Sandfly's Little Black Dog
090910 SLBD
ShyLiMa is in Heat!! Yuck Yuck Yuck BUT she is staying inside for the most part. I so hope
she does not get pregnant. I talked to another vet to find out if she could be fixed before
her heart worm treatment and he said no. The heart worms decrease the flow of oxygen
therefore decreasing the ability to heal. We will survive.
She is getting so cute. She has two or three places in the house that she likes.
One is on the far side of the living room at a dead end that is surrounded by boxes, coffee
table and another big table we are storing for my niece. I put her a small rug there to lay
on.
The second place is Liberty's dog bed along the wall down from the glass sliding doors in
the dining room.
The third place is between the foot of our bed and the closet, right next to Liberty.
Oh Yeah. She occasionally likes to lie on one of the rugs in the hall.
She is beginning to learn it is okay to go in and out the door like Liberty does. It takes her
awhile sometimes to make up her mind to come in. She will stand just outside the door and
whine. Sometimes I have to get Liberty to go back out and “get the puppy.” She knows
exactly what to do. It works most of the time.
Nancy faithfully executes the duty of am feedings. That girl is here at the crack of dawn and
ShyLiMa knows it. It is so cute to watch her expectation of the event.
She has not seemed to try to get her collar off and it does not seem to bother her.
For several weeks, Hank was here everyday during the day and she got close to him. She
followed him in and out the door like a shadow. He is gone now and I am trying to come
home at lunch and let her and Liberty out just in case I have to work late.
Liberty goes back to the vet tomorrow for a check up. She is looking and feeling better.
090906 SLBD
I went to bed late last night so I decided to sleep on the couch to keep from waking Bruce.
Liberty came and laid down beside me on the floor as she has done her whole life. I coaxed
ShyLiMa over and started petting her. After awhile she rolled over and let me pet her
tummy. That was the other milestone I had been waiting for.
She has found a spot in the living room that she likes to go to when she comes in the
house. I put her a small rug down today for her to call hers. Also, I was able to get another
chair choker collar on her today. I praise her and told her how pretty she looked in her new
jewelry. She didn't try to get it off. We will see how long it takes her to loose it. If she keeps
it up she will be my record for loosing my jewelry.
090905 SLBD
Guess What???? We crossed a HUGH milestone tonight. Ms. ShyLiMa ate out of my hand.
Two times earlier in the evening and then about four or five times just a little bit ago. She
saw how excited Liberty was about taking the food from my hand and figured it was okay.
She has been in and out of the house many times over the past few days.
Malcolm brought Oreo over to play but for some reason they wouldn't have anything to do
with each other. ShyLiMa left the yard and left Oreo by herself. I came home to try to
encourage ShyLiMa that Oreo was a friend but it didn't work. So Sherry brought Peugeot
over and they get along great together. Maybe she only wants to play with the guys.
090901 SLBD
Getting Dutch ready to go is like selling a house.
You will live in it unfinished, needing paint, a roof and new flooring but when it is time to sell
you feel like you have to do all these things to sell it. You don’t love yourself enough to fix it
up for you, but you will fix it up for someone else to tear apart to make it theirs.
Dutch has lived with dirty blankets, dirty babies and a dirty food storage container. But
tonight I washed all of them to get him ready to go home to daddy.
I called Kathy after 9:00 pm to let her know he was leaving tomorrow. She came over to give
him treats to remember her by. She was excited to see ShyLiMa in the house. Today was
the second day in a row that I have come home from work and she was waiting in the house
to greet me.
She has spent the last few nights in the house.
090830b SLBD
I think I have had my dates mixed up. Today is actually the 30th.
Ms ShyLiMa spent the night in the house again last night. I woke up about 5:30 and realized
that Nancy would have a fit if she came and could not find ShyLiMa outside.
Today she kind of hid most of the first half. Later when the tractor started up again, she
came to me to come in the house. She is getting more comfortable with the noises
associated with a house hold – the clanging of dishes, the opening of the fridge, the
washing machine and dryer, the dishwasher, the radio, the tv. Just a bit ago I went in my
bedroom and she proudly jumped on my bed. I told her we didn't allow that and to get off.
She immediately got off then jumped back on again. I repeated the command to get off and
she obeyed. She is a character.
I am sitting on the floor again next to the dog bed. I reached over to pet her and instead of
her jumping to her feet and backing off, she wagged her tail and let me pet her.
090830 SLBD
Today was a cool, progressive day for Miss ShyLiMa. Bruce, Keith and Hank were doing a
big project in the back yard. I left on an errand for Bruce but when I came back I came in
the front door and went to open the back door and all three dogs came running in. At first I
did not realize that ShyLiMa was mixed in with Dutch and Liberty.
As the day progressed, she went in and out several times. While she was inside, she got
somewhat comfortable with me calling her name and the word “come” and she would come
and let me pet her from a standing up position. In the past I would have to sit down on the
ground at her level to pet her.
She laid on the dog bed by the dining room table while we all at the table eating supper. At
first she was not happy with the guys coming in but decided it was probably safer in here
than outside where that big, noisy tractor was.
Right now she is still on the dog bed sleeping and I am sitting on the floor near her.
090829 SLBD
It’s 3am and I just looked out my glass sliding doors and ShyLiMa is asleep on a rug on the
back porch. She’s not under her shed in her hole. I do not know how many nights this has
been happening. Bruce told me that last weekend when I was out of town she was in the
house during a thunderstorm and he coaxed her into his lap. She stayed there about 15
minutes.
