Happy Holidays!

Hanna continues to do well. This is a picture of her sleeping on the way home from Christmas. She did well at my parents house and enjoyed running in their yard, even playing on the fringes of the other dogs' game of fetch.

Happy Thanksgiving from Hanna :)

Hanna wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! She has continued to improve - on a car ride you would think she was a happy-go-lucky dog, she sticks her head out the window and wags her tail like every other dog! Today for the first time she scoped out her two foster brothers who were getting to go for a run and scooted out the door to hop in the car and bring herself along!

Hanna is a great leash walker, so good running buddy and walking buddy but she doesn't like to have anyone be behind her. She will be right at your side, but if you look at her or you or someone with you slows down, she will not be comfortable with anyone behind her.

Hanna is doing one other exciting thing - she will greet her foster mom at the door with all the other dogs with her tail wagging! She doesnt' come close enough to be pet, but she runs around in circles with all the other crazy dogs and wags her tail like she is excited to see me, or maybe just excited to be a part of the crew!

Hanna is scared of thunerstorms, right now she is snuggled on the couch with her foster brother Deringer to ride out a particularly bad thunderstorm. Because she is scared, she did let me pick her up and put her on the couch with us, which is something she would not normally tolerate.

It has been exciting to be a part of Hanna's progress and see the LITTLE things that show she is starting to feel like a normal dog again and enjoy life!

Sleepy Sunday

As I type this Hanna is laying underneath my legs while I sit on the couch. This is the first time she has done this and I am pretty happy about it :) She wanted to be close to me because Rich is using the nailgun to put up some molding around the house but she decided it was safe enough to lay down and hang out with me for about 10 minutes now, so thats a good step forward!

Hanna!

Hanna has recently moved to Longview and has started taking doggie Prozac. Its seems to be helping some. Hanna will not approach anyone, even her foster parents. She has trouble settling down and will pace with her tail between her legs. In fact the only time that she does wag her tail is now when her foster parents return home she wags her tail (this is a result of the other dogs excitement though, not her excitement at seeing people) and Hanna likes car rides and will wag her tail to ride in the car and enjoys sticking her head out the window. But this is an improvement - when she first arrived she did not wag her tail for anything.

Hanna is an excellent leash walking and her foster parents have tried to walk her frequently with another dog to get some happiness associated with going on walks. She likes the car ride over to the walk but seems a little nervous while on the walk still. She seems to appreciate having other dogs around but really does not interact with them at all. She will lay on a dog bed to cuddle with another dog. She will not eat out of a dog bowl unless in a crate or locked in a room away from the other dogs. She will take a treat out of your hand if the other dogs are not around and after some coaxing.

I will attempt to provide a pretty close to daily update on Hanna's progress as she hopefully learns to trust us more and settles down in our home. Yesterday morning during a thunderstorm Hanna hopped up on the bed with us to snuggle during the storm and that was the first time she has really initiated any contact. She will allow you to pet her as she passes by and sometimes will stop for pets but seems nervous about it. She does like to stay close and follows her foster parents in the house.

Where is Hanna

Can you find the GSP in this picture. We've discovered that Hanna likes to climb. She will often stand on her dog house and sit on the benches in the backyard. Today was a first - I went to look for her and found her hiding out in the tree. I think she secretly wants me to build her a tree house.

Last Saturday we took Hanna to her first behavior eval with 2 of the other MO dogs. We got some really good tips on how to make her comfortable around people. She is making progress, slowly . . . but progress none the less. We are starting to see a few more tail wags. She will come hang out in the living room with us and not hide under the table. She likes to lay on a dog bed with Scout(who is the only dog here who will tolerate sharing). When let outside, she will actually come to the back door to be let back inside. She is starting to be a bit more vocal in her crate, but we understand that this is just part of her personality coming out. We welcome any sign of her just being a "dog".

Can I do this ?

ok - so if I can't get on the couch, is it ok if I just rest my head on it ?

Hanna meets the Spotty Boys

Last night, Hanna met Riley & Blue & Vegas (the 3 spotty boys who live permanently at my house). She is interested in the boys and doesn't mind crowding them for space on the dog bed. Since we've had rain, no yard time for the dogs. When I pottied her on leash, she was very happy to follow Blue out into the front yard and do her business. She's most comfortable with another dog around, and I'll have to slowly work on no doggy, people time.

Hanna made herself right at home - the best dog bed, a few seconds of play w/ a tug toy (by herself - throwing it madly in the air), and a short adventure on top of the dining room table. Hanna is timid, but she's not fearful and she likes to explore! A simple even toned "no" and she hopped right of the dining room table (thank you), and then kept nosing around the house and the boys. As long as the house is moderately well lit, she'll poke her nose in all the corners and venture into every room. She's so brave, in fact, that she will definitely climb a dog/baby gate - so we'll have to keep an eye out for that as she gets greater house and yard privileges. At right - Vegas and Hanna cuddling. Hanna is the darker spotty dog.

Hanna slept quietly in her crate last night in the dog room - a tiled bedroom across from mine. I did leave Riley to keep her company through the night. She has had very good appetite since joining me and seems to be food motivated (yeah!). I left her in her crate w/ a stuffed kong for the day today and Riley roaming the dog room for company. We'll hear later today from our dog walker how she did during her afternoon potty break w/ a new person ...

Pics of Hanna chilling w/ the gang to come!

Really - this is all mine ?!?

Hanna is very curious and has sniffed everything in the house at least twice. I was trying to tell her that the dog bed and the toys are hers to use while she stays with us, but she acts like she doesn't believe it.

She seems more comfortable with dogs and I think she would really love to have a canine brother or sister.

What Just Happened

Hanna arrived safely on Monday evening after a long ride from MO in a kennel with 9 other dogs. She has that dazed and confused look about her, but who can blame her - she has been through allot. Her kennel was set on fire and she lived with 200 dogs in a field and now is living in a house with humans.

I'm hoping to give her a nice comfortable home so she can gain some confidence. She seems to be more comfortable with other dogs and is a bit skittish with humans.