Darby 09/18/09

[doxierock]

Well the little one has been a bit trying at times but I love her anyway! The beginning of September was my cousin’s wedding and I had to leave early to go and get ready while Ken was going to come later. Well Darby got upstairs and Ken couldn’t catch her so he thought that it would be ok to shut the door on the master bedroom and leave her there. Not a wise decision. Miss D decided that carpet shouldn’t be in a bedroom and pulled apart a section about 2 feet by 4 inches wide right under the door while we were gone. I came back and saw the carpet shredded and the pad under the carpet shredded. I was ready to cry. Downstairs, yes, my carpets are a mess but upstairs, they are like brand new! So then it was off to try to catch her (she kept running under my bed) and she knew she did something she shouldn’t so it wasn’t easy.

Well because of that incident, she regressed a bit. She would run away from me and was scared (for a week after the carpet incident). I don’t know if it was because I was angry and she sensed that after she chewed the carpet or if it was because she was trapped in the room. She’s starting to come around now though, thankfully.

She has become quite a chow hound. She LOVES food and has gained some (much needed) weight. She comes when I call her for her breakfast or dinner. Breakfast time is one of my favorite times! I get her out of the crate and hitch both dogs on the tie out and let them explore. They come in and Darby is a woman possessed. She runs around like a crazy girl and likes to slide on my kitchen floor (like Tom Cruise in Risky Buisness) unfortunately poor Dex has been the one to stop her on more than one occasion and gets plowed over! When she comes in from outside her tail goes a million miles per hour and she looks like she’s smiling and is very happy. And then when I call her because her food is ready she comes in like a tank ready to run over whatever stands between her and her food! I let her eat in her crate because if I can’t watch them like hawks, Dex will eat her food and she’s getting really good about going in her crate on her own to eat. I always talk to her about what we’re doing so this morning I said, “go in your crate” and she did and I was flabbergasted! This was the 3rd time she did that.

She is honestly such a sweetie, when I get home and let her out of her crate, she jumps all over me giving me love.

So my dilemma, how do I get her to love Ken too? He’s been feeding her in the afternoons and giving her treats and walking her but she still isn’t fond of being with him like she is with me. It breaks his heart. He will pet her and tell her how much he loves her and that she’s his little girl but she won’t even look at him. Any suggestions would be great!

I"m taking her to Puppymill Awareness day tomorrow in Lancaster so I'm going to do my best to have her out and about around others. She's good around other dogs, just seems to have a man issue. We shall see! (hoping, not that I'll be able to but hoping to talk to Victoria Stillwell about her, fingers crossed!)

[Dogmother]

Sorry about your carpet. That sucks. Glad she is coming around though. Sounds as if her personality is starting to shine a bit too. Poor Dexy. lol I think with Ken it will just take time. Also if you are around all the time when Ken is she will gravitate towards you more than Ken because you are comfortable and familiar AND female. She has always showed more timidity around men but was ok with Wayne because the first weekend she was here I was in Louisiana getting Mira so she had to deal with him and I think the alone one on one time made a big difference.

I hope she comes around to him although I am sure she will if given enough time.

Terri

[7-Ups]

Terri hit it right on the head. She goes more towards you.
Sugar was like that the first week she was here and then I went away for a day and she now drools over Mike. She is bouncy and happy when he comes home from work and will now sit on him and lay next to him. She was timid around him at first.
Hate to even say it, but a day away with Ken home with her and not you may do the trick. It may be worth a try if you can figure out a way to do it.

[LUVMYGUNNER]

Amy I wouldn't push anything...Give her time..I would start by taking her on car rides with you or Ken if she will go. I started by taking mine to Petsmart to socialize them, when I first got them...

[SirOliversMom]

Oh it takes a long long time for them to get used to men. Tam on occasion will still run from Darren. I would say that it took her well over a year to become comfortable with him and even then..

Most of them just tend to gravitate more to women I'm afraid.

[Homer]

Maybe some one on one time with dad? Peanut is a momma's girl, want's nothing to do with Don if I am around...unless he has popcorn (then she will go get her popcorn and come right back to me). But if I'm not home she snuggles right up with him.

Does she like rides? or playing ball? If you can pick one of her favorite things and let only dad offer it to her.

[Dogmother]

Amy, I have the solution, come to Montana for a weekend and leave her home with daddy I bet when you get back they will be buds. lol

Terri

[doximom]

I am sure it will come A & B love there mom but, they do like dad if mom is doing something.

[Madison's Mom]

Ooops about your carpet. Years ago, our first...Dixie....did a similar number on the carpet. There's places that will repair it and it is (or was at the time) surprisingly reasonable. Look in the yellow book under carpet repair.