She knows when I am loading my car to go to work and comes through the gate to say
goodbye. When she hears my car pull up in the driveway, she comes through the gate to
welcome me home. She’s a mess. She is in control. I just hope she remembers her street
savvy ways and stays away from passing cars. I would just crumble if she got killed on the
road.
She knows when it is time for Nancy to come in the mornings. She is sitting outside the gate
waiting. As soon as Nancy pulls in the drive, ShyLiMa runs through the gate and waits for
her like she was never out.
She is learning to trust us by eating out of her “pink” bowl while we are still out on the
porch. Used to be that we would have to go inside or hide so she couldn’t see us before
she would eat anything we put out for her.
Dutch will be leaving this coming week to go home to his Daddy. Don’t worry, we will have
visitation rights and he will come back when his Daddy is deployed again. All of us are
worried about how ShyLiMa is going to react. I’m hoping it is God’s way of saying it is time
for the next step in her domestication plan and that we will see positive things happen with
her.
Hank says she comes up to him frequently during the day. One day this last week she lost
her necklace, her collar. I need to get her another one on. I tried to measure her neck with
my fingers a little while ago. I think I have an old collar of Sam’s or Liberty’s that will fit her. I
know I have her new cute pink harness and leash that we bought her when we first got her
but those are her “Sunday go to meeting” clothes and I don’t want her to get them dirty in
the back yard. She needs to wear her play clothes at home.
I went out to see if I could sit down on the rug with her. She didn’t hear me coming and I
scared the pee waddle out of her. She would not come near me until Dutch came out then
she was all about me petting her and wrestling with her. I would pretend growl at her. She
would come at me, put my fingers in her mouth then back off and repeat. It was so cute.
Earlier this evening you could hear the fireworks from the Gnats game. I ran to the back
door and called her knowing that she would be scared. Yep, she came right into the house.
I left the door open. My legs were stretched across to the fridge and she jumped across
back and forth going to and fro, door to middle of kitchen, door to listen for the fireworks
and back to middle of kitchen when she heard they were still going off. At one point I was
able to have both my arms around her in a gentle full hug. It only lasted a few seconds, but
it was a most heart-stirring and promising feeling.
090816 SLBD
She has not come back in the house since yesterday.
She has found a new perch. We had a couple of tons of BAMA rocks brought in for a
project. Most of them are still in the pile. ShyLiMa likes lying on top of the pile as “Queen
of the Hill.” Bruce took a couple of pictures.
090815
ShyLiMa stayed in the house most of the day yesterday, maybe all day. I left her in when I
went to work with instructions to Hank to let her out later. When I came home Hank was
gone but ShyLiMa was still in the house. No accidents. No messes. I was impressed.
I was home by myself last night and she stayed in most of the night. She also has been in
and out all day today. She likes lying on her Barbie blanket from when she was in the crate
in the kennel. Tonight, I brought out her bed from Mrs. Luten’s and put it by the glass
sliding door. She sniffed it but has not tried to get in it yet. She will. Right now I am sitting
in the office at Bruce’s computer and she is lying on the rug by the door. I snapped my
fingers and clicked my tongue and she came to me for a quick pet. As soon as the chair
squeaked, she bolted about three feet away. She is still very jumpy but getting more
trusting of me. Of course, Liberty is lying next to me on the floor and that gives her comfort.
She is so funny. She has found out that she can squeeze between the fence post and the
gate and come and go as she pleases. Tonight when I came home from the store, she
came to the car to greet me. She is so proud of herself. Also, we have a couple of guest
doggies, Buttons and Junior, and together they are a little rough for her so she just
squeezes through to the other side of the fence and to get away from them. When they do
something to get her curiosity up, she squeezes back through to participate. Some say we
need to fix it so she can’t get out but then she will find another way. I think it is her way of
saying that she knows she is not a prisoner but is staying here because she wants to.
I know I am making it sound like she just bounds inside when the door opens, but I assure
you that is still not the case. I expect my electric bill to be atrocious because it usually takes
her about 15 to 20 minutes of the door standing wide open before she works her way in to
stay. Sometimes I give up and close the door with her still outside and retry later.
Today I wish someone could have taken a picture for all of you to see. I was lying in a semi
fetal position on a rug in front of my love seat, a pillow under my head. Dutch was lying next
to me with his head sharing my pillow. After much coaxing, ShyLiMa finally came over to
me. She eventually backed her butt up to my tummy and laid next to my leg. She stayed
that way several minutes until my cell phone rang and frightened her away.
090802 SLBD
She is laying in the hall next to the a/c return air grill, with her little paws crossed watching
Bruce and I go about our daily lives.
We have been trying to take a picture of her but she is VERY camera shy. When she sees
the red focusing flash, she hides. We took out the old fashion 35 mm filmed SLR, took it off
auto focus and Uncle Bruce took a couple of pix. We will have to wait until the film gets
developed to see if any of them took.
This whole time started out with Bruce and I on the back porch watching it storm. ShyLiMa
snuck up on us as if to see if we would be safer to be around during the lightning and
thunder than being under the shed by herself. She would come past us then back toward
the house door. Finally we realized she wanted to go into the house, so we all headed
indoors. Once we were in, Bruce closed the door and sat down on the floor in the laundry
room. ShyLiMa, Liberty, Dutch and Buttons all huddled around our usual spot across from
the fridge where I sat on the rug. ShyLiMa was not sure about being that close to Bruce.
She cautiously went into the dining room, peeked down the hall then came back to be near
me. Liberty laid on the floor next to Bruce. ShyLiMa, Dutch and Buttons circled around each
other trying to be the one nearest to me. Between Dutch and Buttons, I kept trying to touch
her behind the ears, on the belly, her back and her tail. She finally sat down with her back
to me and let me pet her with both hands any where I choose to. She didn't look at me. She
just seemed to have the attitude that this was better than being out in the storm alone. She
even went to Bruce when he called her and licked him on the hand.
