Tuesday, May 8, 2012

The Newest Member of our Family

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Yesterday afternoon, we welcomed the newest member of our family into our home.

Princess.

That's the name she's had, and I think we'll keep it. Not just because she's used to it, but because it fits her.  She's a bit of a prissy princess, doesn't want to go out in the rain.  And gets upset at the slightest new noise or movement.  And we're very New to her.


Sam worked some bribery by giving her a squeaky toy.  Apparently, her first, she was weirded out by it's noise, and ran pell-mell into the dining room, circling around into the piano room, foyer, living room, and back into the kitchen.   


When it was time for her foster mom to go, I let her outside, and sat down on the steps.  She didn't pee.  She just stared at me.  Then she started watching the butterflies.   And smelling the flowers.  Maybe Ferdinand would be a better name for her.  


She did not want to settle down.  Not outside and not inside. Once her foster mom left, Princess just circled and circled. She was  not calm.  She was tense.  She would not settle down.  She just kept walking around and around.  And if I moved to fast, it was running, around and around.  It was exhausting just watching her.  



I kept trying to get her up on the couch with me, so we could lay down.  She was supposed to be a snuggle bug, but she wouldn't calm down to snuggle. She alternated between crazy hysterical and driving me crazy.   She would settle down for about 5 minutes, and just when I would sigh with deep relaxation, the phone would ring, or some other noise would set her off and she'd go dashing around the house in circles again.   


She's a silly goose.  Every time the camera clicks she moves.  I'm so not used to having a dog that hears.  Hears the camera, the bus, the child running.  And so she circles, again and again.  


She got all kinds of weirded out when Chris came home from school.  But he offered a present, a tennis ball barbell toy.  She sniffed it, and ran away.  Circling.  BUT this morning, she picked it up all by herself and dropped it a couple times, playing with herself.  She is slowly warming up.  


Now if only we could get her to eat and drink.  

Eric scares her.  She gets really little when he stands up.  She runs into the other room if she sees him coming.  When he came home from work yesterday, she started circling again.  We thought that maybe by having Eric feed her, she'd like him.  But she wouldn't follow him to the mud room (where the food is).  Everytime he shook the bowl she'd run away.  So finally he ended up seated on the floor tossing her bits of kibble.  She ate them. Then we shut her in the mudroom, thinking she'd eat more.  She didn't.  The entire evening, she only ate maybe a third of her dinner.   And she wouldn't drink.  She wouldn't go near her water bowl.  She only tried drinking out of the upside down frisbee that caught rain in the backyard.  Oh yeah, big thunderstorm yesterday, she didn't absolutely freak out, she just got little.  I'm ok with that.  She did bruff at Eric a couple times.  So he tried feeding her out of his hand, tossing them a few feet away.  She wouldn't eat.  Sam would .  It took a half an hour for her to get comfortable enough to eat out of his hand.  
Not until this morning.    We came downstairs, we pointed out her breakfast, and I made the boys breakfast, and after everyone was dressed, we saw that she'd Eaten.  AND she peed outside.  She pooped in the house, BUT she Peed outside.  Progress friends, progress. 

So we chilled out watching tv.  Took her a while to mellow but she finally did.  Then we had to literally drag her upstairs by the leash to bed.  She was afraid of going upstairs.  Then I laid down on the floor with her until she curled up on her bedtime blanket.  
When I woke up, I tried to find her, and couldn't see her. Princess, where are you?    
Suddenly, there was a funny noise from beneath the bed.  Fwump Fwump Fwump.  
She was wagging her tail!  From under the bed, we detected a little bit of Joy.  We all laughed.  That was the best moment.  It's going to take some time for her to adjust to us, and we to her.  She's not Fina.  She's her own girl.  She may not be the sharpest knife in the place where you keep knives, but she's wonderful, she's a sweetheart.  Our sweetheart.  

2 comments:

Elizabeth said...

THe boys and I would love to come over to meet Princess sometime. We couldn't help buy to buy her a "welcome home" present at the store yesterday.

Cathy Willman said...

That is so sweet. Thank You But she's not officially ours Forever yet. We're still in the trial period. Two weeks. ;)