Astra, the newest foster, likely a Chihuahua mix, was found living with fifteen others under a porch in Eastern Washington. It’s late fall, going into Winter and getting very cold.

On a whim, I volunteered to foster one. The pups had little human interaction, are terrified of hands coming at them, and are petrified during flight of being picked up. Astra was picked up by the rescue with 5 others, then picked up from the rescue by my mom with her brother. The next day I picked her up from my mom and brought her to my house.

Together, they warmed up quickly to my mom's Belgian Shepherd and pounced about the house together.  They slept together peacefully and mostly used the potty pad supplied in their accommodations. The general puppy set up of a small pen with a sleeping area and a potty area.

Upon picking her up, I tossed little bits of chicken treats to get her to warm up before I noosed her with a slip lead and gently removed her from the pen also containing her brother. She didn’t want to be picked up, but quickly nuzzled into me once being held.  I let her ride home cradled in my arms, as passenger of course. She relaxed quickly while being snuggled in my arms with snout wedged under my chin.

We made a quick stop at Home Depot to grab a piece of artificial turf to use for a potty pen on the porch to minimize risk to her and future pups on my property, as she is an unvaccinated 12-week pup. Seemingly healthy with minimal environmental exposure, best to reduce risks however possible. My husband carried her on our quick trip through Home Depot. She was content snuggled into his arms and chest.

I held her to our next stop then she spent some time crated in my car before I attempted a potty break. She was nervous and didn’t go but she met and was help by a couple new people. While fearful of the hands reaching at her, and uncomfortable being picked up, I have not seen any indication of her considering biting. She either freezes while you reach for her and dives her face into you once up or dances around unsure about approaching.

She is clueless about collars and leashes, and quite irritated by the feel of it.  She fusses and scratches at it when she’s uncertain of what else to do but getting barely noticing it by day 3.  I keep a tiny martingale with a light slip lead attached when she is out being supervised. This helps a lot with an insecure dog who initially was very inclined to hide and run away. I haven’t put any leash pressure on her to follow me, but have had to prevent her from straying too far.

I hand fed high value food starting day one and tossed bits food around for her to seek and find.  She has a nose for searching and you could see her confidence building with the interaction. Once she was comfortable with me and eating from my hands, I held my hand near her while eating off the floor, and it kept producing more nummy nutritious meaty goodness.

Her outdoor potty habits are developing well from day one, during the day. Her evening habits, well just say there is no time for nightmares, because here is no sleep. And I think she stress poops!.  I set her up in the typical small pen with sleep area and potty area. She did ok pottying on the pads, but pooped and buried it in her blankets and screamed, howled and protested in every canine octave range known to pooches, ALL NIGHT LONG!  For two nights.  She slept like a baby in my lap or next to the other dogs (she’s quite fond of my old GSD), but bed time (which for me is very late, and my husband quite early) in her own pen, with a comfy bed, NO... she spent all night biting at the pen, trying to climb out, and vocalizing for hours.  Day two of no sleep, I am embarrassed to admit I was actually a bit angry with the puppy, despite understanding all she had been though. I also had to get up abnormally early to take my husband to work since his truck was in the shop, but hey...that’s life.

Day two of our sleepless nights, with an early start to the day, I spent some time snuggling with Astra and we had a short nap before I had to go to work for the day.  A MUCH-needed nap, and I am not a napper. Today is the day she got to visit her brother so they could get vaccinated, wormed and nails ground, because those were sharp little suckers.

I also decided today, I was changing our nighttime strategy. I opened up her pen to expand the entire kitchen area and put a cushy bed she favoured in it near the living area. I set up potty pads at the far end and strategically placed gates for easy access and a less “trapped” feeling.

She did much better.  Very little vocalization, she pottied on the pads and pooped partly on/close.  I don’t care where she pooed actually! She was more relaxed, I got sleep, it wasn’t under her bedding, and she hadn’t run through it. Some things are more important than others and I don’t want her learning how to be a little piggy and I want her comfortable and relaxed.

She is very social and quickly started to solicit attention. She likes her face to be pet and will jump at times wanting pets or to come up, even if still hesitant about taking flight. While I don’t normally encourage jumping on people, this situation is different.  She is somewhat feral and hasn’t learned about the value of human interaction, so I am not discouraging any initiation for human interaction.  She is definitely more oriented to the dogs. As hard as it was to separate her from her brother, neither would have benefited socially by staying together.

I am surprised at how easy she has been to get to potty outside during the day, and how well she uses the potty pads when in her area and can’t get out. Also, as scared as she was initially, I have not seen a single lip raise or snarl, heard a grumble or growl or witnessed any snapping, unlike her brother who has bitten several times while being handled.

Astra follows us in and out to go potty, seeks attention from our hands rather than running away and interacts well with the other dogs. She interacts with toys, tugs a little and loves to chew on bones with out showing signs of possessiveness.

Astra is a darling little girl who is coming into her own quickly.  She is more relaxed, less fussy, more social and confident with each day. 

Please bless me with sleep on night 4.  I am hoping the bigger, less caged feeling set up is the key to her comfort and my sleep.

Todays lesson:  When it’s not working, take a different approach.