After a while Bruce got up and ushered Buttons out the door because he would not calm
down and would push ShyLiMa and Dutch away if I tried to pet either of them. Then we went
about our normal activity. Bruce stood at the stove and heated supper and I went to my
bedroom to sort dirty clothes. ShyLiMa came in sniffed around and smelled the clothes as I
tossed them into different piles. It was all new to her. She was excited but cautious. I was
elated with the interaction. She stayed in for about an hour then came to us to let us know
she was ready to go back out.
I tried to get her to come back in a couple of hours later but she would only come as far as
the fridge then go back out and just sit at the bottom of the steps.
090730 SLBD
It's amazing how life can turn on a dime. ShyLiMa came into the house today. My nephew,
Marcus, was mowing the yard and she was running scared. I opened the door, called her
and she came running in. She came all the way to the far side of the dining room. She was
not happy but she let me pet her. Marcus came in after he finished mowing and took some
pictures. I'll try to upload them to her myspace page.
She is so cute. She can whine and talk and make noises like she is trying to talk to me and
tell me all about her day.
After I published my last entry, she came up and licked me on the nose. Yesterday, she
kissed me on the mouth. Normally, NO dog will lick me on the face, especially the mouth
area. BUT, ShyLiMa,k she is the exception.
090728 SLBD
I wish all of you could see the progress our little girl is making. From tiny steps to giant
leaps. Tonight she bounded into the house, past me sitting on the rug across from the
fridge, right through to the dining room. She is letting me pet her. Rub behind her ears, rub
her tummy. Dutch is playing a game of keep away with her. Making her work to get to me
for a pet.
Now don't get me wrong. I still cannot walk up to her. I have to be sitting still and let her
come to me when she feels comfortable.
This morning when I left for work, she was sitting at the gate just staring at me. I told her it
wouldn't be long before she would be going to work with me.
090725 SLBD
We hit a milestone today!! ShyLiMa came up to me while I was sitting in the ground beach
chair and started chewing on my finger. Of course that was in the process of her playing
with Dutch and I thought it was an accident on her part. But then she let me pet her under
the chin, put my fingers in her mouth, rub my hand down her back and pull her tail. She ran
off to another part of the yard then came back for more. She also chewed on my toes.
Remember this was all in the process of her playing with Dutch.
090720
ShyLiMa is progressing slowly but surely. We no longer feed her under the shed. We want
her to be out socializing with the other dogs.
She almost gave me a kiss in the face this morning. She was playing with Dutch and I had
my face down at his body level. Okay, so it was really an accident but I can pretend she
meant it.
We leave the gates open a lot and she does not seem to want to run away. Hank did find
her whining on the outside of the gate the other day. When he opened the gate she came
right back in.
She is so cute. She wants soo bad to come in the house like the other dogs. I will sit on the
floor across from the fridge (about 6.5 feet from the open back door). She sometimes
comes in 2 – 3 steps without realizing it then quickly scoots out. Or, she will stand on the
back steps and whine. When she is really brave, she will run all the way into the kitchen
where I am sitting, kiss me on the hand and run back out.
Dutch tries his best to get her to come in. He took another baby out to her tonight. He
pretended to play a short game of tug-of-war before letting her win and take it to her stash.
Kathy brought Eddie over the other evening. In case I have not introduced him, Eddie is
Kathy's Beagle/Schnauzer mix. My dogs know that she always brings a treat. She told them
all to sit. Dutch quickly obeyed. Eddie was taking a little longer to cooperate even with
Kathy repeating the instructions and trying to push his tush down. Well, Dutch knew he
would not get the treat until Eddie complied so he took his paw and pushed Eddie's butt
down into the sitting position as if to say, “Dummy, she's not giving any of us our treats until
we all sit like she expects us to.” It's a shame more humans do not have the sense to
govern themselves and their community.
Nancy went by Mrs. Luten's where ShyLiMa used to hide when it was raining. Mrs. Luten
had her a bed there. She sent her bed and some dry dog food. Thank you Mr. and Mrs.
Luten.
090716 SLBD
I know I owe all of you more than what I have been offering lately.
Since I don't know where to start I will jump around like ShyLiMa does when I go out on the
porch to play with all the doggies. She is so full of life. Her little pink tongue hangs out so
cute. Her tail held high. She defends and protects her corner of the world. She and Dutch
and whomever is visiting usually take their moments of rest between the edge of the porch
and the gate. Marilyn and Nancy both say they see them laying there sometimes when they
drive by.
090705
Happy Belated July the 4th
I went to Jax to Sandra's to celebrate the 4th Got to see the fireworks from the 38th floor of
her building. It was cool. Before the fireworks started we had a traditional bar-b-que dinner
and coconut cake for dessert. Just as everyone was served and we were sitting down to
eat, Bruce called me and asked if I had seen my text from Ross.
No, I replied.
With what appeared to be stress in his voice he said, “look at it and call me back.”
When I opened my text there were two pictures. I screamed way too loud when I saw the
first one. It was ShyLiMa in my kitchen with Hank's arm around her shoulders. I could not
believe what I was seeing. How did they do it?
The second picture showed her laying down next to the dresser at the door of the office.
I immediately called him back to find out the details.
When my sons started setting off fireworks, Liberty, Junior and ShyLiMa ran to the back
door. Bruce opened the door and all three ran in for safety. Bruce said he just about had
her in his lap when Liberty pounced over and frightened her away.
