Finally, finally... Savannah sat with my husband last night when he got home from work and she was playing with him and licking him and she really seemed to know that he lives here, belongs here, and was responsible for bringing her here in the first place. I suggested to my husband that he continue to go out of his way to say her name over and over and over until she knows the sound of her name from his voice as well as mine. I think we have crossed over a puppy bridge here, which is a very good thing for all of us.
The best thing my husband did was to get right down on the floor of the TV room with Savannah and she came up to him sniffing and smiling and licking and bringing her toys to him as if she'd been doing all of that since her first day with us. At one point, Savannah got up on the sofa with us, and there clearly wasn't room for the three of us because that particular sofa is more of a love-seat size. So I moved over to a chair, and Savannah stayed with my husband till he was dripping with puppy spit. At one point when my husband got back on the floor to give Savannah more room and she was still on the sofa in back of him, she put her paw on his shoulder as if to say "This is mine!" And at the end of the puppy play-time, Savannah was alone on the sofa and my husband was sitting on the floor and I was on a chair... and my husband said "What's wrong with this picture?" I told him we needed to go shopping for a bigger sofa.
I had to get Savannah a new bowl for her puppy food before she literally tried to lick the design off the bowl I originally gave her. The new bowl is larger than the first one, and it's completely white so all she sees in there is the food and not painted cherries and grapes. I found both of the white ceramic bowls in the thrift shop because all Walmart had to offer were those cheap plastic ones in crazy colors and the shiny silver ones that collect the minerals in the water and you can't ever get them clean. We have a PetCo up here in the Hills but it's a 40-minute drive away so the local thrift store was the best place to find good heavy bowls that she can't knock over.
One of the neighbors had a garage sale this weekend and I walked Savannah down there yesterday. She was hesitant to leave her own road when we got to the corner, but one little tug on her leash and she followed me around the corner and further down the road to Gloria's house. When we passed by Diablo's pasture, Savannah stared at that horse and watched him come galloping towards the fence. He's a very friendly horse, probably because a few of the neighbors bring him carrots and apples and horse-biscuits every week, so he trots right up to the fence expecting some sort of treat. I forgot to bring him something yesterday, but he didn't seem too disappointed because he stood there showing his championship-best for Savannah.
Cindy came by yesterday afternoon with her new puppy Jack-- a mix of Black Lab and Great Pyrenees. She had been so thrilled with Savannah that my husband started looking on the Internet for more puppies, and found people in the next town wanting to give away puppies from a recent litter. At just eight weeks old, Jack is about one-fifth the size of Savannah, and he was bouncing around and underneath Savannah for their first puppy-visit. I kept Savannah on a leash because she gets so scared of any unfamiliar noise that she hears and I didn't want her either running off or hurting the puppy. I shouldn't have worried, though, because she let the puppy lick and nip at her and she began playing with him in earnest when it was nearly time for them to get back home.
I was careful not to fuss over that puppy too much because I don't know if Savannah would get jealous and take that out on Jack. That puppy was just this little plump ball of happy black fur with white on the edges of his toes and on his chest. As cute as he could possibly be, just like all puppies. Actually, Gracie was about the same size as Jack when we got her, but she wasn't so chunky as Jack is now. It's amazing to me that puppies are so much like babies... all joy and innocence and without a trace of hardness in their little puppy hearts. I know that my husband wishes that we had gone through all the tiny puppy-ness with Savannah just like we did with Gracie, and I'm sure that Savannah was a happy bouncing puppy just like Jack is now... but when Savannah is playing with her toys and completely at ease in the TV room with us, I think she forgets about her past and just revels in the happy life she has with us now.
Which of course makes me wonder what Savannah went through before she came to us. The two women that we met seemed very nice, and the younger one gave Savannah a hug and told her to be a good girl for us, so I know there was some attachment there. But who knows who else was in that family, and maybe someone abused her in some way that we'll never know. Savannah seems to be an old soul for the most part, except in the evenings after dinner when she turns into such a playful puppy. She will play with her toys and jump on the sofa to see what's on the other side of the TV room and then she dips her entire head into her toy basket to pull out the favorite toy of the moment, which is still the little blue monkey.
Day by day, Savannah gets a little more confident and I can hardly wait for the day to come when she really truly believes that no one here will ever hurt her. I am doing my best now to keep her little puppy life as carefree and hopeful as it is when she's running around here with that little blue monkey in her mouth.
Savannah has learned the Sit! command so well that now I don't even have to say it. She will hear me open the treat jar in the kitchen and she just walks behind me, sits down, and waits for the treat. Being that she's doing that so well, I thought it was time for her to learn something new. We have started on 'Shake!' where she is supposed to give me her paw. She likes to give that paw all the time, though, and does it without asking if you're sitting next to her. So now when she sits there behind me waiting for her treat because she has anticipated my request for her to sit, I pat my knees and tell her Up! Savannah Up! and she will put her two paws on my two knees and she'll stay there, sitting upright, till I give her the treat. And of course, during all of this, I get that great big puppy smile.
Even though my husband looked at Cindy's dog Jack and wished that Savannah could have been that bouncing bundle of happy tiny puppy with us, I'm convinced that at one point Savannah was indeed just that but somewhere along the line that happiness got side-tracked because of bad treatment or neglect or just lack of attention. I don't think Savannah is lacking anything right now and given a bit more time, her confidence level will be right up there where Gracie's always was. Our dog Gracie always knew she was loved, and I'm determined that Savannah will feel just the same.
I keep telling Savannah "Don't ever forget who you are... you are Savannah! Savannah!" And she looks at me with those great big puppy eyes of hers as if she understands. I feel that there's a delicate part of Savannah that's more of an 'old soul' than a young puppy. And if that's the case, that little part of her needs extra attention and extra love.
When I was growing up, my Aunt Dolly always used to tell each of her nieces and nephews that very thing: "Don't ever forget who you are... you are Larrie! Larrie!" (Changing the name, of course, depending on which of my cousins she was talking to.) Aunt Dolly made all of us feel important, special, and loved. At 102 years old now, Aunt Dolly is still doing the same thing. And it works... when you feel as if you belong, as if you're treasured and one-of-a-kind, when you believe that... then you can't ever deny the fact that you are loved, and you are able to love in return.
And isn't love all that really matters? With children and adults, with family and friends, with puppies and kittens... it's all about love. Never forget who you are, Savannah.
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