As readers of Part I of this story know, we adopted a dog we named Sophie in June of 2002 after donating some pet food to our local shelter. Now, I never 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.
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 surprisingly 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! 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. We fill it with goodies such as peanut butter and small bits of cheddar cheese, and she loves it. I got the "heavy chewer" model, and thus far (after several months of use) it is in good shape. I highly recommend this toy, but be sure to get a size that is appropriate for your dog to prevent problems.
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!
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.
Sophie's story continues ---> Read Part III
