Dazed and Confused

So I was sitting in the living room watching the newest member of our pack, Brandy, try to get the other dogs to play with her.  Brandy is a pup who has not had much interaction with other dogs.  She belonged to a senior citizen who took her for walks, but they were pretty much home bodies.  Sitting here watching her I wish I could understand what she was thinking.

 

 

She obviously misses her owner.  After being with us a week now she is finally starting to lose that dazed look on her face.  Fellow rescuers will know the face I mean.  Dogs who are not very social or aren’t used to change get this clouded dazed look on their face.  You can just tell they are not adjusting well to the change taking place in their lives. 

Brandy had been removed from her home, taken to the Chicago Animal Control, then saved by a fellow rescuer and taken to a vet’s office.  She stayed at the vet’s office for about 8 days before going to 3 different foster homes.  All this in the three weeks it took for us to be able to drive to DeKalb to pick her up. 

She is a super sweet dog and was gentle and friendly with anyone she met, but she was in a state of shock and was not connecting to anyone or anything.  As if she was thinking ‘Hello, nice to meet you, now where’s my dad?’  You could see she was trying to determine what was coming next.  The whole time we were driving home with her she was looking out the back window as if to say ‘Hey…my house is that way’. 

 

 

Brandy has been with us a little over a week now.  The first day my husband was able to take her on a tour of the yard, all she did was look for a way out of the yard.  She was friendly, but really didn’t want to get attached.  As a foster child who bounced around from home to home and from school to school, I can relate to what she is feeling.  It’s like she is just waiting for the next blow.  Once she gets settled in here and starts to feel at home, will she be yanked away and taken somewhere else?

The last couple days I have seen the dazed look leaving her face and her attempting to get us and the other dogs to play with her.  She isn’t quite sure how to instigate play time, so she will sit in front of her ball or in front of one of the other dogs and start barking.  Just one bark…a pause…then another bark.  The first few times she did this I didn’t know what she wanted.  I thought maybe she had to go potty, so I would take her outside.  Then when we came in she would sit and bark again. 

 

 

Finally I noticed this little green ball that none of the other dogs have played with sitting in front of her and she was looking at it barking.  I picked it up and asked her if this is what she wanted.  She actually got a smile on her face and barked again.  When I tossed it up in the air she chased it and brought it back, laying it at my feet, and barked again.  Then yesterday she was sitting in front of my husband’s recliner barking at Winter.  I think she was trying to get Winter to play with her.  Then again later in the afternoon, she did the same with Elke.  Elke laid there having a discussion about it with her.

 

 

To me, this is a good sign.  It means that Brandy is starting to settle in.  Still can’t trust her in the yard off leash.  Won’t do that till she comes back when we call her, but at least she is starting to feel like our home is her home.  I’ll keep you updated on her progress.

Be Well & Be Happy,

Pet~Pourri