kennel and waited for her to come out and eat the first few pieces out of my hand. It took her a few minutes but she did emerge and stop barking and take the food. So we continue one day at a time.

Alyson

Day 3

May 18th, 2008

We introduced her to Roger and Janet (2nd time for Janet). She is still more interested in the dogs then us.

She played more with the dogs today and is a getting a tad rough on some of the dogs, still enjoys playing and rough housing with Chloe. Leash is getting better each day, it is fun to run with her. She lunged at Zach today and puppy nipped him, with think she was guarding Chloe. Again we are assesing this and working on fixing it. She has also gotten better about hand feeding.

Positive Reinforcement is coming along.

Molly is not sure what to make of cats so far. She is curious and does approach with caution.

Day 2

May 17, 2008

We took Molly (aka Feral, we changed her name) out of her kennel today and let her play with our dogs. She did really well and got along with everyone. She took a liking to Chloe, they ran around like little crazy dogs playing and such.

Took Molly for 2 walks on the leash and she did tons better, she still pulls but does not fight it as much. She shows signs of aggression and we are trying to figure out what type it is if it is aggression at all.

Molly also took food several times from me by hand.

Molly Day 1

May 16th 2008

Alyson, Zach and I adopted a new dog today. The County Dog Pound had come across a feral puppy. We fell in love with her, knowing the work that lay ahead for us. We choose to name her Feral, as it really has a nice ring to it LOL.

She is shy, timid and is unsure of her surroundings. When approached by all of our dogs she was happy to see them and did not show any signs of aggression. She did well with Zach and Alyson sitting with her in the kennel. I sat with her for a good hour working on feeding her by hand. She would not even smell my hand, she would take the food I tossed out for her though.

Does walk on a leash with some fight but this seems an easy fix once we gain her trust.