After midnight he tried putting the leash on her to take her out to go potty but she didn't like
it so he picked her up and carried her outside. He has not tried to approach her since and
she has not tried to go back into the house.
When I talked to Bruce just before arriving at Sandra's he told me that ShyLiMa had ran
away. They were using a chainsaw to remove a huge limb from the back yard and scared
her. I called Kathy to inform her so she could be looking out for her. Later he found out
that she relocated to under the boat until they finished with the noise maker. So you could
imagine my range emotions from one seemingly catastrophe to a miracle
090627
ShyLiMa is doing fine. She is coming up on the porch some to visit. Dutch is teaching her
how to play with stuffed animals. He takes the big pink, crocheted pig to her and gently puts
it in her face and shakes it slightly to entice her to grab it. When she does he gently pulls it
until she gets the idea to play tug-of-war. Then, he let's it go so she thinks she has won.
She takes it under the shed and hides it from him. It is so cute.
Before he got the pig he was playing fight with her. He was letting this 22 pound dog push
him down. She would come up beside him, side swipe him and he would fall down like she
was a giant. I wish I had a camera. Dutch is so smart. He has been the best influence on
ShyLiMa.
About a day and a half after the “new boy” left Dutch started getting bored and needy.
Buttons must have sensed it because he was letting Atena know that he was ready to come
back over for a play date. They love playing together.
NewBoy's name was Hokiebud. He was found the day after the VA tech shooting and the
lady that found him had a brother that survived it all. The first time he was adopted out he
was not taken care of and got heartworms and a damaged eye. The foster family had him
treated and re-adopted him out where he ran away about 2 years ago.
Happy Ending. The couple that helped me get him here to my house has adopted him. Sad
news is that he has heartworms again but they are willing to spend the money for treatment.
They had him get all his shots, registered his micro chip and had him groomed. He sits a
Jean Marie's feet as she works. They take breaks and go play in the back yard or take a
ride to Forsyth Park for a walk. He has a perfect life now but he still likes to escape.
090623
The new boy dog that I rescued the other night has some good and bad news
Good: He has a micro chip
Bad: It is not registered
Good: We found the vet that inserted it and the person that paid for it.
Bad: She was just the foster family, he had been adopted out but ran away.
Hopefully, he has a name and I can quit calling him “NEWBOY”
ShyLiMa is getting braver and braver. She came on the porch this morning while following
the pack around. She almost accidentally came into the house with them. She is so cute
and bubbly.
Nancy is coming every morning, way too early for me to get up and visit with her, to feed and
play with ShyLiMa.
Kathy comes every evening with treats. ShyLiMa is learning from the other dogs that dog
treats are not too bad. I don't know if she eats them or just takes them under the shed to
hide them from the other dogs.
She seems like she is more active in the day light. As it starts to get dark, she is more
hesitant to come out and visit.
When I came home at lunch today, she was standing at the gate between the two boys
wagging her tail at me.
Thank you Bunny for the canned food you dropped off yesterday.
She took her third and final deworm meds tonight. I mixed it with cream cheese. She came
on the porch and smelled it but was not interested. I took some bacon out of the freezer,
fried it, dipped up some of the grease in a ladle, cooled it down on ice cubes and pored it
over the teaspoon size cheese balls. She ate it. I teasingly call her “rotteness.” She is
already so spoiled.
090621 Happy First Day of Summer 2009
You will never believe what I did tonight. I went to the Pig to get sugar for tea and instead
came home with another dog. This one is a stray; very friendly, male lab mix. His left eye
looks like it has been damaged or has a cataract. He needs a good brushing and a bath.
He does not like thunder. ShyLiMa loves him. They may have met on the street before. I
am going to take him to the vet or the animal shelter tomorrow to see if he has a chip. You
can tell he belongs to someone. The broken fur around his neck indicates that he has been
wearing a collar.
I went out of town yesterday and came home about 7pm this evening. ShyLiMa went wild
with joy when I came in the back yard. She came running up to me with her tail wagging, a
big smile and her cute pink tongue hanging out.
Bruce, Kathy and I decided Friday evening that we need to sedate her, put her back in the
kennel – in the back yard of course, and get her used to a leash. It is time she learns the
joy of being a domesticated dog. She will come in the house. Go bye-bye with Kathy,
Nancy and me. There goes my high hopes again.
I started her on her second round of de-worming tonight. She did not eat it all but hopefully
it was enough.
090616
Kathy got ShyLiMa her Comfortis yesterday. This morning I tried to give it to her with some
buttermilk and she wouldn't take it so I added some Alaskan salmon oil to it. She still didn't
drink it. I left it on the table inside with an ice pack on it. When I came home this evening
after playing awhile, I put the bowl under the shed and she drank it all up. I think she just
does not like cold items. I guess a wild dog does not have access to refrigeration and is not
used to it.
My sister, Sherry, brought her dog, Peugot, over to play with Dutch today. ShyLiMa had a
ball. I left instructions with the boys to be gentle with our little girl. Yeah, Right! I know they
listened like a dead cock roach.
Kathy said she brought her dog, Eddie, over to play last night. Eddie taught ShyLiMa to like
a dog treat that he eats. She even growled at Liberty for taking it from her when I came
home.
I can not believe how happy she is to have her freedom. Her tail is up most of the time. She
appears to be smiling. She usually comes when I call her, she just doesn't come too close.
This morning she let me lightly scratch her under the chin for a tee tiny second – that is a
little shorter than a regular second.
