Paige is going to her forever home

Today Paige is going to her forever home. I am so thrilled for her and so sad for me and my family. But I’ve been saying since she to me that what she needs is a farm with other dogs, some livestock for interest, a quiet household and a family with patience and compassion. And that is what she is getting.

Paige has come so far. In September she was a scared little dog with little understanding of dog-human interaction. I praise the volunteers in MT who got her healthy and who opened the door for me with Paige. I had decided early on I had to treat her like a normal dog but accept her abnormal limitations. I think I got the first part right and underestimated her on the latter. I all but had to dump her out of her crate when she got here. The first few days were intense. Paige HAD to go to the vet for a heartworm test. She HAD to be bathed. These were real challenges. But despite her fear her true disposition came through with small, tentative licks to the face. No eye-to-eye contact, but side glances and licks. What potential!

Over time we progressed to being on the lead all the time to being in the yard without. It took a few days for her to realize that if I called or whistled, chances were she would get fed or get a treat. Thank goodness ES are such chow-hounds! She bonded with my dog Sheba and looked to her for cues. It took days for Paige to take treats from my hand and I almost cried once she did! Once she stopped pacing every time she came into the house things really started to move forward.

Here’s where she is now:

•She’s completely housebroken, but won’t whine to get out… only paces. She understands "wanna go out?".

•Paige comes when called but still has a hard time going through doorways, unless it’s feeding time (hunger trumps fear).

•She still doesn’t like to eat in front of people but will tolerate it. •She’ll settle in right away when she comes in unless there is a stranger (or my husband) in the room.

•She likes to sit by my chair in the kitchen or at work, unless there is too much commotion nearby.

•Early on Paige saw Sheba getting petted and loved and wanted in on that action. At first it was “get a pet and run”. Now she sticks around.

•Paige will run with a pack to play but still doesn’t go for the toy. •She’s a GREAT watch dog, but probably needs to learn to stop barking a bit sooner than she does now. I was just so thrilled to have her bark when appropriate, I’ve left her to her own devises for a while.

•She walks beautifully on the lead (actually came that way) even with other dogs. •She’ll tolerate brushing and nail clipping but, like a lot of dogs, would rather be anywhere else.

•Only recently has Paige taken treats from a non-family member. It took her days to take treats from me, a couple weeks to take them from my eldest daughter and more than a month to take a treat from my youngest. So this stranger thing is a huge leap forward!

•In the evenings after dinner and rest time, she really, really plays! She “gets” the chase game and will puppy bow and then take off racing a round the yard once or twice and come back for more. She’ll also come looking for petting and “butt scratches” then – and woe to you if you stop too soon! I don’t know why in the evenings she does this, but she does.

Paige has been a wonderful addition to my family and she will be missed greatly. Letting her go is so very hard. I’m not sure I’m really cut out for foster work but I will always be grateful for this opportunity and for getting to know and help Paige.

Laura

It’s been a while since I’ve updated you all on Paige, so here goes.

Last weekend we hosted an ES Gathering. The turn out was small but good fun. After the initial barking/warning when People showed up, Paige was great. It seems to have helped that dogs walked in with these Strangers. It also helped that the Strangers were dog savvy people who knew enough to ignore Paige’s distance and didn’t try to make her come over (we’ve had that from time to time… people who are ‘sure’ that they ‘can get Paige to ‘come”).

Throughout the day Paige ran with the pack beautifully. When the pack ran for a ball or a Frisbee, Paige was right with them. She didn’t really go for the toy, but she looked like she knew she was playing. The rest of the time she watched from a bit of a distance. A few weeks ago, when Nancy H. came to visit, Paige started to “hide” behind trees. Basically she kept a tree between herself and Nancy whenever she lay down. Well, she did the same thing at the Gathering. If she was moving, Paige was simply at a distance from the people. To rest she had to have the tree block out the People.

All the dogs got along fine and we only had one small incident involving Sheba which was addressed within seconds so no harm. At the end of the day we had 2 very, very worn out dogs! This really confirms my belief that Paige will do best in a home with other dogs. The more, the better.

The Gathering itself was great and the K9 CPR/First Aid class was great.

On other fronts… the weather has been lousy and Paige is getting brushed almost daily. Between the sand spurs (sticky burrs) and the rain, she’s a mess. But brushing her is easier every time and cutting her nails a few days ago was a breeze! Her ‘sits’ are getting better, all things considered. They are still done only on lead. Her recall is very good, for Paige. That is to say, she’ll come but she won’t, for instance, walk straight into the house with me. Entries are still scary (the exception to this is at dinner time). Even when it’s pouring rain, it’s very hard for Paige to simply come into the house. Coming into the kennel seems to be easier. But she can be at the other end of the property and will come to my whistle every time.

While she’s still barking at my husband, she seemed to settle in with my son faster. My son was home for a week at Thanksgiving. Paige barked and barked as Sheba went through her ritual spaz attack welcoming him home. She was fairly petrified at having another man in the house. At 3 am he got up and that set Paige into furious barking, waking up the entire household. But within a day or two, she was by my chair in the kitchen when he walked in. She was alert, but never barked. And she didn’t move so long as he was more than about 5 feet away. So that was good. If she’s still here in a couple weeks when he gets home (semester ends) it’ll be interesting to see how she reacts.

A couple that has expressed interest in adopting her stopped by yesterday. They are from Maine and are vacationing in Key Largo (how nice!). They seem very nice, but Paige would NOT stop barking at them for the longest time. I had Chris take Paige for a bit of a walk on lead. Once they got moving at an ES clip, Paige settled in. Every time the pace slowed down, Paige started to cower. I think John is a bit concerned. I think neither of them realized how shy Paige would be. They also have met a couple of ESs and could immediately see how much smaller Paige is. But I guess we’ll hear back from them this week and we’ll know what the score is.

There’s no doubt that if and when Paige leaves it’s going to leave a hole in my heart. She’s such a sweet dog. And she tries really hard. I don’t think I’m cut out for fostering.