May 4, 2003 (Day 15)

Today starts a new week, and new experiences for the KY dogs. First in line for change is Sara! And the one thing she needs more than anything at the moment is a bath.....

As Karen took her from the kennel run, her pups tried to follow. "Hey! Where are you going with our mom???!!!!" And they barked the whole time Sara was getting her bath......

Sara did great in the bath tub! And when being blown dry, it was obvious this wasn't her first time on a grooming table. When I came in from mowing the yard, there Sara was, standing and smiling as Karen was busy with the dryer. Karen said that Sara is a little skiddish when working on her rear, but other than that she did fantastic. Now that she's a clean girl, she'll feel so much better.... and another bath will be on schedule in a week or two.

Want to see how she looks at the moment? CLICK HERE....

Big news for Tyler! Karen went to the kennel run earlier, and noticed what looked like blood on his face. Remember that he had an eye infection, and it was reddish in color? Not now.... it looks like a healthy Samoyed eye! Apparently the medicine is working well!

Also, we opened up one of the panels between the maximum and medium security isolation runs this evening, so all three now have twice the area to play. Right now, they are trying to figure out if they should cross the threshhold and enter the other kennel run or not.... it is rather funny to watch.

May 5, 2003 (Day 16)

Brave little Tyler..... Karen actually coaxed him to cross the kennel run and take a treat from her hand! This is the very first time ANY of the dogs have actually approached us directly, so we consider it a major step forward! In fact, this was a day of "firsts"..... Sara took a treat from me with no coaxing at all, and then she settled in for some quality time. Tyler showed strong signs of being right on the edge of coming up to us on his own without coaxing, and he even gave me a kiss when I was petting Gunny! As for Gunny, he's still extremely feral, but he did get brave and cautiously investigated the back of my shirt when he thought I wasn't watching him. Of the three, he has the longest way to go yet. But we are NOT giving up.

May 6, 2003 (Day 17)

Not every day will bring good news. The younger ones were unusually skiddish this evening, and when Karen went to medicate Gunny (antibiotics for his cough), both of them ran and hid. Karen had to go in after him, and that unfortunately made both Tyler and Gunny very nervous.... It had to be done, but you can't tell that to a couple of scared pups because they don't understand. Tomorrow will tell just how much trust was lost.

May 7, 2003 (Day 18)

More news in the not-so-good category. The incident with Tyler and Gunny yesterday seems to have set them back about a week. Now they both run when Karen approaches.... And Sara is back to hugging the wall.

May 10, 2003 (Day 21)

Gunny is still running when Karen approaches, but Tyler is really just playing a game with it. When he sees his brother run, he plays chase. We don't think he's actually running from Karen.... and he will stay when he's told to. Tyler is just a little stinker! this boy has a devious streak in him, and it should be interesting when he comes around.

WEEK 3 (Summary)

Three weeks have passed, and we lost some ground. The dogs are healthier, but emotionally they still have a very long way to go. And their trust factor took a large step backward over the medication incident. But you know, We'd rather get them healthy and work on their emotions along the way, than to have sick dogs. We'll take each step good or bad, and learn from them. Next week might bring better news.

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