Magnolia joined the family at the cabin for the Memorial Day weekend. She loved the new smells and fresh air. Before going up north, we introduced Magnolia to two other family dogs, Millie, a seven year old basset hound and Frankie, a fourteen year old submissive beagle. When Magnolia is around these older gals, it is clear that she still has a lot of puppy in her and still needs to learn to respect their space. For much of the weekend, she had positive interactions and lots of nice walks with the other girls. When Magnolia was playing a bit too rough or didn't take their cues that they weren't interested in playing, we would try to distract her with a game of fetch or remove her from the situation, allowing her to calm down a bit before returning her to the group. We kept the harness and loose leash on Magnolia for most of the weekend so if we had to move her away, it was easy to get her. Each day she spent with the group got a bit better. Looking ahead, I think Magnolia would love a home with another dog, but I think a dog that matches her energy level would be best. During the weekend, the boys were busy with the chainsaw cutting down a tree. These sounds did not startle or bother her at all. Magnolia was able to spend lots of quality time with my niece and nephew (ages 8 & 10). They have been around most of our fosters and are confident handling dogs. They enjoyed walking her and giving her lots of affection. Magnolia loved their attention and playing fetch with my nephew. If she got a bit over excited, she did jump a bit, so I think she would do best with kids their age or older. Perhaps the most fun Maggie had at the cabin was at the lake. At home watering my garden, she has shown interest in the water coming out of the watering can, so I had a suspicion should would like the lake. She RAN right in and started swimming!!! I think the water was a bit cold and startled her, but that didn't stop her from going in a few more times. No swimming lessons were required. She knew what to do. This weekend we took Magnolia up north to the family cabin. We were quite nervous about the car ride because we have discovered that she does experience car sickness. Dramamine was a GAME CHANGER!
She appeared SO much more comfortable. Sniffing out windows, taking a nap, chewing on a toy bone... she made a three hour ride with zero issues! Yay! We are hopeful that this is something she will outgrown, but in the meantime, limiting food a few hours before a long car ride and a 50mg Dramamine tablet has made a huge difference for her. We are thankful we found something that is effective and safe that makes her more comfortable. Magnolia is making progress in the car. Almost every day we have been taking short car rides to "fun" places to show Maggie that the car is a good thing. She has been seeming a bit more relaxed. We have discovered that Maggie experiences car sickness. We have read several articles that explain this may be because she is a puppy still and if her inner ears aren't fully developed, the motion of the car can make her sick. Not feeding several hours before a car ride helped a bit. With talking with our DDR coordinator, we made the decision to try Dramamine (see this article). We carefully watched the dosage and today we had a 15 minute car ride without her getting sick. Yay! Hopefully this is something she will outgrow, but until then, we have a solution that makes her more comfortable.
A few times today we asked "where's Maggie?"
Little missy is so confident now going down the stairs that she will even venture down by herself. A few times today we found her in the basement, just independently exploring. It is so nice to see her feeling more confident in something that she was once uncertain of. When we get our fosters, (which usually aren't potty trained) we block them from going in the basement because it is all carpeted. Maggie has been doing so fantastic with potty training that we have given her full reign of the house. We noticed however that she would not go down the steps. She was always curious when we went down to do laundry, but couldn't seem to muster up the courage to go. Today, with the encouragement of treats and lots of baby talk, this brave girl overcame this obstacle. Once in the basement, she really seemed to enjoy the new smells and the bonus dog toy bin we keep there. It made us so happy to see her do something that she was once afraid of. Maggie is still showing signs of being anxious getting in the car, so we are hoping that in time she will overcome this fear as well. Magnolia is such a sweet gal, but she will need a family who will be patient as she works through some of her uncertainties. We discovered that Magnolia LOVES the pet store!!! She loves sniffing everything and greeted everyone so nicely. We have discovered that Magnolia does not love the car. We try luring her in with treats, and as you can tell by her expression, she isn't going for it yet.
We aren't sure why she is nervous or what her background with vehicles is, so we are working on conditioning her that the car is a positive place that brings you fun places. Now that the rain has finally stopped and we were able to get some yard time, we discovered that Maggie LOVES to play fetch!!!
Magnolia has a case of "monkey see, monkey do" when watching her foster sister, Jackie. As I reached to get ice cubes for my drink from the freezer, Jackie came prancing over as usual. I gave Jackie and Maggie an ice cube, and she didn't seem too sure what to do. Maggie is at such a sweet age right now where she has so much curiosity for the world around her, and the added bonus of bladder control! Have we mentioned it has been 7 days with ZERO accidents in the house or her crate? Woohoo!!! While trying to prep my garden area for planting vegetables, Magnolia decided to keep me company. Instead of sitting next to me, she deciding sitting IN the garden would be more fun. She loved smelling the freshly toiled dirt (hence the dirt on her nose) and was curious of what I was doing. If you would like a little companion this summer to help you with yard work, this is your gal! When Maggie sees us reach for her leash and harness, she gets excited. This girl LOVES walks. As a puppy, she still needs practice on the leash as currently she zig zags a bit. She'll stop to smell the grass on this side, then a dandelion on the other side. She'll sometimes freeze if she hears a loud or unfamiliar sound, and then after a moment, she'll proceed. When she sees a squirrel or bunny, she gets extra excited and will pull. She has only been us less than a week, and prior to arriving here, I am not sure to what extent she experienced walks. I enjoy our walks together and I am confident that with continued practice, in time, Magnolia will continue to improve. Magnolia has gotten so much better in just a few days sitting as we present her food bowl. She is such a fast learner. By the way, can we discuss how cute it is that Jackie and Maggie kind of match? We find it quite amusing that we have a mini-Jackie.
Magnolia has been doing amazing!!!!
She is such a little sweet heart. She loves being around people and loved when Pete invited her up on the recliner last night to snuggle a bit. I am having a hard time getting a clear picture of her because when I get close she gets so excited and her little body just does that puppy wiggle. She is a pretty quiet pup and is very well mannered. I don't want to jinx anything, but we have had ZERO accidents in the house. This may be a foster first for us! She knows to do her business on the grass. At night she is getting better at sleeping for longer periods. We have still been getting up half way through the night to let her out to potty so we can keep having her feel successful. She is a VERY quick learner. The first day, she was a bit scared of the few steps leading down to our back door. Now, this is not an issue. The first day she would jump as we got her food ready, now she knows she has to sit to get her bowl. We will continue to try to teach her basic commands. Meet little Miss Magnolia!
This 5 month old terrier mix looks like a big girl but still has a LOT of sweet puppy in her. I swear, we get the cutest foster pups! We are especially smitten with her adorable underbite. She is such a sweetheart and did great at our meeting. Her and Jackie are already getting along great and she loves walks. We'll keep sharing as we learn more. |