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Annie's second chance

11. The narrow hallway

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Between our kitchen and our TV room where we kept the crates is a narrow hallway. Annie never liked going this way to get outside and after the first 2 days she flat our refused and would go the long way around every time she went out, came back in or went to the kitchen for her meals. We assumed it was because there were 3 doorways in addition to the entrances on either end and she didn’t like doorways.

We all got used to her parade through the house and most of the time I would escort her through the house when I was trying to get her to go outside. After about 3 months, she would go on her own when I stood by the back door and called her but if I was watching TV and she gave me her signal of sitting up, breathing heavy and looking into the next room, I would get up and walk with her to the back door. I found this little quirk to be charming and assumed that she would never venture down the narrow hallway. She seemed happy enough to watch me from one end when I was cooking and would sometimes lie down and stretch her chin so her face rested on the cool tile.

A couple of days after Mother’s Day I asked the girls if they would like to go for a walk, I grabbed the leashes from the hook (in the hallway) and realized their collars were still in the basement from when we had bathed them. They were both eager to go so I ran downstairs, grabbed the collars and was shocked to see not 1 but 2 big heads staring at me as I came up the stairs! Maisie always waits at the top of the stairs usually in a play bow as I get closer but Annie had gone down the hallway and stuck her head through the basement opening to see where I went. I was stunned, she had braved the hallway but this was actually consistent for Annie; she needed to do it when she was ready and with no one watching.

My son came home from college that evening and we knew that would be an adjustment for her. They had met but she was still reluctant to approach men and it would take her a while to get used to him. One evening while we were eating in the dining room with him and his girlfriend I caught a black blur out of the corner of my eye. Annie had gone down the narrow hallway into the kitchen. Maisie was laying in there while we ate and I think Annie wanted to make sure she wasn’t missing out on any after dinner treats. When she confirmed that nothing was happening at the moment she turned back around and went back to her crate. She had successfully avoided the dining room where my son was sitting and had been able to check on us from a distance. She was getting more comfortable in the house!

I know it doesn’t sound like much, Maisie had full reign of the house and skipped from one room to another without any hesitation but Annie contemplated every move she made, where she was going, was it safe, would it be just like it was the last time? Her safe place was her crate and it was as if she took a risk every time she ventured out.

About a week after her hallway walk my daughter and I were in the basement installing a new cable box. Of course this was taking far longer that it should and there was a fair amount of frustration (expletives and threats towards the cable company) expressed while we were down there. Maisie was asleep on the couch, completely ignoring my outbursts but to my complete surprise Annie came galumphing down the dark and steep staircase to join us. I had always taken her through the outside entrance and never considered trying to get her down that staircase, it was off of that narrow hallway and it was also steep. None of our other dogs attempted this in their senior years and I saw no point in trying to get Annie to try. Once again she amazed me with her determination to take things at her own pace and by herself. Slowly, very slowly, she was trusting that this house was her house and she was safe in these four walls upstairs and down.

 

Annie's second chance, Family life

10. Mother’s Day gifts

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For the last several weeks, our walks were much shorter to accommodate Annie and I had missed my long lake front walks with Maisie.   The morning was beautiful, sunny and not too hot, so I grabbed Maisie’s leash and asked her if she wanted to go for a walk. Maisie was so excited and followed me out of the room.  To my surprise, Annie popped up and wanted to go too. I knew she wouldn’t be able to go the full length, but I couldn’t turn her down when she was showing interest in going for a walk for the very first time! Prior to this she would come to me when I had the leash and I would lead her out the door but she hadn’t yet responded to “would you like to go for a walk” so I turned and grabbed her leash and headed for the door.

Annie really wanted to go, but true to form, she ventured out of her crate a little bit and then turned back around to tag up. Her next attempt she went a little further, tagged up and then tried again, each time going a little further toward the front door. On the 6th attempt, she finally made it out onto the front porch, I clipped them both and we headed out. I was elated that she wanted to come out with us, but I debated whether Annie was ready to head out for a new direction, so far we had only been walking around the same 3 or 4 blocks. I decided to give it a try, so when Maisie and I headed left toward the lake rather than turning right to go around the block, she hesitated only a moment and then trotted right along with both of us. This was the best Mother’s Day gift I could receive; Annie was becoming more confident every day and was overcoming her fears in order to be with us.IMG_0925

We didn’t go all the way to the lake, I assumed it would be very busy with people and dogs, so we went around the neighborhood and came back home about 40 minutes later. She kept a great pace and walked beautifully on leash, it was her best walk ever and we all really enjoyed it.

A couple of hours later we loaded everyone into the car and went to my brother-in-law’s house for Mother’s Day brunch. This would be a big test for Annie, a new house, a new door to go through and meeting new people. When we got there she was very curious about where she was, but she followed Maisie right into the house, sniffed around, greeted the women that were in the kitchen and then headed back out the front door. Chris was with her and followed her back out. She didn’t seem nervous, she just wanted to investigate her surroundings. The house is set on a huge beautiful lot that backs up to a forest preserve. There were lots of good smells, the man next door fosters multiple Golden Retriever rescue dogs and there was a resident dog to get to know. She took all of this in stride, followed Chris around the yard, went up to the fence to greet the loud, barking Golden Retrievers and eventually settled next to me on the deck and went to sleep until it was time to leave. She did keep a safe distance from the men, but otherwise she showed no reluctance and was comfortable enough with her new surroundings to relax and nap. All good signs that she was making significant progress in her recovery! I was so happy.

