Michelleva

Awwwe, she looks like she fitted right in..

That is such a beautiful picture, it captures the joy that Dezzy brings to her life. I'm sure she'll be thrilled with her gift. Thank you for being so kind.

Thank you Ruralpug, I feel so proud, not just of her, but of all of us. I couldn't ask for a better Christmas present. :)

OMG, OMG, OMG, I'm so excited.. Today I saw something big change in Bonnie, its like the light switched on in her world and she's figured out that life can in fact be fun. It started tonight when I was going to take the dogs for a walk. I was standing at the door and called her with the leash in my hand AND she ran to me! That has never happened, each day she's gone for a walk I've had to chase her to get the lead on her. And then we went to a park with a big open grassy area and let both dogs off their leads. They both ran around with us. And when I called her she came charging at me with a HUGE grin on her face. I can't explain how much joy that bought me. Its taken less than 3 weeks to go from a dog who would shrink into the ground if you put your hand near her to a dog that comes to me willingly. Now I really know she's going to be ok and have a good life. It actually made me tear up, but then I am a huge sook. LOL I just had to tell someone, and I knew you guys would get it.

I have sweet potato too, so I can cook some of that and see if she'll eat it. To be honest the skin looks better today than yesterday, maybe giving it a gentle brush to loosen it has helped a bit. I have tablets from the vet to give her if she starts itching it. What she does every morning is rub her side on the kitchen chairs and she does it with this huge grin on her face, I don't think she's doing it cos she's itchy, I think she's having fun. She only does it for a minute and then doesn't do it the rest of the day. It seems like her morning ritual, funny dog. The vet did say she could be one of those dogs who gets allergies too, I guess time will tell on that one. Oh and she's started copying Georgia's behaviours. Like when Georgia goes nuts barking her head off at the neighbours, Bonnie stands at the back door and barks. Its almost like she thinks, if I can't beat her, maybe I should join her. LOL She never starts it, just joins in. So she's a follower. I have told the rescue that we won't be adopting her. When she's ready, she will find her own family. I love her, but I think Georgia is more than enough dog for us right now. I'm slowly breaking the news to the kids, I don't think they'll believe it till she goes though. There will be tears, but thats ok, maybe down the track we can foster another needy soul. :)

Someone else has suggested Proplan sensitive... so I've got a few options. They don't eat a huge quantity of it anyway, so I don't think its a huge contributing factor. I think its a result of a crappy diet her whole life, so in time it should improve.

Thanks I'll have a look Danois.

I have a foster sheltie here who came to me with quite a bit of fur missing on her back. She'd been groomed before I got her and aparantly it was all matted so came out in chunks. The fur is starting to grow back but she has a lot of big white flaky skin through her coat, it looks like bad dandruff. For the two weeks since she's been here, she's been on Advance plus raw meat/bones plus flaxseed oil over it. Someone suggested maybe changing the food, I've nearly run out of the Advance, so if there is something else that might help her skin, I'm open to suggestions. Sardines were also suggested, so I'll get a few tins of those to try too.

Well the advance is what Georgia was on before Bonnie came, so any suggestions would be appreciated. Because I've nearly run out of it, and need to buy something else today anyway. I will definitely pick up a few tins of sardines too, thats a good idea.

Danny's Darling, Bonnie lives by the same rules as Georgia here, she has to. Its like having two kids, to have harmony they need to know where they stand. I'm just using my human mothering skills here and hoping it applies to canines too. :laugh: Mita doesn't Georgia look smug up there, being king of the castle. Thats my girl! Bonnie has a lot of flaky skin in her coat, it looks like bad dandruff. The skin doesn't look red or raw or anything though. I gave her a gentle brush today and it looks like snow through the coat. The fur is growing back though. I'm hoping the skin and fur will improve over the coming weeks. She's getting fed raw meat/bones, advance dry and a flaxseed capsule on her tucker each day. Does that sound alright? She was itchy earlier on and the vet gave her a cortisone injection which did help. Today she's shown interest in playing with a ping pong ball.

Slowly, slowly Pers. I'm trying to get her to play, I can see she wants to but she's holding back. I'm not giving up, I'm on a mission. LOL Oh and I think I can call her crate trained now. Last night I said, Bonnie, in your bed, and off she trotted into her crate. No treats, no encouragment needed. She's also getting quite good on lead now, but getting the lead on her, still freaks her out. Once we're out, she's fine. But with repetition, scary things become less scary.

Just a little Bonnie update, in the last 24 hours she has figured out she is a sheltie, she has a voice and she's not afraid to use it, day OR night! :laugh:

Foster no more? :laugh: Blueylove, your girl is pretty! She's still a foster! And today she found her inner sheltie, I knew that bark was in there somewhere. :laugh:

Bonnie is funny, I've figured out when she's scared and overwhelmed she barks. But she does this funny thing where she puts her snout in the air and sort of barks/howls at the same time. She did it when we got the Santa pic and she did it again today when Panther came to visit. She sat there and barked for quite a while, out of fear. We took all the dogs to the park and she was much better, I think because its neutral territory. They even ran around together off lead. Eventually she did calm down, but I think the very BIG lab freaked her out a bit. But he was so gentle, she had nothing to fear really. Destiny (rescue puss) spotted the BIG black dog on his way out, you should have seen the look on her face. ha ha, her eyes were massive black saucers with her ears flat on her head. LOL

The doggies have a playdate today with Panther the customs dog this morning, friends of ours have fostered him since he was a puppy, should be interesting.

We finally got our santa pic back... Merry Christmas from Georgia (tri) and Bonnie (sable) the foster.

Merry Christmas everyone from Bonnie and Georgia!

Oh that is just amazing, you've done an awesome job with Juniper and the video is so beautiful, it made my eyes leak. :laugh:

We've discovered that Bonnie is very food oriented and will do almost anything for a liver treat. In the last couple of days we've taught her to dance for a treat. I've been quite worried about how sad she always seems. She's always close by but just lying about and looking rather depressed. Then this morning I found another bra dragged out of my daughters room and my son said she chased one of his cars. I didn't see her do either, but it gives me hope that there is a happy little dog in there trying hard to get out. Last night we went for our longest walk yet, we were gone for at least half an hour and she did great, she didn't freak out at all. ETA - hope this works https://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?v=762559110425556&notif_t=video_processed

Thats just beautiful.

yes!!! me too :) ha ha Aparantly Bonnie had fun today. While I was out, she found one of my daughters bra's and proceeded to run around the house with her prize, evading capture..

Yay for Juniper!! Have fun gorgeous girl.

Thanks for your continued support.. maybe I'll call you all the Bonnie Appreciation Society. :D A nice pic from today's visit to the park. They look pretty cool together, don't you think?

Thank you so much Ams, you put it in perspective for me. I need to take the pressure off myself, there is no rush, for now she's safe and getting a little happier with each day.

We had our first real pack walk today. My son and I took the dogs for a short walk around the block. She is so much better at walking out the door already, this time I didn't have to pull her out, she just walked through. Overall she did well, she got spooked a couple of times though. One place we walked past a huge dog barked as us, and other house had doof doof music blaring. But we just kept walking, I told my son he wasn't to react just keep moving and it worked. We even stopped off at the park on the way back. I won't say she was relaxed but she did calm down after a while at the park. Tomorrow we'll do it again and just walk a little further each day. I hope the world starts getting a little less scary for her. I need to remember its only been a week and a half. My friend who is fostering another one of these dogs still can't get a lead on hers, she was much more traumatised than Bonnie.