Buster is a lovebug. As I write this she's taping her head against my elbow like 'come on, just pet me already'. It doesn't help that big Rottie Gio is on the other side literally lifting my hand up to do the same. (He's a very good (big) influence!)
You talking about me?
Buster follows me (or Jerrad if I close the door to the computer room) around the house. She'll stand by his legs when he cleans the kitchen, lay down beside him when he's on the couch, and all in all, is wherever your legs happen to be. She'll even push her way in if Gio is hogging the attention to get a piece of it herself. I find it kind of amusing that both the fosters follow us around a little bit like fan-girls, when Beckett couldn't give a shit (I'll forgive him though :P).
She also gets a wee bit whiny without her daily walk -since yesterday I walked to an from work (an hour each way) and did my shift. My feet just weren't up to another hour, much to Beckett and Buster's dismay. Gio -eh, he'll run a few laps around the backyard and get back inside for some loving. He really likes to spin circles around you playbowing like a looney when he's all excited though. So after this blog, Buster will be getting her walk :P
The "I'm not too Impressed about Not Getting my Walk" Look
I'm also happy to report, that despite the fact it was only about 12 hours later, yesterday evening also showed improvement in the department of the backyard. Gio and Beckett started playing, (well, more Beckett thought Gio was playing with him, but they were off in their own little worlds. For the record, blind dogs are easily amused) and despite the fact that I'd promised to take things very slowly, I dropped Buster's leash so she could play too. And dang it all, I forgot my camera. After a good mannered, fairly slow, and fairly comical play session, (imagine one Rotti playbowing in funny circles, one Sharpei sans wrinkles play-mounting the boys to get them to wrestle her, and one blind husky playing with air -who you can tell he believes is Gio and you kind of get the picture of a looney bin) they decided to have a cuddle together.
But I did some collar work and decided to see if Buster showed any interest in playing with a human.
Much to my surprise, Buster LOVES chase games that involve her chasing a person. That funny little girl got her nose right up my bum! I didn't even have to grab the leash when we headed inside. Didn't have to coax her in, didn't have to shadow her/slowly herd her back that way. I called Gio and in he went, I called Beckett and in he went, and Buster just followed, leash dragging all the way. I'm sure there will be times when I still have to put some pressure on her to get her inside, but seeing the shift so quickly is amazing. And what does she do when she gets inside. She runs over to Jerrad to take her leash off! I think its safe to say Buster quite enjoys being apart of a family :P
As we're exploring her boundaries and fears, I think we might have come to the source of the bite yesterday. Gio, regardless what time we decide to go to bed, gets up at 4:30am on the nose and wants out for his morning pee (thank goodness he'll go back to bed for an hour or two afterwards). Its still fairly dark out at the point, and you can see Buster get a little tense on the leash when she goes out. Yvette mentioned she might be afraid of the dark, or possibly have some night blindness. It was starting to get light outside when Jerrad took them out, but the trees we have here are placed east/south ish, so we don't start getting really light out until about 6:30-7:00.
With this in mind I think if I couldn't see very well/at all, it was dark, and I felt someone slowly stalking me around an unfamiliar terrain, I would most likely strike out too. Imagine a horror show where the bad guy grabs you around the neck. Are you just going to let him? I doubt you would :P. Live and learn. So any Gio induced 4:30am pee break, Buster will go out on a leash. Like those old stories where you follow the string to get from the house to the barn, the leash acts as a safety blanket -she's attached to a person she semi-trusts. Nothing bad comes from the leash.
I'm hoping to remember my camera the next time a play session breaks out, and to get some of Buster just being a generally happy girl. She's a wee bit camera shy. IE: there's only one hand for petting, and Gio's definitely got his big head in there already.
I'm looking forward to Buster being able to shine more and more. I'm quite glad she isn't really like a sharpei. Affectionate dogs are so much easier to make progress with. Aloofness combined with fears is a hard combination to work through, as building a relationship with the dog is so much more time consuming. IE: Its hard to work with a dog that doesn't have ANY interest in you. (although I guess we somehow managed with Beckett :P -but he's affectionate in his own way, he just isn't a follow-you-around, always in your business dog. He's the wallflower that's usually paying attention even when you don't realize it.)
Oh, and my 'reserve dogs' decide to get sneaky last night and managed to quietly head-butt the computer room door open. Much to their credit, they just hung out and didn't try to pester me. Actually, Buster looked kind of guilty -like it was all Gio's idea (it probably was!)
Velcro dogs much?
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