This evening just before it started to rain, I put the low beach chair on the porch and she
came up to me and the dogs a few times. Liberty tends to scare her off with her bark even
though all she is doing is trying to play with ShyLiMa. I thought I would try coaxing her with
food, so I stood up, went into the house to get some pork loin and pup corn. When I came
back out she was gone. I could not find her anywhere. I imagine she escaped again. When
I came home from work she was out of our fence and in Pete and Freya Zipperer's yard
behind their fence. I tried to stomp through the woods to show her how to come around.
Stupid me, she has done it before and could again. After I got all tangled up in a giant
spider web, she prances by me with a great big smile on her face back into our yard. That
dog is way too smart for me.
...About an hour later....
I told you that dog is too smart for me. When it stopped raining, I took the flashlight and look
all over the yard for her in case she got caught on something and was stuck and could not
come when I called her. No ShyLiMa. I looked one more time under the shed. She had dug
a hole deep enough to almost cover her and it was behind one of the concrete block pillars.
All I could she was the reflection of her eyes. She was safe and high and dry to whole time I
thought she was gone. Stupid Me! What was I thinking.
090614
ShyLiMa seems to love her new environment. It is one of her own choosing. She can run.
She can meander as she explores. She can play with other dogs. She can hide under the
shed, She can eat grass. She can pee pee and poo poo far away from where she sleeps
and eats. She can avoid humans. She can have contact with humans. She likes being back
in control of her life. She knows she has an escape route out of the fenced yard but at this
point she is choosing to stay. I hope she some day soon remember how good it felt to be
petted and scratched and will come to one of us for that human touch. She is funny
because she will come up to one of us and touch us by licking our hand but we can't touch
her. She will bounce around like Tigger like she wants us to come play with her but she
runs and hides if we move like we are going to approach her.
Her biggest problem now is that she has fleas. The shed she stays under is inudated with
fleas. Kathy is going to try to get some Comfotis for her tomorrow.
090613 0150
I FINALLY GOT THE WEBSITE UPDATES TO WORK AGAIN!
I have been blocked out of doing any updates since 090604.
There is a lot of reading to catch up.
You may want to skip down to 090604 and read in order.
090612
ShyLiMa escaped tonight! She did not act like she was feeling well this morning even less
this evening. Her stomach was making all kinds of noises. I went in and got her some bread
hoping it would calm it. I was going in and out about every 30 – 45 minutes. At 11:20 I went
out and she was GONE! I panicked. I knew someone must have let her out. The gate was
closed and the lock was on but not closed. Then I saw the bent out fencing just beside the
door. It was a place that I had repaired once before but had not been checking it.
Dutch ran straight to her and she came up to him with her tail wagging and loving on him,
she saw me and ran.
Bruce went out and made some repairs. He also suggested I run a string from the gate
through the window in case she went back in we could close the gate. At the same time, I
was preparing to sleep out in the cage in case she decided to return to her crate. Then I
had another idea. I would take both dogs outside and I would sit on the porch and type an
update. It worked. She came running up to Liberty and Dutch so I went around, opened up
the gate to the back yard and started playing with Dutch. Bait Dog to the rescue again! I
closed the gate, went and got her crate, food and water bowls and set her a place up on the
back porch. You should have seen her running around like a wild dog. Oh wait she IS a
wild dog! She was sooo sooo happy.
It will be interesting to see how tomorrow works.
090611
I got kisses tonight. I was in the crate from my waist up petting and rubbing her. I even
gave her a couple of “puppy hugs”. My definition of a puppy hug is my forehead to their
forehead.
At one point I quit petting and just rested my hand on her paw. That is when I got the kisses
then she just laid her chin on my hand.
090609
Today was vet visit day. Kathy corralled her into the crate. We discussed one of us riding in
the back of the truck with her but didn't . Some where around the turn from skid away to
Eisenhower the crate turned over on its side.
At the vet we found it literally scared the poopy and pee pee out of her.
The vet was not happy with us that she was in the crate and not on a leash. I explained that
we had until next Wednesday before the possibility of a $1000 quarantine was up. They did
not seem to understand that. They said she must be on a leash and not in the crate the
next time she comes in. Thank goodness that is not until the fall for her earthworm
treatments.
He did say her lungs sounded better. Gave her all the necessary shots and gave us the
deworm meds for another round.
Kathy rode in the back with her on the way home. She became her new BFF. She proved it
when we were in the cage, she let Kathy pet her in the wide open. She was not in the crate.
She even let Kathy put a chain choke collar on her. We praised her and went ga ga over
her “jewelry.” She did not seem like it bothered her. She was slightly sedated still from the
meds we gave her before she traveled.
090608
It is so cool. When I pull into the driveway, ShyLiMa must hear my car as I approach
because she is already out of the crate with her back feet on her stoop and the front feet on
the ground stretching and yawning with her tongue sticking out. Then she comes to the
gate with her tail wagging. But as soon as I approach the gate, she runs behind the crate.
Tonight after I put Dutch and Liberty back in the house, I went back to the kennel for time
with ShyLiMa by myself. She does okay with me petting her when she is in the crate but
outside is a different story. So I put a towel on the wooden bench and laid down on my back
with my hands stretched out above my head. She took the bait and licked my fingers a
couple of times but she was standing so she could run if necessary. My arms got tired and
achy holding them like that so I pulled them down to my chest. She came and sniffed the
top of my head. I could feel her whiskers. I needed to change positions, so I turned on my
side. Slowly, I put my right hand above my head. ShyLiMa was laying down on her blanket
in the back hand corner of the kennel with her paws out in front of her. I inched my fingers
to where she could reach them. She licked them several times. I was able to touch her
nose and mouth but when I touched her paw, she drew back. Several minutes went by with
us just laying there. I slowly reached for my cell phone to call my husband to come take a
picture. As soon as the light came on she ran around and went into her crate – her safe
zone. I blew it. Oh, well. I crawled in, petted her and told her good night.
