Lenny's Song

Lenny. I don't even know where to start. He is one scared little boy. I hate to even think about what must have happened in this young dog's short life to have made him so scared of anything on two legs.

He arrived on Saturday and actually fell into a pretty decent household routine. When he leaves his crate in my office he runs to the back door that opens to the AC yard. When he comes in he runs directly up to his crate. I hoped that by letting him go to place where he feels secure that he'd be able to observe the rest of the household routine and see that we weren't monsters fattening up all the dogs around here just to eat them. I kept a leash on him for the first few days so I could lead him without having to reach out and touch him. Still, he would piss all over the floor when I approached him, even to just open the door or let him out of the crate.

Yesterday I decided to try taking him hiking with Maya, hoping that a fun activity that involved me would get him to relax a bit and maybe begin to trust me. He's so scared that I knew I'd need to use two leashes. I put one on his collar, a nice secure martingale style collar, and I let him borrow Maya's harness for the second leash. He ran to a corner and cowered there while I got the harness on him, but he literally shit himself during the process because I had to actually touch him.

This picture just makes me want to cry.

I've had a few dogs like this and they've taught me patience, and Lenny is the benefactor of those lessons. It's hard to look at him sometimes, to see the look of fear, sheer terror, in his eyes. He looks at me a lot, no lack of eye contact, to see if I'm going to be the monster he's expecting. I'm the one trying to avoid eye contact with him now, I don't want him to feel intimidated because that always seems to lead to submissive urination. Instead, I'm trying to touch, or let him touch me.

When we are hiking he is sometimes out front with Maya, whom he loves, but sometimes he drops back and walks behind or beside me. During those times I reach down with my hand and try to occasionally make contact with his nose or his back, just a gentle touch, and sometimes he does the same to me.

Compare tail positions here. Maya is
a confident one out on the trails, I am
hoping that will rub off on him.

As scared as he is, I do think he enjoys the outings. His tail isn't up, but at least it's not tucked completely under his body. I've even seen a little wag.

It's easy to shed some tears for the sadness that is Lenny, but that's not going to help him. If there's one thing that gives me hope for this guy, it's the way he is with other dogs. He's less than year old, still a puppy, and he really wants to play. He's submissive to the older dogs, but appropriately so, not the way he is with people. He tries his best to get Maya, TJ, or Jackie to play with him. All the dogs know that he's a scared little pup and they are being very tolerant of him.

When we were finishing today's walk we passed by the dog park. Several dogs ran over to the fence to greet him and he was very interested in them and not at all fearful. Maya raised her hackles and growled at the other dogs though, so we kept moving.

After today's hike I put Maya in the AC yard with him for a while and I heard them tearing around out there playing together. They stopped when they saw me looking out the window, of course, but it was good to see and hear. TJ has played with him too.

I've got to hope, I've got to believe that the power of the pack can save this guy, help him get over his past, learn to trust, to play, to be a dog.

A few years ago, Maya was as scared as Lenny is now.

The sun still shines

After two days of cloud and rain I was very happy to see the sun again today. It was chilly and windy, but at least it was pretty. I had Maya and Lenny out for a very short hike, but got home in time to take some dogs out for a romp in the pasture.

Tennessee gets neutered on Wednesday so I owed him some pasture time today. He won't be running again for several days. 

Theo is always up for a run in the pasture. He assumes it will mean ball playing time and it usually does. I couldn't lay my hands on the tennis ball thrower this afternoon, however, so I just gave him one ball and encouraged him to play with the other dogs. 

Max joined us, of course. Since I wasn't throwing tennis balls Max held onto the stick he had brought with him from the dog yard. He ran around listening to the voices in his head, but he periodically ran past the rest of us to see what we were up to, which gave me a chance for a few nice photo shots. The sun was going down and my hands were getting cold, so we didn't stay out too long. Max wouldn't come in with everyone else, so I left him in the pasture by himself for a while. When I went out an hour later to feed he was ready to come in and eat.

 

I got Vince to come out to the pasture this afternoon too. Vince always does his own thing, but he came out and ran around sniffing and marking key spots like he always does. Vince is ageless. He was supposedly about 10 years old when he came here. I'm not sure when that was, but I just found a blog post about him from 2012 so he's been here at least six years now. 

He's always looked like an old man, but he's never acted like one. I swear he still looks and acts the same as he did when he first arrived. But the years do add up and I noticed that he was acting funny in the office this afternoon, like he couldn't get comfortable. I gave him some pain pills with this dinner tonight and I think they probably need to become a regular part of his diet. 

