Keeping Holly

Day 51, and yep she's still here.  Current wound count, just one puncture that bled a lot at the base of my thumb but it is healing nicely and when someone says, 'she doesn't bite, right?' I just have to point to my hand and then they know she's not to be tangled with.

Over the past 7 weeks we've been through a bit of a rollercoaster with her.  Bedtime was fraught with drama, it played out like this; Tigger would linger in the hallway as Holly the ever-vigilant prison guard patrolled the perimeter of the bed, daring him to step foot in the room.  We'd intervene, scoop up a trembling Tiggy and put him on his spot on the bed, he'd try to make a break for it and we'd shout at him 'no Tigger, No! lie down! lie down!'  he'd meekly curl up in a ball in hopes of disappearing.  All this time Holly was in a panic, 'the perimeter has been breached! we have an intruder', and she'd growl and bark and try to get to Tigger.  We'd shout at her to leave him alone, and try to get her to sit at the other end of the bed. Yep, then we'd turn out the lights, everyone feeling very relaxed after all of the angry shouting and growling.  NOT. 

We repeated this process for a week or so...yes we are slow learners.  Then Tigger started sleeping by the bed in his kennel, or at least trying to.  Every night I'd drag him out of his kennel and put him back on the bed and Holly would panic, and you know the drill.  Finally I was too tired to carry on this charade and I let Tigger sleep in his kennel, feeling horribly guilty about how sad and left out he must be feeling.  I went and bought him a sheepskin rug to keep him warm and cozy, yes, a guilt purchase.  Then one day it occurred to me, every night Tigger happily trots in to his luxury kennel (condo) curls up and goes to sleep, Holly leaps up on the bed and eventually settles down.  There is a noted absence of shouting and growling, much more relaxing.  And finally, I let go of the guilt...I had a my own AHA moment, if a dog is happily trotting into a kennel and going to sleep, why do I assume he is not happy with that arrangement?  Alas the guilt has gone, and bedtime is actually restful.  We still have some morning challenges when everyone wants attention at once.  Last night Tigger was actually feeling brave and spent half the night sleeping on the bed.  Progress.

Aside from the sleeping drama most of the time things are going along smoothly.  Yes we still get the dreaded sneer and lip curl from our little angel, and she's insistent on being Tigger's eye and ear groomer.  He seems to enjoy it almost...sometimes her nose is so far into his ear I expect to see it poke out the other side.  She continues to peck at him in hopes that he'll play but he's far too sophisticated for such nonsense.

Our walks together are good, Tigger stays on leash (he's been known to wander away), but the minute we hit the edge of the park behind the school Holly looks to me for 'unhooking' and off she goes, racing around like a jack rabbit.  Sometimes I lose sight of her and panic only to discover her at my feet.  She always comes when called (maybe her name really was Holly before she became a stray, who knows?), and never hesitates to let me hook her back up for the few blocks walk home (you'll recall for the first week I risked and experienced bloodshed when trying to put her leash on).  When we're in sight of the house I drop her leash and tell her 'go home Holly! go home!' and she races at breakneck speed to the front door...Tigger and I saunter up and if we're too slow she comes down the steps to urge us on.



We're still attending obedience class and at times Holly is the star pupil.  She's happy to sit when asked as long as the treat is forthcoming.  We're working on getting her to 'stay' and I do have high hopes that she'll be an obedient entertainer like Tigger is in his ability to sit, stay, rollover, crawl, dance, sit pretty and shake either paw on command.

And the really good news is that she now has three jackets in her wardrobe and 'most' days she'll let me put one on her if the weather necessitates.  I figure I'll know that she's my 'real' dog when she's happily decked out in a fancy dress, diamond sparkly collar and cuffs :)  One can hope, right?