Speaking of being in the crate petting her, she let me pet her tummy tonight.
Tomorrow, Kathy and I are taking her to the vet for her check up.
090607
This morning while I was working in the kennel, Deborah Conway and her husband – I'm
sorry I forgot his name – stopped by to offer a donation towards ShyLiMa's vet bills. Thank
you Deborah and Hubby. I invited them into the kennel for a “hands on” visit. They seemed
very excited with their personal time with our little girl.
I finally got around to returning the larger of the two muzzles I had purchased per the Animal
Shelters orders. Since I was not sure the size I bought two. I have yet to use either one but
I am keeping the smaller one in case we need it for the vets visit. If we do not use it I will
return it for something else. I got her a pretty pink harness and matching leash. Bruce and
I are hoping to get the harness on her sometime this week. If she takes to it okay, I can take
her out of the kennel for more exersise.
Bruce, Dutch and I were in the kennel today. We were trying to limit her moving area so she
would be forced to interact with us. I was about 1/3rd of the way in and Bruce was sitting on
the concrete blocks beside the crate. Dutch was standing in front of me spanning the width
of the kennel. ShyLiMa was acing like she was afraid to go behind him but she fooled me
and just walked underneath him.
Nancy got to pet ShyLiMa today for the first time. She also got to see how excited she gets
when Dutch comes to play. ShyLiMa wags her tail, smiles big and bounces around like
Tigger when she sees Dutch coming. When Dutch actually comes into the kennel she
greets him with both paws to the face and kisses, lots of kisses.
She also surprised me today when Nancy was here I put about a half can of dog food in her
bowl. She usually does not eat when anyone is watching but she ate the entire serving. I
went back in the kennel and emptied the rest of the can in her bowl which she began to eat
more. The exercise with Dutch must have made her hungry.
090606 SLBD
Today was awesome. Charles, Cangus's human, brought Cangus over to play with
ShyLiMa. It was a little crowded in the cage. Two humans, Two huge male dogs, and
ShyLiMa were on the inside. Bruce was on the outside at the end behind her crate. Her
crate was pushed to one side so she could not very easily scoot around behind it to get
away. Charles laid on the concrete blocks and ShyLiMa reluctantly let him pet her. After
Bruce left his position, ShyLiMa backed up into the corner away from Charles, but he
persisted and continued petting her. I snapped a couple of pictures. I will try to post them
tomorrow.
After Dutch and Cangus went in the back yard to play big boy games and Charles went
home, I took my 18 month old grandnephew baby in the cage to visit. He had a ball playing
peek-a-boo with her.
Later this evening Dutch and I came back out to visit. I crawled halfway into the crate and
petted ShyLiMa while Dutch ate her food that had been sitting in the bowls all day. I put in
fresh food and water, picked up her towels and took them out to wash. I brought in new
towels then I just laid in the crate with her. Well the top half of my body was in with her. I just
laid there to see what she would do. She just laid there too. I guess she was waiting the
see what I was going to do. Now I am sitting on her wooden bench, and she is laying in her
crate watching me as I write this to you.
Thank you Bunny for the canned food you brought today.
I have got to do something about these mosquitoes. They are ferocious in here.
Kathy and I are planning on scheduling a doctor visit for Tuesday. I may move her to the
back porch when I bring her back. It would be drier. It would be around more activity of
humans and other dogs. And I am hoping that soon I will be able to let her out in the fenced
back yard. I am hoping she is starting the realize that this is not a bad place to be.
090604 SLBD
Dutch loves being a “Bait” dog. He stands or sits and gets lots of petting. ShyLiMa comes
and loves on him and then he gets to eat any of her food that is leftover from the day. What
a job!
Shy came up to me several times this evening. At first, she just came close enough for her
whiskers to touch me and she could smell me. My elbow was the first, then my forearm, then
my hand. Each time was closer and closer until she licked my hand. It was sooo cooool!
I wish I had a web cam to show everyone.
Then Dutch got some sweet loving from ShyLiMa. She was on the deck and Dutch was on
the ground and she reached up with her front paws and put on his face. It was sooo cute!
We received another monetary donation to help with her medical bills. Thank you Janet
Wagner.
Malcolm told Bruce that he was going to start charging a nickel a look at “girls in the cage.”
The way he sees it is usually it is the guy who's in the dog house. Because of that, he
thinks men would probably pay to see it the opposite way for a change.
090602 SLBD
I met Cangus (I know that is not the correct spelling but that is how it sounds) our little girl's
boyfriend. He is going to come play with her Saturday.
Kathy and I had our time in the cage with Dutch and SLBD. Bruce is starting to call us
“Cage Girls.” Until everyone agrees on a name I decided to call her Shy-Li-Ma. You
guessed it. Shy for Shylow, Li for Little Bit and Ma for Macy. Sounds a little too Southern.
Anyway, while I was in the back yard, ShyLiMa came up to Kathy and touched her.
I did my usual crawl in the crate. ShyLiMa was lying down in her usual position and I just
quietly spoke to her as I petted her. I stroked her back, her sides, under her chin, her
chest, her ears and the top of her head. She relaxed so much at one point that her front
legs slid down flat. Later I came back out with her supper and she was turned facing the left
side of the crate and I petted her other side. She seems to really be enjoying the new found
feeling of being touched in a loving and caring manner.
