A beautiful and informative piece in so many ways, Peggy. And brought tears to my eyes..Thanks so much for posting what your experience was with Princess when you first adopted her and how you came to understand what she was feeling and exactly how to remedy when you figured it all out, so that myself and others may come to understand their dogs and their needs better also, because not everyone is as tuned in as you to reading the message/s their newly rescued dog or even being the original owner of a dog, is/are sending. It's Princess's smile that makes her look so lovable and sweet and I was surprised how long you wrote it took to appear. A sign of a truly happy dog when he or she is smiling that big. Gosh, Princess really is extremely intelligent. Thanks so much for helping me and others on the group too, to understand a little bit more of what is going on in those precious little canine heads and how if we just stop for a few moments and pay attention to their behavior, we too might be able to figure the message/s they are sending. Lynn In a message dated 5/10/2011 6:16:15 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [email protected] writes:
A lot of shelter dogs don't always show an interest in people......why?.....all that smelling is because they are trying to figure a way to get out, and go home. You have to understand the dog psychology. They bond to people very strongly, and when that person isn't where they are, all they can think of is how to get back home where they felt secure and loved. Pia has demonstrated the same behavior that my Princess did when I first got her from the shelter. Princess wanted to be close to the door or windows. Once on a chair by the window she smelled the air constantly and cried and whimpered. Then she drove me nuts for the first 3 days of constantly scratching at the door, and it wasn't because she had to do her business. She wanted to run away and find her home. She acted the same way at the shelter, smelling at the door and totally ignoring me. It wasn't until I sat down and was speaking to the worker and said that "I don't think that she was the dog for me, and I hope that her owner shows up. Well it is time for me to go home" Just then Princess did a 360 and jumped on my lap, put her paws on both of my shoulders and nuzzled her head next to my ear, and sat perfectly still, as if waiting to see if I was going to pet her or yell at her to get off. We were both shocked by the sudden change in her
