Finally learning how to play...

Millie is finally learning how to play with the other dogs and it has not come easily to her for some reason... She has little of the usual canine behaviors and social skills, other than becoming submissive when she's reprimanded by another dog... Originally she would growl and show her teeth when reprimanded - now she drops the head and tail as she lowers her shoulders in canine doggie language when fussed at... 

However, with these learning processes comes progress as well... Last night I watched Millie engage in a game of 'catch me if you can' in the backyard with everyone... She watched for awhile and learned what was going on, then couldn't resist joining in... 

She quickly was taught that if she caught someone, she couldn't bite them hard... That nipping was not allowed, but only 'air nips' along with the sounds that accompany this game... This took her a bit of time to learn as the game stopped several times when she'd actually nip and someone would step in to 'advise' her she wasn't following the rules of the game!

But this is progress... 

There are dominants and submissives in society... If Millie is to learn how to get along with other dogs, she has to go through this process... There is a functional level that balanced dogs work hard to achieve, and she is learning from some of the best with the pack... I am pleased with her bravery to engage, happy with how she handled being reprimanded when she did wrong and continued to enjoy the game with everyone else for quite some time...

Otherwise, she would be sentenced to the lifestyle that some Chihuahuas live - not interacting with other dogs or the general public, becoming one of those 'nasty, snarfy, rat dogs that yap too much,' etc... Not what I would choose for any Chihuahua or Chi mix... These little guys truly do love interaction with other dogs of their breed and their human owners... While they might have originally come from the fox side of the canine species, they have been deeply bred to be companions... And how can you offer companionship if you don't what it is all about?

This is what happens to puppymill puppies (PMP)- they don't get the correct nor proper amount of socialization from their moms nor the millers... They get shipped off to a petshop and bought by a human, who usually doesn't have a clue what they are getting into with a PMP... We all have images of Lassie ingrained in our subconsciousness and don't understand why this new puppy can grow into such a terror and misbehaved adult dog... So many of the things we humans consider 'normal' in a dog just doesn't exist in these PMPs...

I compare this same situation to a child whose birth language is not English, then gets set down in America without parents at the age of five... They can't understand what is expected of them, nor more than they can communicate to find out... The process is frustrating, although I'm not so sure dogs experience frustration to the intelligent level humans do... But they do feel and have feelings, so at some level there must be something, if not irritation or annoyance...

Millie is only learning by watching and experience... She still has a LOT of things to learn (like potty-training, learning how to receive pats and love without going ballastic in your lap, what toys are for, self-esteem, etc.)... And it is a process that is ongoing, depending on how much she is willing to learn and how much tolerance the other dogs have that particular time to teach her...

Coming along... coming along...

Millie is starting to eat with the other dogs now... This has been a major step in her progress... I haven't seen her bare her teeth at any of the other dogs in days, as a matter of fact... 

We're still not potty trained (sigh) and she'll stand and squat right in front of you without any concern... Put her in a crate and she'll whiddle in there too, just like most puppymill puppies.... We're working on this and it might really take some time for her to get the hang of it all... 

Millie spooks easily - common things like fans, sounds on the TV, etc. will spook her... I needed to put a sweater on her this week and we struggled through that for quite some time until I won the battle... Don't think she ever had one on before... 

Toys? Treats? Goodies?  Pats?  Don't think she had many of these either for she doesn't have a clue what to do with a Greenie... I have yet to see her play with any of the toys and seldom plays with any of the other dogs either... 

The other night I had her on my lap and she was finally OK to settle in and take a nap with the rest of the 'dog pile'... Normally she's not too happy with anyone else touching her... She eventually stretched out and relaxed enough to take a decent nap, but it took quite a bit of massaging and cooing to make it happen... 

Oddly enough, Millie stares at me a lot... Almost like she's trying to figure everything out... As in, "why do the other dogs gravitate towards me and they seem happy to be doing it?"... She watches the other dogs and me with this studious look on her face and I'd love to know what she's thinking... 

For the most part, she seldom rushes into an opened crate now when she gets spooked... Holding her in your lap, you really have to have your wits about you in the event she spooks and makes a dive for the floor or to run for cover... But she doesn't immediately go into a crate and peer out if she spooks... She's fearful, but she'll stop and appraise the situation... I consider this progress and trust starting to build up that we'll not let anything happen to her or anyone else here... She's starting to come to me now when I call her, and that's progress too... Millie still doesn't like you patting her around the neck or on the back of her head, but with time, she'll get used to that as well... It just all takes time...   