Oh, by the way. At some point last week, someone, I do not know who, left such a sweet gift
for me. It was a Willow Tree figurine. The Angel of Friendship. She was holding a puppy
dog. Thank you so much.
I told Kathy tonight that she need to start jotting down her version of her visits with ShyLiMa
so ya'll can hear another viewpoint.
090601
When I came home from work tonight, Kathy was in the cage with our little girl. She said
SLBD heard my car blocks away and began pacing. And when I pulled in she became even
more excited. I think Kathy is over reacting because I still feel SLBD thinks I am the warden
and not her new BFF.
Kathy, Dutch and I hung out in the cage for a long while. Shylow-Macy-LittleBit, the name I
call her because Kathy named her Macy, Nancy and Emma named her Little Bit and I had
named her Shylow back in September. We need to come up with a real name soon. She
needs to learn a name that belongs to her.
She is getting more comfortable with us around. She does not run into her crate the
moment some one comes near. I was sitting on the yellow flowery cushion on the ground,
Kathy was in her short beach chair and Dutch was between us. ShyMacy, for short, would
come up to Dutch then walk away. At one point she came up to my big toe and almost
touched it with her nose. Maybe the smell was too much for her. That was the closet she
has come to me since last October/November at my shop.
I crawled half way into the crate and softly spoke to her as I began to stroke her from the
nape of her neck to her back end. She was lying down with her head up and eyes looking
sideways at me. Later I repeated my crawl into the crate and she did not even bother to lift
her head. She just laid there while I petted her. Kathy even said she was able to touch her
tonight. We all know it is going to take some time but we are all so anxious to see her able
to walk around outside the kennel on a leash. I would love to be able to take her up to her
old hang outs and see where she would like to go. I know that is probably months away. I
can not wait to be able to let her run loose in my back yard. I am afraid to now because I
feel she is not comfortable enough to want to stay here that she would not run away.
Jasper, her puppy in Charleston, sent a donation today. Thank you Jasper. Please come
visit your mommy soon.
If anyone has some old tent poles laying around unused, we need them to prop up the sides
of her tarp. Right now the bottom edges are so low to the ground that she cannot see out. I
also feel it blocks some the air flow. It would be just a loan. You can have them back as
soon as we move her to the back porch.
You are all welcome to come by and visit her. Please DO NOT OPEN the kennel, even if the
lock is not on. I forget sometimes. And Please DO NOT put your hand into the kennel as
the 28 days are not up yet and we do not want her to go to jail if she bites. I really do not
think she will unless you corner her, then all bets are off.
090530
Since I was going out of town today, I made arrangements with Nancy and Kathy to watch
our little girl.
Nancy brought Emma over and she played peek-a-boo with SLBD. Since Emma is only 2
years old, SLBD is not as afraid of her as she is the big people. Nancy, Emma, Dutch (the
130 # Mastiff) and I were in the kennel all at the same time. SLBD actually came out from
behind the crate and interacted with Dutch a little - they exchanged butt sniffs. I was so glad
she was not running away from him.
Before Nancy arrived, I sat on the sidewalk and petted Dutch as SLBD watched very intently
from the kennel. I tried to tell her that Dutch liked to be petted. Like she understands
English.
After Nancy and Emma left, I went in to give her a break. When I came back out with a bowl
of scrambled eggs, I sat down and half way crawled in the crate. She was in her usual
defensive position – her left side completely pressed against the back of the crate. As I
talked to her and cooed her I reached my hand to her side and rubbed her several times,
then I scratched her butt you know the area just above the tail that all dogs loved to be
scratched because they can not reach it. Even though I knew she was terrified, she did not
make any attempt to growl or snap at me. We are making progress.
090528
Since I am writing about SLBD I decided I would sit outside with her as I write. My neighbors
and passer byers probably think I am crazy. No, they know I am. So what's new? My dogs
are loving it. And I hope it helps our LBD adjust. We are not in the kennel with her though.
Nancy came by this morning and found that I had left the lock off the gate and the latch was
almost pushed open and guess who was lying by the gate? You guess it. Little Miss”Little
Bit” as Nancy calls her. I hope she is not that smart and I just did not close it well,
Otherwise, I better watch myself carefully. Nancy also brings her food from work. She works
at Debi's restaurant. She also brought her some canned food. Some of the same kind she
fed SLBD down at the corner. Thanks Nancy.
I know I learned to type without looking at the keys many moons ago, lets say before
correcting Selectras and mag typewriters, but over the years of spell check I have gotten
very lazy and now I find it hard to type in the dark. Yes, it is dark. After 11:00pm. That is
why I said what I said about people thinking I'm crazy.
I am going out of town this weekend so Nancy and Kathy will be tending to our little girl.
They will probably have her completely tamed and walking on leash by the time I get back.
Today I did not try to touch her. I did put my hand in the crate but I did not have a good
feeling about pushing my luck today. Yesterday I did touch her a couple of times. She is
very scared when I but does not try to fight me or become defensive.
090526
I touched her paw three times this evening!
She was caught off guard the first time. Kathy and I along with two of my dogs were sitting in
the kennel just talking. I was right next to the crate door opening with my hand resting on
the blanket just inside. At first she was sitting straight up in the back corner. She relaxed
enough to lay down, my fingers just inches from her paw. I reached in a little further and
barely touched her paw just above the nail. Shocked, she just backed up into her corner.
A few minutes later, Kathy and I were just carrying on a normal conversation, she laid back
down. I gave her a few minutes to relax and I reached in again and touched her just above
the paw and quickly rubbed down to her nails as she pulled back and retreated to her
corner. This time she recovered even more quickly and resumed laying down with her paw
within reach of my hand. I repeated my move, stroking up a little higher on her leg and
petting down as she pulled away. We both praised her each time she allowed me to touch
her.
