Thought I would give everyone an official update on Winnie . . . yep, she’s home!
She is here to stay. We love her and she is a keeper!
Winnie is fearless. Bentley liked going down in the basement to get away from her when he has had enough and the first couple days she stood at the top of the stairs “thinking” about trying to go down. We decided not to teach her for now so Bentley could have peace when he needed it. Well, she taught herself to go down after about the 5th day, absolutely on her own. Now she bolts up and down the stairs at will.
Winnie stands her ground and runs as fast as she can towards the back fence when the little Sheltie on the other side of the back fence comes dashing and pouncing on the fence from his side. She will not back down and she is a talker! She jumps up on the arbor vitae when she hears/smells birds in there and is very interested in what is going on in the bushes up higher. This afternoon she ran to the back fence chasing a squirrel so fast that she slid into the fence. She has lightning speed and is a joy to watch running and leaping in the yard. She loves any kind of toy and squeaky ones most of all.
She absolutely hates being left when I go to work in the morning and after lunch break. She will try to get in the garage to go with me. We have to be extremely careful not to open the garage door until we have safely exited the house and are sure she is still in there.
Sorry, one more thing . . . she loves to get up in the bed and cuddle. She is a sweetie for sure.
Anyway, we wanted everyone to know how it worked out for Winnie and thank all of you again!
We appreciate what each of you has done to help Winnie in her journey to her new home.
Kathi & Rich
Bentley and Winnie
JUNE 24, 2012 UPDATE
Just wanted to give you an update on Winnie. She is a pistol, a beautiful one to be sure, but still a pistol. She likes being an Alpha dog at the dog park until another dog puts her in her place. Then she settles down a bit. We had some scares along the way as you know, she got out of the yard three times in a little over 24 hours time when she came. Janice was kind enough to work with us to remedy the behavior, thanks bunches Janice! We can now control her in our yard (well the best you can control an Airedale).
About a month ago, Rich had taken Bentley and Winnie to the dog park and upon loading them to come home; she bolted (leash and all) and took off. Of course, Rich even in his best days was not a match for this 2 year old speed. He managed to get Bentley back out of the car and into the fenced dog park. He and another retired guy tried to get her to come but she took off into a nearby woods and every now and then bobbed up through the tall grass but would not come back to them. I guess they spent a good 20 minutes trying to get her and finally Phil (the guy helping Rich) got her. If it weren’t for his help, I can’t imagine what we would have done. (Janice-we make sure the collar is on every time we go to the dog park now.)
We had a whole bunch of Poplar and Pine trees taken down last month. Unfortunately, the Poplars had to go. The neighbor worried every time there was a bad storm that they might come down on their house. As much as we didn’t want to take them down, we found out from the tree people, it was the right decision. Although it does make it easier to keep a watchful eye on Winnie when she is outside. Anyway, after the trees were first taken down, Winnie would go out in the yard with her tale tucked down initially. Neither of the dogs liked being out there since it was such a drastic change. We put up some temporary “snow” fencing to block off that half of the yard while we were trying to get grass seed to grow. Miss Problem Solver decided that was not an obstacle that she couldn’t handle. She just ducks underneath the temporary fence at will to go over there when she pleases. We have had a dickens of a time trying to get the grass to grow along the fence part, but the center section is taking off well. She did it one time while we were watering the new grass seed and we just sprayed her with the hose too. Now she avoids it at watering time!! Smart girl.
She refuses to let Bentley be a couch potato. Bentley has actually lost 10 lbs since she has been here! She wants to play and gets him to interact and play bitey bitey, or tugs on toys, or chases the heck out of him in the yard.
The cutest thing is when he is already laying down on a dog bed and she just gets on the same bed just to be close to him, partly on the dog bed and part off. Bentley’s favorite thing is the love seat because it is positioned between two windows and he loves to be up there. Winnie will get up there with him and these two big Airedales sleep on it together until one gets too uncomfortable because there is not enough room to stretch out. In the morning, it is usually Winnie on “Bentley’s loveseat” all stretched out and comfy and Bentley is on one of the dog beds.
Well, I wanted to let everyone know Winnie is doing well. Hope you are all enjoying your summer.
Kathi
JULY 2012 UPDATE
Recently, we were having some work done in our house. Because of the noise inside and the heat outside, we took Bentley and Winnie to be boarded at the vet’s office for half days for the three days while work was being done. We would pick them up each afternoon. The second day, one of the vets technicians informed us that “Winnie is an instigator”. I think we figured that one out already.