And there was Savannah, not wanting to be put into that crate when I was ready to leave. But she did, though... I pointed to the crate and told her "Go into your bed, Savannah!" and she walked right in and plopped her puppy-self down with such a big sigh that it was pitiful. I put a couple of her toys in the crate with her, along with a rawhide chew-bone, but still... she didn't want to be in there, and as I turned the key in the lock, I heard her whimper a few times, and when I got out to the garage, I heard one loud bark from her, then silence. I drove away hoping that she wouldn't spend the next few hours barking and crying.
Apparently, she had been sleeping while I was gone, because when I came in the back door she gave me a very big yawn and then walked out of the crate and stretched her legs like she does in the mornings. Her tail started wagging and she was happy to see me, then she was thrilled to see me when I took that fluffy bunny-toy out of my shop-basket and gave it to her. Into the air went the bunny after the first couple of sniffs, and she spent the next hour tossing that bunny around the breakfast room and the kitchen.
This afternoon was Savannah's second Waldorf Wednesday with the tea ladies here... and she was very well behaved. So much so that I was disappointed that she didn't come into the dining room to join us all. Savannah seemed content to stay in the breakfast room, surrounded by her toys and her bed--- which she didn't get into because I had to move the bed to a different spot in the breakfast room so it wouldn't be in front of the French doors going into the dining room. Apparently, "location, location, location" really makes a difference in the placement of dog-beds.
So Savannah spent the entire tea party time in the breakfast room, occasionally peeking into the dining room, but never crossing the threshold. When all of the ladies left, she got up and stretched, walked into the kitchen and sat by her food bowl.... ready for dinner. One thing about Savannah... she clearly tells you what she wants or needs... you just have to watch for her signals.
As I straightened up the dining room this evening, Savannah followed me all around the table, watching everything I did, looking at the Halloween decorations in the room, but never attempting to touch one blessed thing. I walked into the living room to see if she would follow me, and she did. Savannah walked around the room with me, looking at the furniture and more Halloween decorations, then she walked into the foyer and looked out the front door, then walked back into the living room, and back through the dining room. Never once did she touch a thing... she seemed content to just be there in the room with me.
One thing I've noticed with Savannah... she's very good at hiding her dog biscuits and her rawhide chew-bones. And all this hiding is done within her crate, which has an old bed-sheet folded and re-folded and re-folded on the flat metal floor of the crate, and then I have a soft and plush blanket on top of that. (Never let it be said that this puppy doesn't sleep in the softest of crates.) When I give Savannah either dog biscuits or the rawhide bones, she will most likely hide one of them underneath that soft blanket. She uses her nose to separate the layers of either the top blanket or the bottom sheet, and into that fold goes her prize. It stays there until she is ready for it, and she easily gets it out of the blanket or the sheet without messing up the layers. All of this hiding makes me wonder if she had to hide food and/or toys from the male puppy that shared the kennel in her previous home.
Honestly, it's very easy to forget that Savannah is just a five-month-old puppy... she behaves most of the time as if she's an adult dog that has gone through a few training classes. She will sit almost every time I tell her to, which is pretty good considering I've just started asking her to do that. The dog-sites I looked at said that the Great Pyrenees breed isn't the easiest to train because they have minds of their own and can be stubborn. Well, our Gracie was also stubborn years ago, but she learned to take commands extremely well, and I'm expecting Savannah to do the same. The Border Collie breed, which was in Gracie and is also in Savannah, is also known for having a stubborn streak.
I wish, however, that Savannah would get closer to my husband. He is trying his best with her, but it seems that every time she sees him, she looks at him as if it's the first time she's laid eyes on him. She has been hesitant with every man she has seen so far, and I really believe that she either had no contact with men in her previous home, or she had less than favorable contact with men in that other home. And I use that term (home) loosely, because she and her puppy-brother had been kept outside in a kennel, for most of their lives. Not a good thing. A kennel is not a home. Dogs are pack animals... and they want to be around their people. Well, at least her 'old people' did care for her.... we have a healthy puppy who seems to be very happy... and I'm hoping that she will become just as happy with my husband as she is with me.
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