The rest of the day went like this: we went home after several hours and had a late dinner with my daughter and husband.  We decided to eat in the dining room, one of the least used rooms in the house since we usually eat in the kitchen.  I think this may have been the first time we ate in there since we brought Annie home and she kept coming around the corner to look at us.  After several peeks, she came all the way in and lay down by my chair.  It was the first time she ever searched us out and decided to stay with us while we were eating!  Usually, she would just come say hello and then go back to her crate. It was another gift on this day.

After dinner we invited our neighbors over to sit by our fire pit. We haven’t spent a lot of time outside since we brought Annie home in January and it was a beautiful evening. I was hoping she would join us but she opted to stay at the top of the deck stairs. She could hear us and keep an eye on us while maintaining a safe distance. Our neighbor has a very loud deep voice and he was conscious of keeping his volume down but she wasn’t ready to greet him. At one point she came down to the yard level and lay down on the other side of the huge oak tree that is situated close to the fire pit. I took this as another sign that she wanted to be close but was keeping a safe barrier and that was fine. If the tree made her feel comfortable, then she should lay by the tree. It was such a good ending to a wonderful day!

Annie's second chance, Family life, Maisie

9. Annie goes to college!

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Our son returned to college in January, a couple of weeks before we adopted Annie. He was on the lacrosse team and this would be his first season playing college lacrosse. We were so excited and planned to travel to as many of his games as possible. After we had Annie for a couple of weeks, I realized that perhaps we would not be able to travel to his games like we originally planned. When we brought her home she was terrified of everything, even the car. Getting her out of the yard was a huge endeavor, bringing her to a game seemed impossible. As the weeks progressed and she responded well as we slowly introduced new places, I began to hope that maybe we could bring her with us to watch him play. Leaving her home wasn’t a consideration, either she came with us or we wouldn’t go at all.

When the season started we were staying home with Annie but we were able to stream the games and watch his team play. During Spring Break the team traveled to Colorado and this was my first opportunity to go to a game. My parents live there so I went out for a visit and I was able to bring my parents to the two games on his schedule. Because my parents live out of town they hadn’t seen him play very often so when he hit the field for the first time in his college uniform we were all thrilled.

The player’s parents have a tradition of putting out a meal for the team after each game. At the beginning of the season we all chose a game in which we would be in charge of the meal. The game we had volunteered for was quickly approaching and we still weren’t sure how we would do it. It would be easier if we were both there and we both wanted to watch a game in the home stadium so at the last minute we decided we would both go. We were sharing the responsibility with another family and we would only have to bring coolers with drinks and paper goods so there was room in the car for both dogs and our supplies.

We loaded everybody up and headed out very early that morning. Once we arrived I led both dogs to a really nice grassy patch near the entrance to the stadium. It was well shaded and Maisie could greet people coming and going and Annie could stay by my side and watch. Once all the spectators were settled we went in and were able to sit on a bench at the top with no one around us. Annie stood stiffly by my side for the entire game. She always chose to stand rather than sit when she was a nervous and I knew this was a lot of stimulation for her but I kept my hand by her side to comfort her and as the game went on she continued to look around and tried to relax.

After the game our son came over to greet us. Maisie was beside herself once she realized that she had found her boy in this new place. She smothered him with kisses and rolled right over for a belly rub. Annie stood behind me and watched Maisie’s reaction in an effort to figure out if this boy was someone she should know. Tom gave her a gentle pat but quickly backed off to give her some space. It was a great first meeting even though I know it was a little stressful for her. I was prepared to wait in the car with her if it seemed like it was too much but she really seemed to be OK with Maisie, Chris and I all right next to her so I considered this excursion to be a success.

We took her to 3 more games and at each of those she was much more relaxed and would lie down or sit right by me. We always chose a spot that was far away from other spectators and she was still shy around my son but I was so happy that we could bring her with us and she was learning that she would be OK in new places.

 

 

Annie's second chance

8. Back to the vet, which means back in the car!

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Four weeks after her first vet visit she had an appointment for her re-check. We had been working so hard to earn her trust and we were making good progress. When it was time to go to the vet, we were prepared for her to put on the brakes again but fortunately this time she went a little more easily. I had to lift her hind end a couple of times to keep her moving but we made it to the car and once again my husband lifted her into the back and she let out a huge groan.

When we arrived we opened the side door for her to climb out of the car, which she did in a hurry, and once again she charged through their front door and straight into the same open exam room she had picked last time. Just like last time, they let us stay there while we waited for the vet to meet us. We had brought Maisie along for support and I think that helped. Maisie doesn’t mind the vet and Annie was more relaxed having her in the room with us. It was a quick visit and the weather was nice so we decided to take advantage of the fact that we had gotten her out of the yard and took her out for her first walk.