Her reaction to the dogs was about the same. She pulled back into her corner when Dutch
stuck his head in her crate. He was whining like a baby wanting to play with her so badly.
When he pulled his head out, she stretched her neck to smell where he had been.
Each day gets a little more hopeful. I can't wait until I can cuddle her and nuzzle in her fur.
Thank you Bunny for the food and chews.
090525
Our girl had a few visitors today. Nancy came the first time before 6am and again this
afternoon with her Mom and a little girl. SLBD came out to see her this morning but did not
come out this afternoon. Bruce says she comes out more in the mornings. He goes out to
see her before I get up. Kathy must have come by this evening because there is one of
those low to the ground beach chairs. I think David Mason comes by each morning after his
5 mile run.
This afternoon, before Kathy brought the nice, new, brightly colored beach chair, I took the
rusted out, fabric torn banana chair into the kennel, sat down and read some of the book
“The Undomestic Goddess” out loud to SLBD. She never came out of her crate. There
were moments of silence when I read certain sentences to myself. I'm not sure the
neighborhood needs to hear every word, neither does this poor puppy.
I corrected the link to MySpace and added some pictures. I would like to change the picture
that shows for her profile but do not know how. Anybody out there smarter than me?
090524
She would not eat the raw egg with the penicillin but she ate the scrambled egg with the
penicillin, however, smart me was not thinking about the heat killing the effectiveness of the
antibiotic. DUMB! DUMB! So later in the day I tried the cream cheese again. She never
eats anything when I am there to see it. She waits until she is alone. But when I went out
later it was gone. Keith says I should just give her the stuff with the meds in it and not give
her anything else until she eats the meds. Then she can get a can of food or whatever
else. Freya, my next door neighbor, sent us home with some cocktail sausages for our little
girl to eat. Bruce took one into the kennel when we got home and tried to coax her to him.
She came up to him but would not eat out of his hand.
I have started her a MySpace page (click on link on main page) just for any pictures we want
to add. I can not seem to add any more pictures to the web page. The text I will probably
keep here since I have already figured out the basics. This dog, me not our little girl, has a
hard time learning new technology unless I absolutely have too. Also, to set up a MySpace
page she had to have an email address so I set her one up at GMAIL. It is
SandflysLittleBlackDog@gmail.com. That will also help keep my business stuff separate.
It’s time we decide on a name. One of the lady’s at the retirement party we went to today,
and a fellow neighbor, is going to do some research on names that would describe her. I’m
about ready to start calling her “Peekaboo, I see you” because she loves to sit behind the
crate and peek around the back corner to look at you thinking you can’t see her.
I had to sleep on the couch last night to tend to Buttons, the injured dew claw dog. He would
not be still unless my hand was touching him. Around 3am just outside the living room
window, I heard our little girl whining. I looked out and she was standing at the gate with her
paws pushing on the gate latch trying to get out. I told you she watches me go in and out of
the gate. She sits on ready. I am so afraid she is going to get loose, get hurt or killed or
that we may never find her.
090523
I scared the crap out of her!!! Literally. I was rearranging her kennel, moving the concrete
blocks, her crate etc. She was running around in circles trying to stay away from me but
trying to hide at the same time and her usual hiding place behind the crate was not there
anymore. She was so scared she squatted and pooped. Yeah!!! I do not have to worry
anymore. Now I will probably have a few days of diarrhea to contend with.
As I said, I moved her kennel about 16” over toward the middle of the driveway. Hopefully I
can control the slugs better. This morning her buttermilk looked like oyster stew with all the
slugs. The other things I did was remove the decaying mulch, put out two traps – one with
buttermilk and one with beer and put her milk bowl on the top of an overturned copper
bottom revere ware pot. She did not take her penicillin last night or this morning. It seems
that something will work once or twice then she has it figured out. I went to the Pig and
bought eggs to try tonight.
The trenches I dug the other day next to the driveway did not work. I filled them back in
today except for an area about 12” wide that led down a trench into a hole about 9” deep
right in the middle of my front yard. Beware! Don’t fall in.
Today was the day I changed out her linens. She now has the blue camo child’s sleeping
bag, a doggie print blanket with built in pillow, a fresh towel and babies. She was so cute.
She was laying there facing out with her tiny front paws hanging over the edge of the crate.
Sometimes she has them prissily crossed.
One of the other dogs I am keeping for a girl who is in Germany, tore his dew claw almost all
the way off his front left paw. I am not sure how it happened. He will not let me take my
hand off of him. He will not let me sleep. I just gave him an aspirin for the pain.
090522
SHE TOUCHED ME!!! She actually touched me. It was on the butt, but she touched me. I
was squatting in the kennel after putting the buttermilk and canned food in her respective
bowls and she walked past me, I didn’t move and she came up behind me and touched her
nose to my backside. I was sooo excited. She came near me a few more times but no more
touching.
I know I sound like a mother of a new born but I worry about the fact that she has not had a
bowel movement since Monday. Kathy is going to bring over some meds tomorrow. She is
eating and drinking okay though.
She seems to be getting more comfortable with me in the kennel doing stuff. She stayed in
her crate tonight when I went in to get her bowls to wash and when I went back in to put
them back in place and refill them. Oh, and she ate the boiled chicken Kathy brought over
to her this evening.
Kathy said she licked her hand several times. And Bruce said she licked his a few times.
Kathy also said she was very active and happy.
Hopefully tomorrow will be clear enough that I can sit in the kennel with her awhile.
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Zelma Sissy Rahn mobile 912.398.8501