How about if Ken takes over the feedings for a while. Sometimes I don't know if mine really love me or they just see me as one big feed bag. Maybe that will help Darby bond with him.

[red&black]

ahh yes.. the magic unraveling carpet.....
Black Jack did that when he was a young fellow. Brand new carpet. Berber. In a rental unit. GAH!

As for getting her to like Ken the same kind of way she likes you, it really may or may not happen.

A lot of dogs just attach to women easier than men. They move more gently, they have softer voices, and are generally more "maternal" for lack of a better word. She may love Ken and like attention from him, but sometimes dad isn't a substitute for mama. Just ask Black Jack. He loves his dad, but it's his mama that makes the world go round!

One reason why Joe wanted to keep Guy is because Guy worships the ground Joe walks on - he could really be a daddy's boy instead of a mama's boy. Nellie is the only other dog to act like that around him.

[doxierock]

Great ideas guys, thanks so much! Ken can't take over the morning feedings cause he goes to work at 3:30am but does do the 4pm feedings. And that is true, if I'm around nothing else compares. Last night she was getting jealous (I was at the dog art auction) because Dex was getting lots of love and cuddles from Ken. She slowly creeped towards him little by little until she put her head on his leg! Ken was estatic!

And on Friday I was getting ready and Darby kept nudging my leg which she's never done before. I just continued to get ready and ignored it. Well she was trying to get my attention because she had to go pee! She's really learning!

And today we went to Awareness Day and she was such a good girl! I was so proud. She played in the sand with another doxie too. I feel that it was one of the best things I could have done for her. She acted like a pro and wasn't nervous.

We came home and she went to Ken on her own wen I had Dex in my lap! I was almost in tears.

Oh and this morning she finally played with a stuffed duck!

I think she's coming around and I am amazed at how good she's doing.

[Heidi's Pam]

:cheerleader3::cheerleader3: Some great milestones for Darby!! :cheerleader3: That's fabulous news. I think in time she'll be right in there with Daddy. You've done so many wonderful things for this girl! Sorry about the carpet though! :sad:

[Rupert's Mommy]

Go Darby GO!!!!!! :stars::stars::stars: It's amazing to see them progress :0210:

[patty23]

Sometimes it takes longer than others to get close to someone, just have to be patient. Sorry about your rug, we have had the same thing happen here, dont feel to badly. Not just rugs but Razor thought my hope chest was a big teething bone when he was a pup. Abi loves to chew the rubber edges off the mats in the mud room and back porch, a few I have already cut off edges with sissors. Tanner to this day will eat up his bedding.

[doxierock]

Darby was a hit at Woofstock as well! Unfortunately she was on the news as an adoptable dog! What happened was that one of the Woofstock people saw me just as they were about to go on the air and assumed since I foster that she's one of my fosters and asked to hold her during the broadcast. Well I couldn't say no and they mentioned how she is available for adoption! So I'm now dealing with over 9 calls and emails with people who want to adopt her! I don't want to get a bad relationship with the news station (they help out CPAA so much!) so I'm trying to convince them that she's not the one they would want because she has so many "issues" and steer them towards another doxie. Not that she really has many issues, at least with me. She's a perfect princess for me. Now her poppy is another story but she's getting so good and will even go into her crate if she sees me picking up my purse to leave, she's that good with the routine. I am just head over heels in love with her!

[digdug]

She has such a darling face and she must have shined while you held her , become she is HOME already, with your fostering history is part of the message, well Miss Darby's presence told everyone to ADOPT. Lucky she has found her home:)

[aburgstede]

I laughed so hard at the carpet incident!! Our Daffy did the same thing in our spare bedroom at our old house. It was a berber carpet with a patern in it...luckily we have a great carpet guy (not anymore, we have HW floors), but he came & patched it, matched it exactly and you couldn't even tell where the hole was...it was about 2x2...feet!

What we put up with for those we love, lol :laughitup:

Some dogs just gravitate more to one gender than the other and as we all know, they usually pick one "person" and make that person "their person". But I agree with what you were doing, have him feed her and do those special things with her, take her for walks, give her any special bones she might get at night, etc.

Our Nelson is all about my husband--he was home more & did more therapy with him when he was down--I was in school. Squirt is all about me, I bonded & spent more time with him when we got him, he needed to learn to trust so we spent more 1 on 1 time together. Digger is a little more mine, a bit more a momma's boy & Daffy is a little more Darin's, more a daddy's girl. It's just how they feel I think.