The First Full Day

Tilly had slept beside me on the floor the night before. She did good, making no noises or moving from her spot. She just turned a few times and once or twice wanted to get close to me. At 7.00, when it started to get light, I got up to make coffee. She stayed in her bed. Eventually, I had to get her. She retreated most of the morning to her "mama blanket" in the corner of the living room behind the couch. 

Since she came to me so timid nervous to the extreme, jumping at every sound or movement, I decide we needed to gently introduce her into an environment of some chaos. I kept the nature sounds playing over the speakers, and now and then tapped with care or cleared my throat and made gutteral noises, as these made her run - and they still did. 

Around 10 it was time to go to Idylwood park for a walking and to see where she stood socially. Since she absolutely froze in every situaltion the first day, I expected the same. I carried her from the car and set her in the grass. She was very interested in the area, the smells, and followed me as I walked in the damp grass. She kept an eye on me and explored the new world from between from legs. I had her off leash. When we got near our first human she bolted for a tree. I got kinda nervous 'cause she was going for the road. She stopped about 15 feet from me and panted and shook. I got to her before any real trouble. We met a boxer later, Jax. His master Ben and I talked for a while. Tilly did good, sniff and whiffed Jax. He was a beauty. We ran into a few more people with the same result. 

After the park we went to RTC to buy pup supplies. I walked around with her. She was scared, especially by Chinese people. Their language was very coarse. In the afternoon we had the "big walk" with Eater, who suddenly looks huge against Tilly. He plays hard; I am partly to blame. They did good. Scrapped a bit to establish dominance. We did not give them freedom to play, fearing a real fight, which would not help Tilly's recovery. The dogs did well. They were mostly distracted by the walk and for the first time I saw Tilly's tail up and wagging. And she loves Chloe. She doesn't know Jenny well yet, but that will change. I think she and Eater will become buds. They don't have a choice. 

When we got home she was still nervous and hid. After a while she came to eat while I was in the kitchen. That was good. She kept an eye on me the whole time, though. I made noises while she ate. Then she plopped on the couch; from there I can do anything and she is not scared. I did some laundry. Then I sat with her on the couch and noticed fleas. We took her straight to the bath. I got most and then picked off the rest. She was thankful. She doesn't mind baths too much. She just shook. Later, about 6pm, she sniffed her pee pad and then walked across the room and peed; I caught her and took her under the house. She did not go in the gravel. She jumped from a plank of wood across a ditch to a railing and the dropped off into darkness. I listened and think I heard her pee  strike the ivy. I had hoped she pooped too, and was very nervous about the night, fearing some accidents. But I wanted to establish a pattern so that we could make it through the night. I put barriers around her bed on the floor and a pee pad a couple feet away. If she could not hold it her choice was pee in her nest or the pee pad. I reckoned she would not pee in her nest and would go to the pad. She was still all night and seems to like sleeping alone, which is good. So, this morning I got up. She tried to come out of the room on her own but got scared. I pulled her from her bed and was going to take her out. When she jumped up on the couch I decided it go with it, and had my coffee and worked on the computer, where I am now. She has shown no interest in eating or evacuating. But I will get her out there soon.

The name Tilly seems be be sticking to the pup now.