Gemma has been here 3 weeks tomorrow (sheās a 9.5yr old sheltie) and this past week, she has finally come around. Iām pretty sure the foster person told us what we wanted to hear. I have a feeling, from how she acts, that she was either an outside dog or spent a great deal of time in a crate, or both. If anyone remembers, she had her remaining teeth removed a few days before we got her. I am pretty safe to say she wasnāt well cared for in her last home and I donāt think in her foster home either (she was there for two months or so). They claimed she loved kids, loved other dogs, was housebroken, etc. She IS great with kids, she lights up when one of my grandaughters walks in. Other dogs? Wants nothing to do with them. When we went to meet her & Mitch, the other available sheltie, they didnāt interract with each other and we were told they lived together. Housebroken? Nope. I realize dogs have accidents in new homes but just by some things sheās done, I donāt think she was ever truly housebroken. We donāt care, we have all hardwood but sheās doing much better, no accidents this week.
I donāt think she was ever allowed on laps. We pick her up because she doesnāt seem able to jump up on the chairsā¦.her hips are a bit arthritic and her front legs look kind of ābull doggyā, if you know what I mean. Weāll bring that up at the holistic vet appointment she has in a week. So, we put her on our laps and for the first week or more, she sat up, uneasy. Slowly, she started laying down, then finally sleeping on us. I think she finally realized she is home and safe with us.
Eating is fine. We had an issue last week, canāt remember if I mentioned it here but she couldnāt poop. I donāt know if it was the food (Grandma Lucys at that time), the raw (Darwins) or what. She ended up at the vets and needed an enema. The day after this happened, I saw her put stones in her mouth (we have stones, 1/2ā³, in our kennel). We now have astroturf stuff over the stones, no more stones for her! I was told that Bravo has smaller bone pieces than Darwins so I will be starting her on that next week and we changed from the chunky Grandma Lucys to The Honest Kitchen.
A little interesting thing: I was scrolling thru FB last week, saw someone I know with a sheltie. Had to ask about the dog. Long story short, the dog is Mitch, the other available dog we met, with a new name. The foster home is over an hour away yet the adopter of Jamie aka Mitch lives five minutes away! They are supposed to come and visit tomorrow but since weāre having a blizzard, I donāt know if thatāll happen.
Anyway, thats my update.
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