Coco - Perspective

I have been writing about Coco for over a week now, accenting the progress she's making, and moving positively towards each new step.  That's The attitude I've chosen to take with her, as well.

When I read what I've written, I realize that I may be over-emphasizing the positive, and it's important for anyone who might be interested in adopting her to understand that she's still quite easily overwhelmed, and reacts with wariness or fear as her first choice.

I'm developing an understanding of her as the days go by that leads me to believe that she's been treated badly by men, but is still tentatively willing to allow that some of them may yet be alright.  Women seem to have more of a pass, though each new woman must be carefully watched.  Dogs, are alright with her on first sight.  Noises alone are not enough to freak her out, unless associated with children or men.  Children are interesting, unless they're being rambunctious, in which case they are scary.  She doesn't like to be alone, and gets a lot of cues about how to react to things from the other dogs.

I hope she will continue to add new comfort zones as time goes by, but she deserves a life where who she is right now is taken very much into consideration.  When her feet are completely healed, it will be time to see about placing her in her forever home, and I think that home will have these characteristics:

• Her primary caretaker will be a woman.
• They will live in a rural or semi-rural area.
• She will not be left alone for more than a few hours at a time, so her person will be maybe retired, or work at home, or be able to take her to work.  Maybe she'd be alright with a companion dog during a work-day.  We're working towards raising her tolerance in this area.
• Whoever adopts her will be willing to be patient in introducing her to her new life, and use only positive reinforcement training, with the most gentle of corrections as absolutely necessary.
• Only calm older children, if any, should be part of the household.

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Okay?  So!  That said, what's new in Coco's world, today?  

I told you she's started playing with toys a little bit, right?  Didn't I?  Well, I mentioned it on Facebook, where I was ordered to produce photographic evidence.  This is the best I can give you for that, right now.  I hope I can get better pictures as she gets more relaxed and less shy about it.

I was in the kitchen, and I kept hearing her running back and forth to the studio. I looked, and she was carrying a tennis ball, with which she'd plop down on the Rug of Safety, chew it a bit, then carry it back to the studio.  Then back she'd come with a different ball.  Lather, rinse, repeat!  

Today, she actually went fishing in the bucket of toys in the studio, picking out a few that caught her interest, for a second or two.  The balls are still her favorites.  

I didn't tell you this part.  A couple days ago, I closed her crate, so she couldn't go in there unless we put her in.  H wasn't sure she was ready for that, but I felt it was time, and that she'd move into the family mix more if she couldn't default to her retreat.  She's been experimenting with moving into the couch area and only retreating to the Rug of Safety, from which she can keep an eye on us.  Tonight, she came right in the group, even lying down on the floor where I was sitting with Pogo, while Brilly wandered in and out licking our faces and getting petted.  Our Bad Cat, Meepy, got in behind me on the floor, and decided to smack poor Coco on the head in that rapid fire bap-bap-bap-bap thing they do.

Coco just lay there, head on the floor, and barely batted an eye.  When I saw what was up, I shoo'ed Meepy off (hissing, of course, like the Bad Cat that he is), and praised her to the skies for not eating him.  You have to wonder what on earth she was thinking about that little display.  "Why did that small animal pat me on the head like that?  What was that weird sound he made when he left?  Why am I being suddenly made much of?"  Life is full of strange things for her, every day!

Another new thing we did today was to go in the car to meet a friend, and take a long walk with her and her silken windhounds.  She was very happy to make their acquaintance, and very very happy to see my friend again, or at least happy to be given a few pieces of home-made chicken jerky!  In our wanders about the neighborhood, we had to pass some men standing around a truck, while one used a leaf-blower nearby, and yet another walked towards us.  She was not happy about the men, especially the one walking towards us, and who wanted to get a closer look at her.  I had her leash attached to both the shoulders and the chest of her harness, and was controlling her with care, to keep her from indulging in too much lunging away.  I didn't make her greet him, since she was sufficiently scattered by his approach that she couldn't even see or take any treats from me.  

Once he was gone, she recovered enough to take treats, even though the leaf-blower continued to roar away nearby.  Clearly, it's the men, not the noise that bother her.  Good to know.  

My plan for the near future is to bring her to a trail in town to walk with the other dogs.  It's a very popular trail, with joggers, bicyclists and other dogs, about 6 feet wide on average.  If it doesn't blow her circuits completely, it will be a great way to practice passing people of all types without anything bad happening.  Once we can do that with some measure of ease, we'll move to the streets in town.  It's a fairly small city, but there's a lot of foot-traffic, and cars, so that will be pretty advanced.

Her feet are improving with the epsom salt-water soaking, but I'm keeping her on the pred as well as the antibiotic until they seem clear for several days running.  I thought we were there, but then she had some of the infection pick back up again.  She doesn't seem to mind it one way or the other, thank goodness.  

That's where we're at as of today!  The pretty girl is lying here, groaning and stretching down to her toes, the two boys and myself boxing her in.  I'd say that at this moment, she's a happy pup.