Izzy arrived here on November 18th. As I have said all along, she is a WONDERFUL little girl. Her pictures make her look taller than she actually is. I would consider her a typical medium size dog.
Izzy started to have some separation anxiety 3 days after her arrival. I had left the house for 45 minutes and during that time she had removed several wires from the typical wire dog crate she is was in. Other wires were bent inward and the door to open the crate was mangled. She was put on a medication called Clomicalm. This medication takes about 6 weeks to get into her system, so in the meantime she was also given Xanax (or something like that) to help keep her calm while we were at work. I also purchased a crate known as "Alcatraz". We are also using other types of behavior modification to help her understand that the crate is a safe place. We leave calming music on the radio. Her crate is now sandwiched between my other 2 Boxer boys crate instead of across the room. She gets a Kong filled with goodies only when she is in the crate and she gets some good treats when she actually gets in the crate. This Friday will be the six week mark. We have currently stopped using the Xanax medication and Izzy is doing tremendous! She still needs a little coaxing to get into her crate but we are a long way from chasing her down and dragging her out of a hiding spot - LOL!
Izzy would also spend the day mostly standing and watching everything, always on guard as to what may come next. It was actually a very sad thing to watch...she was watching and waiting for something to come and she wanted to make sure that she was ready to run away. She still does this somewhat but she will also just lay down and relax (especially when we are in the living room watching TV)...she is learning to enjoy a normal dog's life.
Izzy is very scared of my son...six weeks they have lived together and last night was the first time that she would allow him to put a leash on her and bring her back inside from the fenced yard...it was also raining outside, so I think Mother Nature was trying to help us on this exercise.
My niece and nephews were here on Christmas Eve. My oldest nephew (age 12) came in the door first (he resembles my son in height and hair color and the hair style)...Izzy freaked, she could not get away from him fast enough. I figured her reaction was because he resembles my son. Then nephew #2 comes in - totally a different gene pool - he is only 10...she freaks again. And then my niece came in, Emma...this little girl (age 8) is the one child that gets along with my cranky boxer boy...he loves her and she is really good with him. Izzy freaked with her...it almost seems as if Izzy was picked on by children...? By the end of the night, Emma was able to draw on her new drawing table and then reach over and scratch Izzy's head...as long as Emma didn't move her body, Izzy would except her gentle rubs.
Izzy still seems to be very concerned that her owners will just vanish. This causes her to watch you non-stop, even when walking. I have tripped over her several times. She watches and walks with you but she never realizes she is walking in front of you until you trip or step on her. Don't try to run and get the phone when it is ringing in another room....LOL - you will end up on the floor. She has gotten better but I still need to warn potential adopters that Izzy is a tripping hazard – LOL!
Izzy has come so far in this six week period it is really amazing. She is a darling and just wants to be with her people and be loved by her people. She wants to trust but needs a furever home that will be patient with her while she learns the new family's routine and to be able to trust the new adopters. If you can give her the time she needs, I promise that the love she gives you is worth the wait.
Since Izzy has arrived, she has learned "Sit" and we are now teaching her to sit and wait for her food to be placed before her and then wait until we say it is "okay" to go and eat. She is doing really well.
Another bad trait she had when she arrived was looking to see if there was anything tasty on the counter. Because we have a dog that used to counter-surf, we are always keeping the counter clear "just in case". Once Izzy learned the feeding schedule in this home, that bad behavior stopped immediately. She never needs to be yelled at....either a stern "NO!" or a squirt from a water bottle (for barking) is all she needs or needs to see and she gets it.
Izzy has been a joy to have in our home. The other dogs accept her and they usually all lay together now that the temperatures are dropping. The other night, my big boy Jake actually laid with Izzy at bedtime....it was a very cute sight. She has not destroyed anything and she is housebroken. She is just a sweet girl looking for someone to share their love with her!