We had a quiet Christmas yesterday until the new neighbors across the road starting shooting off fireworks after it got dark. My husband and I stood out on our porch watching them all, but Savannah stayed in the house and just sat on the sofa in the TV room. I'm sure these were her first fireworks, and she wasn't much thrilled with the noise. When Savannah hears a gun-shot echoing from the hills, she stops and looks in the direction the shot came from and then doesn't move until she's sure there won't be another shot right after the first one. It takes a good long while for her tail to come back up after those shots ring out... Savannah's first sign that she's uncomfortable is that downward tail.
Our friend Corey was here for three days before Christmas, and Savannah wasn't happy about that at all. I'm certain that Corey had planned to roll around on the floor and play with Savannah but this puppy hardly got near Corey for the first two days. When she was finally used to having Corey here, it was time for Corey to start for home. The worst of Savannah's barking at Corey came on the last morning when Corey walked into the kitchen wearing a baseball cap. Savannah didn't like that either and she let her roaring bark announce her disapproval.
I heard Corey telling Savannah that she was part of our family even before Savannah was born so she'd better get used to seeing her and having her visit us. Savannah wasn't having any part of that theory--- she turned around and walked into the TV room as if Corey didn't even exist. Oh well... it's going to take time for Savannah to get used to people who don't live here and she just has to learn that they are part of our lives. I told Corey not to take it personally and to have patience with this very cautious puppy. Corey noticed that Savannah's worst barking occurred when Corey got too close to me. "She's super-protective of you, Miss Larrie," said Corey. "She is super-loud," said I. "But you did want a watch-dog," said Corey. Well. Indeed I did.
We went to the dog park on the day before Christmas Eve and there were more dogs there than we'd ever seen before... lots of people came back into town to spend Christmas with their family and friends, and it seemed like they all had dogs and puppies. Savannah had a blast playing with all of them, but she wouldn't go anywhere near their owners. People in the dog park were bending down to say hello to Savannah, and one young man sat right down on the grass so his height wouldn't frighten her, but she walked away, content with looking at everyone from a distance and spending her time playing with their dogs. I kept telling the dog-owners that Savannah was very shy, but the way she plays with dogs she's never seen before sort of cancels out that shyness theory of mine.
My husband and I went for drives at night to look at the local Christmas light displays, and we took Savannah with us on two nights. I'm sure Savannah thought we were going to the dog park again, but once we got on the main highway and it was too dark for her to see anything, she quickly laid down on the back seat and just watched my husband driving and listened to us talking. When we got into the town and were riding up and down the lighted streets, Savannah sat up on the seat and watched the lights. There's one particular house in town that has their light display synchronized to music on a local radio station, and both the music and the lights are quite good... Savannah's eyes followed the lights from one side of that house to the other and she was just mesmerized by the entire show.
I have so many Christmas decorations and small trees all over the house that I started to de-Christmas the house this morning... a little bit each day goes back into the storage closets, just the way everything came out during the first week of November. I cleared away most of the Santa figurines in the kitchen and in the hallway between the kitchen and the breakfast room. Savannah watched me putting the decorations into the high cabinets and she sat there staring as the Santa statues and the kitchen tree was put away, then she continued to sit there and stare at the closed cabinet door after I was finished. Heaven only knows what this puppy was thinking, but she finally moved away from that cabinet after I'd put the step-stool back into the closet.
I bought extra treats and chew-bones and pig ears for Savannah... gifts from Santa for this 'shy' puppy of ours. We also have one last blue monkey toy for Savannah but I didn't give it to her yet. She hasn't had a plush toy in a few weeks now... I stopped giving them to her because her 'adult' teeth were pulling them apart. I'll wait awhile with that blue monkey... she seems to be content with the chew-bones and those horrible pig ears. I keep telling myself those ears are all protein and very good for her, but I still don't like the idea of them.
My husband and I had dinner in the dining room on Christmas Day... Savannah opted to stay in her bed in the breakfast room and not join us. When we were opening gifts, though, the crinkle of paper got her attention and she walked in there and watched us for a little while, then she went into the living room and inspected all the decorations in that room without touching one blessed thing with her paws or even her nose. Savannah is so very good about not touching what isn't hers, which is a very good thing in this house.
I just hope that by the time we're celebrating Savannah's second Christmas, she will have learned how to be friendlier with strangers, more confident with unfamiliar surroundings, and more tolerant of good friends and family when they come into our home.
No comments:
Post a Comment