Lots going on...

Lots has gone on since the last post... So to catch up here... 

Prior to being spayed, I noticed the harness Millie had on was too tight and eventually I had to cut it off of her... I suspect she has bruised ribs (??) from where it was around her mid section - this could be causing part of the screaming she does when you pick her up, so everyone is alerted now to ONLY do a two-handed lift (one hand under her butt)... 

I tagged Millie with an IDTag just in case she gets away from me... Not that I anticipate this to happen, but because she's so spooky, I'm not so sure she'd come back with me calling her.... Took me almost an hour to cut that halter off and put a normal collar on her with the tag (and numerous scratches as she did everything she could to scramble out of my arms)... 

She's starting to learn her name now... If I say it, I'll get a tail wag (courtesy of great treats she can't seem to resist)... If left alone, she'll stay in the corner in that opened kennel... If encouraged and she's in the mood, you can possibly pick her up and love up on her... She's a face clawer, so we have to break that habit gently... I've gotten my first Millie kiss already, so I'm hopeful and encouraged...

Last night for the first time she was up in my lap and 'TV-snoozing' with some of the other guys... Even allowing them to touch her as she slept... At one point she stretched out and the dog pile shifted... I wish I had a camera on top of my head and a 'Jeannie-blink' would have snapped the picture... But the deep sigh she gave was enough payback to me... 

Since her arrival, we've let her sleep where she wants to and her choice has been the kennel in the corner that is pretty close to a den-like environment... Last night I decided it was time to push the envelope a bit and after a nice relaxing night, I picked her up and carried her into the bedroom... I have two kennels stacked one on top of the other with a firm board in between them... Once fosters settle in, they're allowed to sleep inside our bedroom (the bed being reserved for our dogs)...

Although Millie is very comfortable in a kennel and actually prefers them, she had several anxiety sessions once I secured her in the kennel... I had brought along a few dehydrated chicken strips for her to munch on in the hopes she realized that this kennel and room was special... It took awhile, but I was able to help her un-compress her anxiety by reaching through the bars and cooing to her... She could see me laying down and trying to go to sleep because that kennel is on eye-level to me and eventually she relaxed and went to sleep as well... 

I didn't bother taking her to adoptions on Saturday... She's FAR from being adoptable... I'm talking months from now... On occasion, she'll still show her teeth at another dog but has learned to not attempt to bite... No one here is a biter nor a bite intimidatory persona either...  They do know the hierarchy of the pack and expect every dog and foster to follow the rules however...

Seems like everything freaks Millie out - the fan, the outside, the wind, the wind chimes, sudden movement - even the sizzle of something cooking on the stove... She spends 75% of her time with that object look of fear in her eyes and seldom relaxes for long periods of time overall...

Potty training?... Well, that's something we're working on too... She'll stand in front of you and widdle without a thought... She's underweight and I'm working on that, but I think her nerves get to her periodically as well... We get on a good track for a day or two, and then she's challenged by something and gets the runs shortly thereafter... 

Forget playing with toys... Not in her vocabulary... Last night I did watch her watch Nacho and Scudders playing with each other... A little bit later Millie attempted that same behavior with Princess (another small, mild-mannered and sweetheart) - it lasted about 15 seconds and then Millie screamed, Princess was taken aback and it ended as quick as it began...

But I am hopefully... I've only failed to turn one dog around in many years, but he was a Jack-Chi with a ton of issues from the shelter... He eventually did get adopted into a very special and understanding home, so every dog can earn a great furever home if only you believe, ya know?  

Millie's been spayed...

Millie went through the spay without any issues... I had to kennel her going because I didn't want the previous experience repeated in the car and warned the spay clinic staff about her origins and personality... 

At pickup time, the staff attempted to get her out of the steel kennel and she started screaming... So they gave her a pain shot for the 'ouchies' they anticipated... I did get my first Millie tail wag as she heard my voice talking to her through the front of the kennel (smile... and the pain killer started kicking in)...

