My adventure - Doodle came home this weekend

[Alla]

Today I finally brought home the 2.5 year old doodle I adopted from the shelter! I don't know how anyone could give up such a sweet dog.  I went to pick her up with my sister who has 2 dogs and knows how to handle them (I'm a first time dog owner so I have no idea). Between deliberations on facebook, coworkers, relatives etc, I still could not come up with a name. My sisters dogs are named Cha-Cha and Tango - so she wanted me to keep the dance theme. I'm a big salsa dancer but her suggestions - Salsa or Samba - somehow didn't feel right to me. On the way to the shelter we were listening to the salsa music and a song came on saying - Baila Baila... which means dance in spanish, and so her name was born - Baila!

The ride home was rough to say the least. The poor doodle was scared and shaking even with my sister in the back trying to comfort her. She obviously has car anxiety. My sister mentioned that she smelled a fart, and was talking about how some dogs pee poop and vomit when they are scared. Well guess what! The smell got stronger, and it wasn't a fart.. It was a pile of doo-doo :( She managed to get it inside the seat belt holes and in 2 seperate areas of my car. To make it worse my seats are leather with perferactions - tiny little holes that are impossible to clean out.  This I did not expect! We had to stop the car while i tried to clean up the mess a bit while my sister walked Baila to get over her anxiety - and we were off on our way home - this time my sister sat in the front. That was a hard mess to clean, but luckly I already had enzyme cleaner in the house. We decided not to tell my husband about the mess, and she had to sneak him out of the house to walk Baila so I could finish cleaning the car.

Other than this mishap the weekend was perfect. She became attached to us immediately, wags her tail whenever she sees us and lies on her back for a belly rub. She recognizes her name. One problem we have is she is a picky eater - she isn't eating the dry food we bought. We tried mixing it with wet, and she eats a little but she needs to be encouraged and watched or else she doesnt eat on her own. What am I going to do with the 40 lb bag of dry food! She loves to eat human food like pieces of chicken, and we put then within her dry food and she picks them out and spits the dry food out. What a picky doodle.

As soon as she was acclimated to being home - we decided to give her a bath. My sister got in with her and she was just great and let us wash her. Then we blow dried her and brushed her and she didn't react at all and let us. We even cleaned her ears and brushed her teeth. She was a perfect doodle the whole time!

She loves walks but is not so great on the leash because she always tries to run ahead and pull (until shes tired) but she is getting better.   Maybe I just can't keep up with her yet, but we try to walk her a lot to get her energy out. At home she lays around and follows me werever I go and likes her new bed. My husband said that she would be sleeping downstairs, but after hearing her whines at night he brought her bed up to our room and she kept us company for 2 nights in a row. She follows commands like sit and come and down and even paw. I took her for a short drive to a park - and she had so much anxiety in the car again but she enjoyed the park and all the people that pet her. She kept panting and shaking even just for 10 minute ride. At least she didn't poop in the car (she barely ate and already pooped so I wasn't worried).I hope she will get better in the car as I take her on fun trips so she can associate the car with good things, but it will be hard. I have to take her for her second set of shots in 2 weeks and I know she will be a nervous wreck - I'm about to buy her a diaper!

We had visitors including kids and she played nice with all of them. I've never heard her bark, she's such a calm dog.

We left her alone for 2 hours and she was fine on the weekend. She seems to be housebroken and doesn't chew and she's not interested in the toys we got her. She just wants humans as toys so they can pet her and give her attention!

Today was the first time we're leaving her alone while we're at work. I hope she finishes her breakfast and isn't too bored.

Here's a pic of her and another one of me and her!

Ok so I need advice on -

• car anxiety
• pulling on leesh when walking
• not eating dry food and not eating a lot in general (and not voluntarily either)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

1. She is beautiful!

2.  Get your car professionally detailed inside. Then put a plastic tarp or table cloth on your seats with a washable blanket on topl

3.  Sign up for training.  In the mean time get a halti or gentle leader or a corrective collar. She needs you to be in charge of the walks and with those type of collars, she will feel your corrections.

4.  If you are feeding her a quality kibble, just keep feeding it to her.  A healthy dog will not starve itself.  If you keep feeding her human food, she will continue to 'hold out' for it and overall it may not amount to a balanced diet. There is nothing wrong with doing some hand feeding while she is anxious and settling in.

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

Baila is beautiful!  Thank you for taking her in.  I am a foster mom for doodles the best advice I can give you is to give her time to settle down and get to know you and DH.  It is important to have a routine going on so that she knows  what to expect and what is expected of her.  It could take up to a month or more for her to get adjusted.  Be patient and learn as much as possible oh and it's also important that you and DH are on the same page about things :O)................