Vince may not seem to age, Jackie actually seems to be getting younger. I know she's not, but she is getting stronger and more active all the time. It is sure good to see.  She is still shy with Clay but she thinks I'm the greatest thing outside a full food dish. It takes a lot of time with her.

Everyone had a good day.

The Tennessee Waltz

A tall, dark and handsome stranger strode
confidently onto the dance floor.

The ladies fell all over themselves
vying for his attention.

But Big Blue knew what he wanted and she wasn't it.

Fortunately, her nearby brother was more
to his liking.

There was a bit of awkwardness at the beginning.

They had to sort out who was going to lead.

But they soon got into the rhythm of the music.

And the result was . . .

Pure magic

Lenny, a study in contrasts

This is Lenny peaking around the
open door at me as he entered the
terminal building at the airport.

My second new foster arrived today. His name is Lenny. He's some sort of lab/hound mix. Actually he's probably a bit of many things, but mostly he's a shy and scared boy at the moment.

He hopped into the crate in my van
and pressed himself up against the
far side, but he's looking at me as
I turned around to take this picture.

He arrived via a private pilot who flew down to South Carolina, picked him up, and brought him to meet me at the Charlottesville airport. He was crated for the flight and he didn't mind it at all, but when they got him out his tail was tucked tightly under his body. He had two leashes on him, one attached to a harness and a second attached to a martingale collar. I added a third slip leash around his neck and walked him to the van. I didn't have to drag him or carry him, he actually walked along pretty well, and he was happy to jump into a crate in the van. He clearly finds comfort in the security of a crate.

Lenny meeting Jackie. She was most
curious and interested in meeting him.

I had Maya along for the drive, and Tennessee, both crated, because I didn't want to leave him home alone either in the dog yard or a crate indoors with no one around. I think the presence of other dogs made Lenny feel more comfortable. He's not the most scared and shy dog I've seen. He will make eye contact, but he is also pretty free with the submissive urination, so we clearly have a ways to go.

Lenny with Maya and TJ. Maya didn't
even bother putting her fur up for him.

I've left the harness and one leash attached to him for now, but he is really pretty good about going into a crate in the house and following other dogs out to the A/C yard without using the leash. He went into the big Dane crate in the kitchen and laid there and watched while I made kimchi this afternoon. I think that's what he needs to do, watch from a place that he feels secure until he gets used to me and all the activity in our household. I think Jackie may also play a key role. She was once about as scared as he is now, but she has really gotten into the swing of things around here and she follows me everywhere. (It's like having a small, senior, black bear shadow.)

Even TJ was nice, mostly because
Lenny is already neutered.

Lenny peaking out from behind Jackie,
along with Trooper, who is always good
with the new scared dogs.

All the dogs have been nice to him and he certainly understands being crated and I think enjoys and prefers it for now, so things are going well. But what a contrast he is to Tennessee Blue who came in yesterday. Tenny B is big, boisterous, and full of confidence. His tail is up, J-shaped, and carried high at all times, and it has been since the beginning. Lenny has had a much sketchier life experience with humans, I suspect, and his behavior reflects it. He's been in a good home for some time before coming here, however, so I expect he will come around pretty quickly.

I think he will come along pretty quickly.

Tennessee Blue

One of the incoming dogs I was expecting got adopted out of the shelter she was in (the female GSD). I mentioned this to Erika (Green Dogs) the other day and also said that I'd be a soft touch for a Great Dane in need if one happened to come across her path. Less than 48 hours later, a large, intact, blue Dane is in our home.

His name is Tennessee Blue. He responds to that, or Tenny, or Tenny Blue, or just "hey you." He's 125 pounds of sugar, very sweet, good with the pack around here, good indoors, good with dogs, cats, and really good with small children. He can see and hear, no apparent disabilities. He will probably lose 5 pounds next week when he's neutered, but his very substantial testicles are really only an issue with TJ as far as I can tell.

He's in the big Great Dane crate in the kitchen tonight, (thanks Bob!). He's not too happy at the moment because he's accustomed to sleeping with one of the kids from his former home, but I hope he will settle down soon.

More to come, but for now he seems like a nice boy.

Meeting Trooper and Theo on the porch of the dog yard shed.

Theo, checking out the new guy.

Trooper is a good judge of canine character and he approved.

Jackie meeting Tenny Blue

Maya claimed his crate, just to show him.

Meeting Sparky with Maya ready to run
interference, if necessary (it wasn't).

His head is right at counter height.