I brought her home and gave her a quiet, serene and warm place to recuperate, checking in on her every hour or so... Thank goodness for modern medicine or else this might have been a difficult time to get through...  While she was still 'feeling the warm fuzzies' from the pain shot, I sat with her at least an hour and a half, massaging her, cooing to her and saying her name, hoping I had laid a bit of a foundation for her later to connect with me once she started feeling better...


It seems Millie knows little of the usual canine manners... Nor is she familiar with the dynamics of a pack either... Both of these are problems when you try and assimilate a puppymill puppy into your life... I'm not speaking about dog obedience and responding to commands or being simply potty trained - I'm talking about canine manners and proper 'dog-speak' amongst themselves... 

A screamer usually sets themselves up for being a target when there is another dog around... Most people want to take their pup to the dog park and have their children play with the dog in their lives... So the dogs don't have all the proper dog obedience commands you'd like them to... But it is critical that the dogs can relate to each other as in "Hey, how ya doing?" language... If a dog is scared of you, and doesn't relate to other dogs to integrate themselves into the pack, they are setting themselves up for failure in life without even knowing it... Many of these things are taught to pups from their mom, but if the mom is also a puppymill puppy herself, she can't teach what she herself doesn't know either...

Millie not only has problems with humans and shakes when picked up, doesn't come when called because she doesn't trust you, etc. --- she can't relate to even the most easy going and loving Chi we have here (and he does pet therapy so he's used to handling all kinds of situations and experiences from both dogs and humans alike)... We all have expectations of what a 'normal' dog should be and when our new puppy from the petshop falls so short of the usual expectations, anyone with an ounce of compassion internalizes this realization as a failure of them to provide the proper training... 

How can a dog be a dog when they don't know what being a dog is all about?... Let alone the hierarchy of a canine pack and those dynamics as well... Puppies should be ingrained instinctively (and usually are when the puppies are born and raised by reputable breeders)... But when we humans interfere with the natural order of things and turn canine birth into a production line of puppies, we screw it all up... We're not Mother Nature and don't fix up our mistakes because dollar$ are more important than doing things well and the correct way... 

Next shipment of puppies goes into the belly of a plane and off to some petshop for the new buyers to deal with the ramifications of a inferior product, hyped up with 'purebred papers' and higher price tags... If you don't have poor health issues to deal with (or death in many cases), and your new petshop puppy survives to grow up, all kinds of psychological and behavioral issues surface along the way... If not addressed, these dogs usually end up aggressive, under-socialized and/or destined for the shelter system where someone else gets to deal with the problems the puppy millers created...

As many 'red-listed' Chihuahuas that I have pulled out of the shelters (red-listed means they're walking towards the euthanasia table if a rescue doesn't pull them from the shelter), Millie is by far one of the worse cases I've been challenged by... She doesn't have a clue how to learn to be what she is supposed to be... While she wants to be in tuned with humans, her fears overcome her desire in this regard... With role models around to observe and watch in the other Chis, she's clueless as to how to do things differently to find a friend or two...

Thankfully, I don't value things based upon their price, for if I was an owner who'd just paid a pretty penny for this pup from a petshop, I'd be feeling pretty ripped off by this point if nothing else!        

The pup gets a name...

Intentionally I have protected the privacy of the owner who turned this pup into us because I believe he too is a victim and was hoodwinked at the petshop... And I had to make some decisions about this pup as well, so I spent quite a bit of time thinking about her and her potential future... 

Searching around for a name, I hit on "Millie Vanillie" because this pup is not what she's cracked up to be ... And we'll call her "Millie" for short as a sarcastic comment on her origins... So "Millie Vanillie of Kansas" will be her AKC registered name...

She's spent two full days hiding in a corner now... The best thing you can do for a pup in this shape is to ignore them and go about your normal routine... Our crew eats together and although I could tell she was hungry, her fear would not allow her to come out of that kennel and her 'safety-zone'... Feeling for her, I brought her water and food yesterday evening, placing it outside the door of the open kennel and then barricading it all so the other guys wouldn't be tempted... 

Tomorrow she is set to be spayed and that should relieve one of the tension triggers (everyone else here is no longer intact)... Nothing else but time and patience will solve some of the other tension and anxiety triggers, so we'll see how Millie shakes it all out once she starts feeling better...

Failed home check...

