Long time, no see

So it's been almost a year since we've been on Dogster, and a lot of things have changed in our lives. We moved back to Michigan, and have adjusted to a new life in a new home-finally. Sookie has proven to be the best dog for our family even though she is still a little on the timid side. She has been allowing herself to warm up to people though, and that is nice. She has free reign of the neighborhood, and lets herself out of the house whenever she wants with no worries that she won't return. She has learned that she can't go in the road, and will not cross the line that we've set for her. All of the neighbors have commented that we have the best behaved dog in the neighborhood, and that is very flattering. Thank God we found her cowering at the back of her kennel that day at the Humane Society, we couldn't have picked out a better dog.

Growing every day

Sookie has been going EVERYWHERE with me lately, and she is really starting to improve. She is approaching people, even if she is still a smidge apprehensive. She has been doing great at the dog park with other dogs, not running away, but being a lot more curious. I have noticed that Sook is very protective of other dogs as well as me. It is so cute to watch. All of my friends have small dogs, and when they start playing rough, Sookie nonchalantly moseys between them until they calm down, then she walks away and does her own thing. As long as everyone is behaving the way she wants them to, she's happy as a clam. That's all for now, it's just been a while, so I thought I'd update a little.

Going Home

Well, my mom told me that I need to play with Bodhi all that I can because we're moving back to Michigan on Thursday. I heard Bodhi's dad tell my mom that she could take Bodhi with us if she wanted to, but she said that would be too much for her to handle. You see, Bodhi is a big guy, he's bigger than me, and my mom always calls me "fatty boombalatty", so that should tell you something. She also says that Bodhi would be too expensive because he isn't neutered, and he has something wrong with his eye. I c0uld tell that she really did want to say yes, she knows that Bodhi is a good boy, he just needs some exercise, discipline, and affection. I think she is sad because she knows that Bodhi will be lonely when we leave. His dad works all the time, and is hardly ever home. Well, I will be sad when we leave, too, cuz he's my best friend, but at least when I get home, I have my other friends Pugsley and Boo that I can play with. I love those guys!! Besides, maybe I can make friends with my Gramma's new German Shepherd puppy Goliath, too. Well, gotta go, there's things to sniff, and birds to chase!!

We make a great team!

Yesterday my mom and I were going for a dip in the creek, and when we got there, another dog was already there. My mom didn't think it was a big deal because he's the dog from next door, and we're friends. My mom feels bad for the dog--his name is Bodhi--because his dad doesn't pay that much attention to him, and he has to live his life in a kennel. My mom tries to help him out by bringing him water during the day and gives him chicken--she even brushes him. She lets me go in his kennel every day so that we can play. We started to splash in the water, but then Bodhi started being mean. He was biting my neck, and when I tried to run away, he was biting my legs, and it hurt! Since my mom is the best mom ever, she put me behind her, and she made Bodhi lay down so that he would calm down and start playing nice. Well, he started barking at my mom, so I chased him away! My mom told me to SIT! And then she told me to STAY! I was just trying to protect her! After a few minutes, she hugged me and told me that I'm a good girl. I could tell she was proud of me, but I was proud of her, too. She protected us by letting Bodhi know she is the boss, and she didn't even get scared!

The Beginning

Well, with Sookie being a rescue, I knew that I couldn't know what to expect from her. She was a snap at house training (only 3 days! woo hoo!), her bad manners with food were easily cured, and she was never really a barker or chewer, so we didn't have many problems with either of those. Although, we did find out that she loves to eat ENTIRE tubs of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter when unattended.

Now to the real problem. Her large dog anxiety. I don't know how to correct it. She's fine with smaller dogs, my best friend has 2 Bugs, and they were her first friends. Big dogs, eh. When we adopted her and brought her home, she was people shy as well, she's dealing with that fantastically.

I have tried taking her to dog parks, but when there is more than one dog, she panics, they pick up the weakness and attack--normal dog behavior. I understand that they are pack animals, and that is how they do things. What I can't understand is how to make her more comfy around a pack of dogs so that she can become part of a pack without them attacking her.....