Nina Adopted!

For those who still may be occasionally checking in, Nina adopted to a new home today in MN.  Hopefully things will go well for her.  It's going to be a big adjustment for her and will take her a long time to settle in, but she'll have a new dog friend to help her.  Nevada is still waiting for her forever home to come along.

Nina hanging out in the house

Both Nina and Nevada are becoming quite accustomed to indoor living and are doing wonderfully with their socialization and training. Nina doesn't meet a person she doesn't like, and has become quite a social butterfly with people and other dogs. She is now comfortable with us guiding her by the collar, taking it on and off, and body handling. We'll be working on more leash work (outside of her "safe"areas) in the coming weeks. Here is a photo of her hanging out with our other foster dog Grace, the two of them are good buddies.

Nevada Update

I have received several updates from Emily this week, and Nevada is doing AMAZING! She is exploring the house, given Emily a kiss on the chin, and today got a massage while on the couch, and she loved it! She has approached visitors, and is coming out of her shell every day. Here are several photos from the week, she is sure growing up to be a beautiful girl!

Nina Update

I apologize to everyone for the delayed update this week - it's been a busy one with HSNEI adoptions which is always good! Nina is doing fantastic, wow what a different puppy! She greets visitors with full wagging body, she accepts petting from strangers, she seeks out our attention constantly, and is learning to be accustomed to a leash! Here is a photo of her in the house, you can't tell from the photo but her little tail is going a mile a minute.

Nina and Nevada Update

An update on the girls the first night in their foster homes, both are doing well...

Nevada had the hardest move, going to a completely unfamiliar place, but she is settling in nicely. I spoke with Emily last night and this afternoon. She is in the house, in an enclosed area. Emily is hand feeding her all of her meals and this is going well. Nevada is starting to venture around the house a bit, taking lots of treats and wagging her tail. Emily is giving her more time to settle in and build a relationship with her before she tries to pet her. Nevada has been the shyest pup all along and will take longer to adjust, but I was thrilled that even last night she was taking treats, eating and drinking, and even giving a few tail wags.

Nina is practically a different puppy. She has voluntarily ventured in the house multiple times, and slept in a crate in the house all night last night! She whined and barked for about 10 minutes and then slept quietly all night. We had her crate next to other dogs and I'm sure this helped to calm her. We are petting and interacting with Nina almost like a "normal" puppy, she seeks out petting from both Scott and I and her little tail rarely stops wagging. It is clear that the company of our own dogs is building her confidence greatly. When she is outside most of the time she is relaxing on the patio by the back door waiting to come in or waiting for us to come out and see her. I listed her as available for adoption to a special home, and you can see her listing on petfinder.com.

Moving Day!

Well as usual things didn't go quite as planned, but I am happy to be able to give a positive report at the end of the day. I gave the girls their sedative at 9:15, with the intention being to take them to the vet at 10am. Nina and Nevada had other plans though and when I checked on them at 9:50 they were both still wide awake, romping and playing. Hmmm. 10:10 still awake and moving around, although the sedative seemed to be taking the edge off. At 10:15 we put the transport crates in the puppy pen and I spent 30 minutes throwing treats in them until the puppies were comfortable walking in and out. Finally, I was able to quietly close the doors on both crates with puppies inside.

Here is a photo of them loaded into the car.

Other than a little yowling from them in the car ride to the vet, it went smoothly and quietly, and we arrived there 1 hour late at 11am. Thankfully everyone at the office was understanding and went ahead with medical treatment as planned. After the puppies were finished, their new collars were put on before they went into their separate crates. Nevada was done first and Emily picked her up at 2pm. I will send an update on Nevada as soon as I hear how she's doing. We picked up Nina at 3pm and brought her home. We set her crate on the back patio which had we fenced in, and it wasn't long before I heard her whining to be let out. I opened her crate door and she walked right out wagging her tail at me, cautious only for a few seconds. She is sore and walking stiffly from her surgery, but otherwise doing great. I've been petting her and hanging out, she's even been pawing at the back door! I'm not sure she's ready to come in yet, but she seems to want to be with me or the other dogs which is a good sign!

Here are photos of Nina after arriving back home, getting adjusted to her new surroundings.

Nina and Nevada Update

Nina and Nevada have continued to do well with their training over the past week. Nina has become so affectionate with me she reminds me of Natasha. Nina will seek out physical interactin with me, and I can now pet and massage her without the use of treats. This weeks she also started giving me kisses on my face, which is not something she was comfortable doing before. Nevada continues to accept petting only with the use of food at the same time.

Tomorrow is "moving day", and we will be picking up the oral sedative from the vet today. At 9:15 am tomorrow morning I will give them the sedative, and then they will be transported to the vet at 10:00. After spaying and receiving vaccinations, we will transport them in crates to their new locations while they are still sedated (they will also have collars put on them while they are asleep). Nevada will be going to Emily's and Nina will stay here but be moved into our household and primary fenced yard to be socialized with other dogs and be introduced to the house. It will be a scary day for them I'm sure, but hopefully a lot less traumatizing than the last time we tried to move them. I expect that being around the other dogs will help them tremendously with their adjustment period.