We got back to Portland on Friday night and picked Mississippi up from boarding care. She was ecstatic to see us, but once home she didn’t want any affection from us. She went to bed really early and seemed really exhausted. I think she was relieved to be home. We didn’t hear much about how the week went at boarding care, but we knew she had eaten a pencil earlier that day, which probably means she was frustrated.
Saturday she was back to her affectionate self and we took her to the giant 8 acre dog park in Vancouver. She did great. She played nice and she came when we called her. She had a great day and she was ready to leave when we asked her to. She was well behaved at home and just seemed content to lay in the grass. She’s been getting up at about 6:30 which is when Roxy’s starts their day, so not surprising that our lovely late morning clock has slipped a bit. Since we are used to the east coast time zone, it’s been fine. From talking to other dog owners, I’m learning that we have been pretty lucky to get her to sleep til 7:30 or 8. Sunday she had a pretty good day too, she barked a little and Tom said she was picking on dogs at the dog park. And I guess when they were leaving the park, she started wrestling with her leash, usually a sign she is frustrated.
Last night she put herself to bed at 9:30, pretty unusual, she’ll usually stay near us until we go to bed but she went right into our bedroom and went to sleep by herself. She was up at 6:30 this morning and dieing to go to Roxy’s. She eagerly waited by the side door. At 7 I decided I’d take her in to Roxy’s and work downtown today since I have a lot to catch up on. I took her to the back yard and asked her to go potty, she did, and came back in, all ready for her leash and to get in the car go to Roxy’s. It’s unusual for her to just go potty in the yard and then come right back inside. Usually she needs to check all her sticks and poke around for a while. She paced and whined in the car on the way to Roxys, she was so excited she couldn’t contain herself. She rushed for the door and was all beside herself to be there.
About an hour later a got a call. She had been harassing a dog that didn’t want to play. There were altercations and Mississippi had to be isolated. I took the bus home and picked her up. She was so wound up when I picked her up, she was wrestling with the leash and it was really hard to get her to sit. I learned that as the week progressed, she stopped doing her commands which is probably another sign she was frustrated. Sounds like she got more and more rambunctious as the week progressed.
It doesn’t surprise me. We’ve only had her for 2.5 months now and I’m sure she is still insecure about what home means. She had no idea how long we’ be gone and I bet every day got a little more frustrating for her. It was a big challenge for her to be away for so long. So I’m going to stay home with her a few days and just wait for her to feel a little more secure about her home again before trying day care again. We have class Wednesday night and we’ll just keep practicing our walks and commands. Today she is barking like crazy, ahh, just like the good old days. Some of her behavior has reverted back a month of so.
It was sad to have to leave her for a whole week so soon after adding her to our family but thank the high heavens we had Roxys looking after her. At least she got to be with people she knew and dogs she likes to play with. There is no way I could have left her at a place she wasn’t familiar with. Don’t worry Missi, we won’t leave you for more than one night for the foreseeable future. Hopefully next time we have to take a trip without you, you’ll know in your heart we are coming back. We’ll always come back for you, even though you pick on other dogs, bark, jump on people, throw tantrums, and destroy our stuff. You are family. Someday you will calm down. Until then, we’ll just keep working on it together.