Michelleva

Some new pics of Bonnie.. these were taken on Friday. :)

Very spooky Mita.. I've found another difference between them. I gave them both a chicken wing for dinner, Georgia wolfed hers down in 30 seconds, almost gagging on it, as usual. Whilst Bonnie lied down with it, put her dainty little feet on it and gently started pulling bits off, knawing at it. 10 mins later and she's still chomping on her wing. So far she has zero interest in dry food, yesterday I got her to start eating with the BBQ chicken. Maybe she's going to be a raw girl. I'm just happy she's eating. We just had stupid neighbours setting of fireworks here.. OMG Georgia ran around frantically, freaking out, barking at every window while Bonnie walked around looking scared but didn't open her mouth. Even my daughter commented the rescue looks calmer than Georgia.

OMG I have those two dogs here, they've come back Mita... what are the chances. Hence why after Georgia I told my husband he was never getting another one.. LOL Georgia has never been boarded, but we have holidays booked in Feb, a friend has offered to look after her, but I don't know how she will cope with her. I think Georgia and Shelley have that real working dog thing going on. Georgia will try and bite the wheels of the mower, while its going, round up the cats.. attack the vacuum, you name it she's done it. See my hesitation, with having two?? ETA and Georgia is quite a bit bigger than Bonnie too, but Bonnie doesn't have much fur on her back at the moment due to bad skin from a flea allergy. So they might look more evenly matched once she fluffs up. Ooooooh, Shelley went to doggie heaven & has come back as Georgia. :) All that fits Shelley! Our neighbours used to say she was so awful that she was loveable. The manager of the boarding kennels, said that Shelley reminded him more of a hyped up Border Collie than a Sheltie. The only vet at the UQ clinic who'd volunteer to do Shelley's yearly examination & vaccinations, was an American vet who said her sister back in the States owned an 'unusual' Sheltie, just like her. Drama queen, bossy, something to say about everything... knew everything that was going on & would bark to tell us to come fix it. She was a big girl, too.... had grown taller than standard. Danny was the best thing that ever happened to her, he was sweet & sensible & smaller than standard. Shelley discovered that the world was not all about her. Not that she toned down all that much. But she did.

You're good T.. thats an awesome record.. I have a feeling I'll never get that far.

Put something with your scent on it, in her safe spot. Old unwashed T-shirt or a toy that you've rubbed the palms of your hands, all over. I agree with all who've said what's going on, is normal adjustment (by Georgia) to new kid on the block & realistic adjustment by Bonnie to close companionship with a trusted human for first time. It's reminding me of our resident Shelley the sheltie when Danny the rescue sheltie came. Shelley lover of attention, something to say... er 'bark'.... about everything (The Mouth from the South).... & bossy lady-in-charge (like pulling puss from behind the sofa by the tail). And gentle Danny, so responsive to love & affection .... had to put up with her! Earned him the nickname Saint Danny. :) A UQ behaviorist vet remarked at that time.... the good thing is that shelties are intelligent dogs, so they'll learn well to adjust. Sure seems to be so with Bonnie. She's doing extra well, considering her past situation. Hey your Shelley sounds exactly the same as Georgia. I love that dog to death but she drives me crazy, hence my hesitation at owning two of them. We often tell Georgia she's neurotic.. LOL She's just hypo and has to tell everyone about it ALL the time. If Bonnie was over the top like her, I couldn't handle that, but so far she's completely different. I don't think we've seen her true personality yet, but so far I do LIKE her very much. Both are sweet and wouldn't hurt a fly but Georgia would need a calmer more laid back dog to balance her out. If Bonnie did stay, she's probably end up like your Prince Danny. So for me the jury is out, I'm taking the wait and see approach. If we adopted her that would be the first and last foster dog. LOL I almost don't want to say this, in case I jinx myself, but we haven't had a single accident in the house. I just keep taking her out all the time like I did when Georgia was a pup. She's did her first poo today and it was nice and firm, no runs, woo hoo!

Thanks for your encouragement Dannys Darling. We were just eating lunch outside and Miss Bonnie has decided to try and beg for food, jumping up etc, thats such a sheltie thing. So I had to say ah ah, and she did stop. I got some liver treats and within 5 mins had her sitting for a treat. What a smart girl!

Don't worry Dogmad I have no plans to do that, I don't have time anyway. Today she hasn't paced too much and she's stayed in her safe spot by herself quite a bit, which is fantastic. She's happily going outside with Georgia every hour or two for wees, etc. She was just out there and had her first bark. Georgia is a huge yappa and the kids have been saying she's the quietest sheltie we've ever met, I just keep telling them to give her time, and I was right. So Georgia is already teaching her the sheltie ropes.

She's sitting at my feet, and quite calm, no pacing at all. I know once I get moving on the chores and stuff thats when she panics and paces more. But I can't just sit with her all day.

Thanks for the input guys, I appreciate it. My thoughts were only if the pacing dragged on too long, then attaching her to me could help break the cycle, but I don't think it will get to that anyway. Today is a new day, the sun is shining and this little dog is just AMAZING!!! She slept through the night in her crate again, then when it was time to get up she bounded out of the crate just like Georgia and she was the first one out the back door. Even yesterday it took a lot of coaxing to get her to walk through the door. I had to walk out and then she would follow me, its only 7.30am and its already been a positive day for Bonnie!