This went much better than I could have expected. She pulled a little but not so much that we couldn’t control her. On 3 different occasions she picked out a house and sat down on the lawn. We waited while she looked around and after a few moments she got back up and walked again. She didn’t seem to like the feel of the concrete so we tried to guide her to

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Annie’s first walk

the parkway, but really she just weaved back and forth across the sidewalk sometimes on lawns sometimes on the parkway, occasionally speeding up then slowing down and of course parking herself for a few moments on those 3 occasions. She liked having Maisie next to her and would crash into her every now and then like she was just checking to make sure this was OK. We walked around for about 20 minutes and about half way through she figured out the pace and walked along easily next to Maisie. When we got to the car she watched Maisie climb in through the side door and Annie rushed to follow her. She did not want to be picked up again and she would figure it out by herself, what a relief for all of us!

We were feeling so good about the morning that we decided to push things a little more and head for the dog beach. This was all part of Maisie’s weekend routine and we hoped that Annie would like it too. We took Maisie to the beach year round but this time of year (the middle of March) the beach was not officially open and only a handful of dogs and owners showed up during the winter months. We knew most everyone there and they were all dog lovers who would be understanding of Annie and her need for space.

This time getting out of the car she seemed excited to be going somewhere and she followed Maisie straight to our destination. Once there, Maisie took off to run with all of her pals and Annie stuck pretty close to my side while we walked along the water line. My husband told everyone about her because of course they wanted to meet her, but once they heard about her background they all respectfully kept their distance hoping that one day she would be comfortable with the group.

We’d been there about 15 minutes when another big boy Landseer arrived. Annie took one look at him and started running toward him. She hadn’t shown interest in any other dogs and I just knew that she thought she recognized him. There was a large boy Landseer

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Wait a minute, you’re not Rio!

at her foster home and I think she thought this boy was Rio. Once they started sniffing each other she got really shy and ran off. She has never approached him again which makes me a little sad but it was so sweet that she was looking for her friend. After that, she found a spot away from the crowd and she and I sat down to watch all of the other dogs run around.

 

We didn’t stay long, and when it was time to go, she followed us right out, walked well on the leash and hopped into the car. We had pushed her and she had done really well, we all felt relieved as we headed home and for the first time I was hopeful that we really could take Annie places and she wouldn’t always have to stay home.

We went back to the beach the next day, and she went right in and said hello to a couple of dogs and owners before lying down to watch the activity. By the next weekend she was joining the pack and running up and down the beach. It was remarkable how quickly she accepted this as another safe place on her list. She would occasionally approach an owner, male or female, and then continue walking along the length of the beach with my husband or me. She didn’t seem to like the feel of the water on her paws but she was comfortable and enjoyed herself while we were there. The beach was now on the good list!

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Annie is on the left
Annie's second chance

7. In the kitchen with Annie

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After the first month Annie was beginning to show less hesitation when called. She was spending more time out of her crate and was watching me more when I was in the kitchen, but she still wouldn’t come in and join me. For anyone who has had large dogs in their life I don’t need to explain the “Newfie Lunge”. My last 2 dogs were always in the kitchen and Bailey was a huge obstacle. Once she settled into what she thought would be the most strategic spot to catch anything dropping to the floor, I was forced to lunge over her every time I needed to move about. I would grumble that I would train my next dogs to watch me from the doorway so that I could move around more easily but of course I didn’t do that with Maisie and now that Annie would only watch me from the doorway, I wanted her in the kitchen, under foot like my other happy dogs.

Maisie is the fussiest eater we have ever had so we started mixing in 1-2 tablespoons of meat with her dry food. I make it in batches and freeze small portions in cubes so it is easy to add when needed. The first time I made a batch when Annie was around (baked chicken thighs ground up in the blender) I called her when I was dividing it into servings. I was making a mess and had chicken all over my hands. Maisie knows this is an opportunity for tasting and I didn’t want Annie to miss out. She slowly approached me and once I offered my hand she gently licked the chicken off of my fingers. Her expression was priceless, there was a quick spark of delight in her eyes and I could tell that she considered this new experience a really good one. She stayed close by while I ground up the next batch and was eager when I offered my hand to her the next time.

IMG_0968A couple weeks later, I was doing this again and when I turned on the blender I heard her get out of her crate, sneak around the perimeter of the house and saw her peering around the kitchen door way. She was getting it! She stayed there and watched my progress and then came right away when I called her to clean up my hand. On a different occasion I felt a nudge at my hip. I turned and expected to see Maisie but it was Annie looking up at me hoping to get a nibble. She remembered the blender noise and the reward that followed and I was so excited that she was gaining the confidence to come in and wait for a treat. Pretty soon she started venturing in when she heard knife-chopping noises and of course we always found something appropriate to give her as a reward. I haven’t had to lunge over her yet, but she is spending more time standing near by and sometimes will lay down in the doorway and wait there till something else comes her way. I look forward to the day that she flops down in the middle of the floor and becomes an obstacle!