It’s taken a few days, but we’re all starting to get the hang of one another. That being said, I think Abernathy is still holding out hope that Emma’s just here for a quick visit and will be on her way soon (he often tries to gently guide her towards the door).
We’re starting to learn more about each other though. Emma’s figuring out boundaries with Greg, Abbie and I (thank goodness), and we’re starting to get a better sense of her personality too.
Emma is incredibly and endearingly clumsy. Just a few seconds ago, she fell off the bed accidentally after wriggling around, trying to look cute enough to persuade me to ditch the computer and cuddle her. When we’re about to take her for a walk, she gets so excited that she does a little dance that involves shaking her head…which inevitably smacks right into whichever wall is closest by. We hear her falling down (or up) the stairs about four or five times a day in her mad rush to get to whatever she’s decided she absolutely needs to see next.
Her hearing and vision are fine – it’s her nervous energy. She’s got a ton of it, but she’s slowly starting to settle in (and down).
She’s also always smiling. There are certain things she’s still trying to figure out though, including cameras. I don’t think she’s ever seen one before, so whenever I take her picture, she looks quizzically at me, as if trying to figure out what exactly I have in my hand, why I’m so interested in it (since it’s clearly not edible), and why it flashes.
Abernathy is still recovering from his shots on Friday (poor baby) – and has had a really rough weekend. He’s milking it for everything he can though, and gets carried up and down the stairs (by me – Greg thinks it’s a little much), and we’re feeding him special food until his tummy settles. He’s slept for most of the weekend.
Thanks to everyone for your advice on managing the transition. It’s going a bit more smoothly now, and although we still likely need to call in a professional trainer for help, it’s not nearly as madness-inducing as it was in this house a day or so ago. We still have moments of “dear god, what have we done?” but they’re getting fewer and farther between.
Crate training is moving very, very slowly. Progress is almost nonexistent at this point, but she is moving closer to the crate every once in a while to sniff at the treats she knows are in there. We’re hoping she’ll get the courage to go in soon (and that she’ll see it’s really not so bad in there). Everything we’ve read says that this will take time, and I suppose that makes sense, but we’re really hoping for a teensy bit of headway soon. This is also going to be something we’ll be investigating with our dog trainer.
On Monday, it’s Emma’s turn to go to the vet. She’s got some…ummm…passing issues we need to figure out. At first, we thought the stress of the transition was wreaking havoc on her system a bit and that it would settle down, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.