Oh stop it you guys, you're making me bawl like a baby. I'm happy to hear I'm on the right track. I had the same idea as you with the lead happy paws. Just attach her to me and where I go, she goes. But I'm worried about creating seperation anxiety on top of everything else. I' probably over thinking again, thats my speciality. :laugh:

A friend who has rehabilitated quite a few puppy farm dogs suggested that I crate Bonnie next to Georgia for the night. Georgia has been crate trained since she was a pup, so that was easy. Bonnie was very scared going into the crate, but settled quickly and slept all night with no accidents. So I'll keep up that routine. Georgia is quite confident and outgoing, so I'm hoping that she can teach Bonnie some confidence, but that will take time. The rescue people told me to just let her wander for a while last night and just ignore it, which I did. Then today she paced again, but definitely not to the same extent as yesterday. Today she's been able to stop, lay down and relax, which is really heart warming but she does get spooked easily and then starts pacing again. They did tell me she's not a really bad case, they've had much worse. I was also told for the first few days I should take her outside for the toilet on lead, because they are very evasive and won't come to you. I had her coming on command this morning. I just have to say come on Bonnie in my happy voice and she's there, which is great. She hesitates at the back step, but thats just because its all new experiences.

Thats really helpful. As far as food is concerned I know Georgia is VERY food oriented, to the point of stealing it off someone else if the opportunity was there. So I'm feeding them seperately, I'm having limited success getting Bonnie to eat, but I'm sure that will improve in coming days. I was worried about Georgia accepting another dog, she's been an only dog her whole life. She does of course have feline siblings, but thats different to living with another dog. Bonnie seems to have found a safe spot under my desk, whenever she feels unsure she goes there. The only problem is that's one of Georgia's favourite spots to snooze. I might have to try and squeeze two beds in there to keep the peace. I've never even had two dogs let alone a foster, so I'm on a steep learning curve. Fortunately there has been no real agression from either, the growl was just a warning I think. I'll go and check out your other thread, thanks. I'm sure I'll be back asking for more help along the way. The rescue group has been really helpful too, I gave them an update today, but that was before Georgia got a bit snooty.

Georgia just growled and snapped at Bonnie. She's really anxious at the moment and pacing and walking around in circles. So I was calling her trying to get her to focus on something else. This is the first time Georgia's acted like that towards her. There was no real aggression, could she be reacting to the anxiety she's feeling from Bonnie? Last night when she paced and paced for hours even I felt anxious, so I understand if its making Georgia uneasy too.

Another step in the right direction, she took a liver treat out of my hand and ate it. I'm obviously someone to be trusted.

Your Danny sounds like a lovely boy Mita. Bonnie seems to have attached herself to me already.. It breaks my heart that anyone could mistreat such a beautiful trusting creature. Oh and I finally got her to eat.. BBQ chicken never fails to entice :D

It must be a good name then Trifecta.. One of my cats just had her cornered in the bathroom, so I had to rescue her. A few people around will know which one too! :laugh:

I've been told I'm doomed because she came to me being called Sweetpea.. no way was I going to walk around calling come here sweetpea.. so that had to go! And someone suggested Bonnie and it seems to fit.

OMG I've had this from everyone. My husband was on a flight when I got the call, so I sent him a photo and said can we help her, his reply, only if we can keep her??? He's not back till Sunday and keeps sending me texts, how's my puppy? ....... she hasn't even been here 24 hours.

This is Bonnie, we got her yesterday, she's an ex-puppy farm girl. Our sheltie is totally in love with her. So far we've had lots of pacing and times where she will drop to the floor in fear. But this morning she's getting calmer, the pacing is slowing down so I don't think it will take long for her to come good. She's such a little sweetheart. Within the first 10 mins the kids were asking if we could keep her. :laugh:

I'm so sorry for your loss pers, those ginger boys are special, even when they have issues. I remember all your beautiful pics, gone but never forgotton Mr Wilson.

The funniest part is he adores all our cats and only one is a porker. I guess he took the persuasive thing seriously. And I'm sure if there was an earthquake, Georgia would be whimpering in a corner. LOL

My son is 8 and last night we had parent-teacher interviews. After chatting about how wonderful a student he is, she said I've got to read you this. They are learning how to do persuasive writing and were given the title "Cats Are Better Than Dogs", they could write either for or against it. This is Bailey's effort. I strongly believe dogs are loyal and help people that are ill and have strokes and heart attacks. Dogs can round up sheep and chickens and all kinds of animals. They also protect us when there is an earthquake. Why buy a cat because cats just eat food and sit on the litter tray and they are SO, SO, SO lazy!!!! And cats meow and I am sick of it! Cats are fat, lazy and SO, SO fat. Cats cannot do anything in their life!!! So thats why you should get a dog, come on I know you want to buy a dog!!!! Ha, ha, I nearly wet myself. I had to ask her to make a copy of it for me to save for the 21st.

I just called the vet clinic and her surgery has gone well, she's now in recovery.. :thumbsup:

I work in the sales industry you know... just give him her big sob story, or I'm happy to do it for you.. :laugh:

Thank you for your kind words. Hey if your dogs are ok with cats, I have a cat here looking for a home with no other cats. She's extremely playful and would love a doggy friend or two. http://www.petrescue.com.au/listings/229562