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Jim
Willis Made Me Do It - Part II
Your
Veterinary Medicine Guide's Story of Pet Adoption
by Janet Crosby Tobiassen
DVM
Part I of this story - Sophie's
Arrival
As readers
of Part I of this story know, I recently reviewed
Willis' book, "Pieces Of My Heart - Writings Inspired by Animals
and Nature" on this site and subsequently adopted a pet, a dog we
named Sophie. Now, I don't advocate adopting a pet on a whim, but sometimes
everything just falls into place.
We had been
wanting another dog for some time. The busy-ness of life and the fact
that our current dog, Rex, was such a good protector of the chicken flock
made it easy to put off the new dog search. I have a small flock of chickens
and geese, and was loathe to introduce a new dog and disturb our comfortable
existence of peaceful fowl and their canine flock protector.
Hello
World! |
Then along
came Sophie. She has been here for over four months now, and this article
is an update of her life since adoption. I also want to point out 'typical'
post-adoption behaviors and potential problems, so that people considering
adoption will know what to watch for and be equipped to deal with rather
than re-surrendering a newly adopted pet.
There is
a phenomenon known by animal care workers that is referred to as "shelter
shock" whereby the animal is overly quiet, behaved, and generally
unbelievably "good" because they are still rather "shocked"
from recent experiences. The trauma of abandonment/neglect/abuse followed
by the often chaotic shelter experience, and finally the new home experience.
Each animal is different and reacts differently, of course. Being aware
of this, I was still lulled into a false sense of security after Sophie
arrived. She didn't bark, didn't chew anything, was quiet and gentle with
the kids, and scarcely looked at the chickens. Wow, I thought -- we did
good. Then the real Sophie emerged...
She can
bark! She has a rich deep voice that startled me a bit upon first
presentation. Thankfully, with Rex as her teacher, she really only barks
when someone arrives. This is good.
She can
chew! And about a month after her arrival, she started chewing things
with a vengeance! Suffice to say that my shoes go into the closet immediately
after removal. To counteract the chewing explosion, I went dog toy shopping.
Thank goodness for whoever invented the
Kong! This person is a genius. The Kong, for those of you unaware,
is a very durable rubber toy that reminds me a little of a toilet plunger.
Not exactly pretty to look at, but I don't care -- it does the job. The
job is to keep dogs busy. Sophie adores her Kong. We fill it with goodies
such as peanut butter and cheddar cheese for those times we are away and
she is in her crate. I got the "heavy chewer" model, and thus
far (after several months of use) it is in good shape. I highly recommend
this toy.
She can
be wild! Sophie absolutely loves kids of all sizes. She drinks them
up. Unfortunately, her abounding exuberance has caused more than one toppled
toddler. She is learning her manners, though. No jumping. She is quite
a quick learner, too!
Who, me? |
She noticed
the chickens! This was a tough one. I could tell from that the start
that Sophie was not chicken hunter material. She is not the malicious
with intent-to-kill type, but she is curious. Oh so curious. Imagine 15
fluffy and very interesting creatures walking right under her nose!
And they moved really fast if she walked behind them! A fun game for Sophie.
She had a
quick 'frolic' one morning with Mabel, a Buff
Orpinton hen. Mabel was not hurt, and Sophie was scolded. After that,
I purchased a spiral tie-out stake and cable tether for Sophie for those
few moments I was not visualizing her every movement. I don't like dogs
tied on a tether as a rule, but this is used only when I am here but not
actively outside watching. This has worked great! Sophie loves the 360-degree
freedom of movement, and the chickens, blessed in a way by their small
brains, forgot their initial fear of Sophie and treated her more like
Rex, their protector. Soon the were pecking around right by Sophie, drinking
from her water dish, stealing her food, and generally removing the curiosity
for Sophie.
Velcro
Dog Syndrome >>>
MORE:
The Jim Willis Collection
- as featured in The Viewer Viewpoint
Text and photos: Copyright © Janet Tobiassen Crosby. All rights reserved.
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