Coco goes for a proper walk

A furry blur trotting along with H and Brilly

There is a disturbance in our household pack energy, for sure.  Pogo is acting up, Brilly is doing his "I'm invisible" mode to stay out of Pogo's way, but Coco is still doing really well.  I think the boy-dogs thought she might just be passing through, or just liked her new-dog smell, but Pogo is now trying to remind us all where he is in the pack, or something.  We're playing things safe, watching carefully, handing out treats (no freebies: do a "trick" and get a treat!) and love as equally as possible.  Coco is thriving with it.

Donna, who is on the board of BTRGSR, and I have been talking a lot about calming aids, and she brought up the Thunder Shirt.  I like the principle, having read about it in Temple Grandin's work, and it reminded me of how I had used a back-pack with sandbags in it to give Pogo more of a work-out when he was younger.  I got to thinking that maybe some of the settling effect (besides having to carry several pounds of sand!) might have been that it gave him that "hug" pressure around his torso.  I dug it out this morning, and we all went for a walk before breakfast.

Pogo was indeed more sedate, during and after the walk, as you might expect!  But Coco is our main interest here.  How would she do, with the possibility of barking neighbor dogs, or even one who often comes out to join us on our walk, with trucks, cars or school busses going by, crossing the train tracks, stopping to check the marking spots we always check?

Doing our civic duty, calling in a railroad issue

Yesterday morning, I had ventured to take her out on the road, and she never flinched when two trucks went by, even one with a long metal trailer.  We didn't go far, but it was enough to encourage me to take her further when H could help me with the other two.  The neighbor's border collies were still snug in their beds, so we didn't get to see how that would go (they like to bark and chase us along their long fence, which gets Pogo pretty excited).  She didn't show any interest in sniffing around when we stopped at our usual spots, but that will come.  She did sniff on the property, so it's just a comfort level thing.  We did stop at the train tracks because there were some tank cars parked there, and a loud whistling-hissing sound coming from them.  H called the emergency number posted at the crossing.  She oriented to the sound, but didn't seem terribly interested, and not concerned.

High-stepping along!

She was definitely very aware, looking around every which way, but again, not fearful.  Watchful.  Not confident, but not whimpering, cringing, tail-tucking, nose-dripping, freezing, dragging, lunging ... none of those signs of terror.

On our way back, Blue the collie did come out to join us.  We had to laugh!  When he came 'round a tree to greet us, he saw Coco, and stopped dead to take in the surprise dog!  Then he romped out to greet her with his typical good-natured joy.  She returned his joyful greeting, bouncing a bit, turning to trade sniffs, and then watching wistfully as he bounded off to lead us on down the road.

I don't know if this little video I took with my phone will actually show you her prancing after him as he went off ahead (couldn't get my phone out fast enough!)  Sorry for the jiggle.  I was bouncing along myself to keep up.  Even though we fear for Blue, being on the road, we enjoy his company, which is always so friendly and bouncy.  I think it was a really good meeting for Coco to experience.  We might have to get them together for a playdate soon!

We all came in and the boys passed out on beds to wait for breakfast.  Coco was less patient, and followed my every move around the kitchen from her chosen spot on the area rug.  But she was lying down.

Last night's kitchen work was followed avidly, even after she'd been fed, with her trotting noisily from one baby-gate to the other to keep me in sight, and even wedging her long snoot in to open the gates so she could get in closer.  I had to keep expelling and discouraging her, but it didn't dampen her spirits.  H came home late in the evening from a business trip, which was something new-again for her to take in.  She was a little more timid of him at first, but relaxed more after some good rubbing.  She still decided to take herself to her crate once we settled in the living room for an hour of tv before bed.

She's still unsure what to do with the freedom of the dog yard.  This is something I hope will just evolve with opportunity into a more casual time to sniff around, maybe get a little bit of a run in.  She pretty much does her business, and goes to the gate.  She may follow me as I pick up after the dogs, talking the whole time, reaching out casually to pet her.  I'm impressed that she doesn't shy away from the scoop and rake in my hands, even when I lift the scoop high to dump the poop over the fence.  (Ah, country life!)  I'm also relieved that she really doesn't show any tendency to eat the feces, which is something that Annie had observed.

sleepy circle of fur

Which brings me to alone training.  Annie had warned me not to get out of her sight even for a couple minutes, or she would panic, defecate, and then eat it.  In the course of my daily movements, she has given up following me unless I'm out of sight for a little while.  Like, just now, I wandered into the kitchen to make some tea while talking on the phone.  She eventually got up and saw where I was, then went back to a bed in the studio, with Pogo.  She's curled up grunting at me right now.  Aaand the eyes are closed.

Yesterday, we pushed the envelope a little further still.  A friend of mine came over, to meet Coco and to drop off some things.  She visited with Coco, who was cautiously comfortable with this very calm, nice, stranger, who knows how to pet dogs.  The boys LOVE this friend, and had greeted her with great shows of affection.  I kept having to hold Pogo back 'til he'd "be polite" (down-stay, or sit), but all this jumping around excitement perked Coco's interest rather than make her head for cover.  Once our visit was over, we had to bring in several large items from her car.  I left the dogs loose, closed the vented inner door to the "airlock" (a.k.a. the laundry room), and left the outer door open while we made our trips in and out.  I could hear Pogo (muzzled) whining a bit at the inner door, and nothing else.  When we finished, I went into the house wondering what I'd find, sniffing shallowly and looking around.

Nothing.  Doggy smiles.  Wagging tails.  And all calmly went back into the studio.

On the cat-safety front, I think she's gotten the idea with repeated exposure that cats are off-limits.  Smelling within reason is okay, but that's it.  No tasting!  We'll continue to monitor that developing story.