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Congratulations, she's a beautiful girl.  I agree with all the advice about starting some training....that will really help her to walk nicely on leash so you can both enjoy this time.  For the car anxiety...real short trips at first, don't acknowledge any of her anxiety, and cover your seats well.  Other than that, just enjoy her and know she's just trying to make sense out of a world that has just been turned upside down....just love her and be really patient.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

Congratulations!  She is BEAUTIFUL and she looks like she just knows this was supposed to be her home all along :-)  How brave of you to rescue for your first dog, I would have been intimidated.  My GD Hunter was my first dog also.  Hunter is what I call a "sled" dog because she pulls so bad when she walks.  I did try the Gentle Leader that went over the nose, it didn't work for us - she flopped in the road and wouldn't move LOL  But my friend owns a dog walking & pet sitting business and she uses the Gentle Leader that goes across the chest and others on here said it has worked really well.  I am going to try that myself.  I can't wait to see more photos!!

[Donna K & Quincy]

Congratulations, she is beautiful.

[Maryann,Roo and Tigger]

I agree with Adina as a first time dog owner, a really good dog trainer and some classes are a must.

Car Anxiety -  can be a tough one.  Be very careful not to inadvertently reinforce her anxiety.  You must be very matter of fact about car riding. No eye, hand or voice contact if she is anxious.  That actually tells her that you think she is right to be anxious.  Try puttin a really yummy treat in the car, then leash her up and put her in the car where she will find it.  That way the treat comes from the action of getting in the car and not from you.  Remember her last and/or only car ride may have been to the pound, where her owner disappeared forever.  Lots of short happy ending car rides - remember to put a yummy treat on the seat after Baila gets out of the car at the destination it is there for her when she has to get back in. 

 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

She looks so comfy and has settled right in on her new bed. Also is very trusting of you already as she is staying there while you spoon with her. Very nice for both of you. I think it's a great idea to have her in your room. She would be lonely all by herself. Ours sleep in our room, one on the bed and one off and on all night. We miss them if they are not nearby at night and love when all four of us are piled in together. My two are 60 pds each. As for leash walking, training, training, training. I am of the belief the I take the dog for a walk, he doesn't take ME!

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

OMD - she is precious and after a bath she is just beautiful. I am so excited for you. Sounds like the mishaps are just normal first time with a new person/family nervousness. The eating will probably settle down as well. Try not to give her people food...it encourages her to be picky and really it's not too good for her. Might I ask what type of food you purchased? If it's the shelter food you may want to incorporate another (slowly) that will be better for her, like Acana or Orijen, Acana Pacific is what my Daisy eats, she used to be picky but loves this particular flavor... but I'd wait and see how she does for now, it may take a few days for her to settle and eat properly.

The walking on a leash will be a process. I will defer that to someone who has done a better job than I do.

Associating Car rides with going to fun places (that short ride to the dog park) and also when she gets in to give her a treat (ok, here is where I say bits of cheese) so she will know she gets something yummy in the beginning and great in the end. Of course the Vet won't be fun but you have 2 weeks to practice calming her.

You and your husband are lucky people, you have found a beautiful doodle to love, and Baila (love the name) is just as lucky as she has found two wonderful people to love to.

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

Hey, Alla!  First of all, let me start by saying that Baila is BEAUTIFUL!!  I don't know her "story" but I do know that she's one lucky doodle NOW to find you and your DH!  I had my first (and only so far) foster named Leah, and she was a dream dog -- and for the life of me, I couldn't imagine any one giving her up!  Housebroken, trained, velcro-type (followed me everywhere and I do mean EVERYWHERE!).   I guess I felt compelled to write you mainly because of the eating issues that you are experiencing. Leah had the same ones!  She did not want to eat AT ALL when I first got her!  The only thing that worked was to hand feed her.  I would sit on the floor to be on her level and she would take a few pieces of food from me.  Gradually she would take more.  Next I would pour a small amount on the floor (no bowl), still with me on the floor, and she would take a eat what I put down. It was a slow process, but soon I had her eating out of a bowl (with me on the floor) and then finally, she would eat out of the bowl with me standing up.  I really don't think Baila is being picky at this point -- I think it's more of a trust issue.  Take it slow and easy and I bet she'll be eating like a normal dog within a week or so.  When I got Knox, my GD, as a puppy, I was told to hand feed him to help develop a bond between us.  Supposedly, it was to teach him that "all good things come from me."  So, please don't get discouraged about her eating -- I think it may be very normal for dogs who are "in transition."

  

I see that others have recommended a "gentle leader" for walking her.  I seconded (or third) that advice.  My trainer suggested it for Knox and we still use it!  It makes walking so much more pleasant!

Take care and enjoy Baila!  Can't wait to read how the two of you (plus DH) are progressing!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

Baila is gorgeous and I wish you all the luck in the world..  BTW Baila is one of my middle names!!