A lady came into adoptions yesterday and just HAD to have this little one... I spent a great deal of time talking to her, telling her we didn't know much about this pup yet, she'd just arrived, she came from a puppymill via a petshop, etc... 

But ya know?... People SELDOM listen to you once they become fixated on something of their heart's desire...

She filled out the adoption application, we set up the home check for today and that was that...  When I got up this morning, I decided I was going to bring Frito along with me and demonstrate FULLY to these people what they were getting themselves in for... To me, adopting a dog is a commitment not taken lightly and every failed placement just causes a dog to lose a bit of their spirit and soul... 

When we got into the car to leave for the home check, the pup was fine... When my husband turned on the engine, she flew up and out of my arms, clinging to my shoulders and wedged between my head and the seat's head rest... Within a few seconds, I felt the warm wet feeling of her widdling as she peed on my shoulder...

And before we were even on the interstate, she had pooped on my shoulders and down my back as she shook uncontrollably... (sigh)... 

Sitting her on the backseat aside of Frito, I attempted to clean myself up and the seat from her widdlin and pooping... I looked back at her several times during the brief trip... While Frito is laying down with front paws crossed looking out the window at the scenery, this little one has her nose into the corner of the seat and door, butt outwards and wants nothing to do with the rest of the world... 

Once arriving for the home check, this couple come out of their home with their grandchild... They had already questioned me at adoptions if the adoption donation would be returned to them if the dog did not like their grandchildren... I knew this would an issue, as it should be... You just don't bring a dog into your home if the lifestyle and temperament is not a good fit... And children should be allowed to be children - to run, play and holler as need be... But this is not a good home for a puppymill puppy who has not been rehabilitated yet... 

Despite numerous demonstrations about how a well balanced Chi responds (Frito) and showing this couple the issues they would encounter adopting this little one, they were pretty adamant about this was the dog for them... Having placed a lot of dogs in my time, I gave them an "out" and said they could contact me later in the week after she'd been spayed in case they were still interested in her... 

Back home, she immediately went into the open kennel in the corner and hid for the rest of the night like she had the night before... Even my 'go-to' Chi (Frito) couldn't make friends with this little one...  And unless she was willing to meet everyone halfway, she would be destined to not get any better and much worse... 

Tomorrow is another day as they say!

Arrival at adoptions...

I left things as they were with the owner... Sometimes you see these people arrive with their dogs --- other times, remorse sets in and you don't see them... You might get a phone call saying they have changed their minds, many times you don't... So I guess I was a little surprised when the owner walked into adoptions carrying this red and white Chi in a crate, carrying a folder of paperwork under his arm... 

I won't like to you - my first thought was, "And this is an AKC purebred Chihuahua?  I'm pulling better looking Chihuahuas out of the shelters off of death row, for Pete's sakes!!"... 

As I am talking to the owner, I reading her body language and she is scared out of her mind... Granted, adoptions is full of sounds and smells that can upset even the most balanced of dogs... But there is a look of fear in her eyes that tells me I'm in for a rehabilitation ride if nothing else... 

Pulling her out of the crate, I asked the owner if she always shakes when held... I handed the pup over to one of our volunteers, started looking through the paperwork and saw a breeder's name in Kansas I recognized from my puppymill efforts... Sigh... 

Set down in an Xpen with our most calm and balanced dogs up for adoption, she immediately barred her teeth as they approached her... Slinking off to a corner and prostrating herself on the ground, she immediately sent mixed messages to the other dogs --- I'm dominant, leave me alone --- No, I'm submissive but don't want to be friendly with you either... 

I turned to the owner and he had become emotional... I asked was he OK and he mumbled something to me... Knowing what I know, I felt I had to let him off the hook intellectually about this dog... No matter HOW much time he and his family were able to give this dog, they bought a puppymill puppy at the petshop... With that purchase comes a whole host of problems and issues Joe Q. Citizen does not know about, and usually is ill-equipped to deal with.... It's not just a matter of a "little bit of training" - it is usually months of active rehabilitation to get these dogs turned around... 


And sometimes?... They never do turn around at all... (sigh)... 

I truly don't know who is the greater victim in this multi-billion dollar business --- the puppies themselves, the parents left behind in the mills or the general public who buy these puppies expecting to actually get a great pup and value for the increased prices they are paying at the petshops for a so-called "purebred" dog...