I don't know what has happened within the past few days, but it seems that all of a sudden Savannah has grown up. Or maybe it's just that she has matured a little bit this past week. All I know is this... when I'm walking her now, it feels like there's a real dog at the end of the leash instead of a crazy puppy. (Should I be knocking wood here?)
Savannah's somewhat unpredictable puppy walks have turned into big-girl walks, and not just once in a while, but every day now for well over a week, which is progress indeed. She will let me know when she has to go out (her paws on my knees and a serious look on her face as she stares at me without blinking) and then she sits by the door while I change shoes and get her leash. Savannah will actually slip her head right into that collar as I'm holding it out in a circle, as if it's a game to her to get her head through it on the first try.
I've stopped walking her all the way up the hill now because the wildflowers and grasses have grown to over a foot high along the side of the road and there's really no place for her to get into the grass without being belly-deep in green and heaven only knows where the ant hills are now. I've been walking her up and down just in front of our own property where the grass has been mowed and ant hills are easily visible. A nice side-effect of walking on our property is that Savannah's scent is closer to home now and she quickly takes care of her business without having to be walked all the way up the hill and around the curve in the road... which makes the after-dark walk blissfully short and successful. Savannah is still very much afraid of gun-shots, of which there are plenty up here. As soon as she hears a shot, her tail goes down and she crouches low to the ground as she pulls towards home... all of which is much easier to handle closer to the house than way up the hill. I have no idea how or if she will ever feel safe from gun-shot sounds.
Sleeping has been much more peaceful as well... unless there's a legitimate sound outside, as there was last night. Savannah has not been barking just for the sake of barking anymore... she sleeps well until she hears something outside and then I have to come downstairs and investigate. From what I read on the Great Pyrenees web-sites, Savannah's one-bark alert is a call to her people that something may be amiss.
The noise last night was, heaven help me, a stray cat howling in the yard. When I turned on the porch light, the howling and screeching stopped, and I'm sure it's a 'new' stray cat because I didn't hear a sound from Mickey Kitty. With the gray/white stray that was hanging around a couple of months ago, Mickey always answered that cat's screeches with howls of his own. Mickey has a unique voice and always has, so I'm positive that last night's cat-wailing was not from inside the garage or coop.
I waited a few minutes to give that stray cat some time to get away from our yard and then I took Savannah outside. My aim in that was to get Savannah's scent out there as a forewarning to that stray cat..... I do not (NOT) want another cat, nor will I feed a stray. I kept that promise with the gray/white stray cat and he eventually went away. I'm hoping the same method works for this newest stray.
Savannah quickly used the grass outside by the steps last night (one o'clock in the morning, actually) and then I brought her back inside and she promptly went to sleep in her bed. (Another sign of maturity.)
The property is still quite soggy from all the rain we had last week, and the local dog park has been closed since the storms. The swimming pool at the park got filled with mud and pebbles from the paths, part of the fence along the perimeter of the park was knocked down from the floods, and they're working hard to make repairs so the park can be-opened. The park will have a 'dog festival' at the end of this month and we plan to take Savannah there.
I'm still in doggie-heaven because we have found an extraordinary boarding facility for Savannah, which will be her 'sleep-away camp' for any traveling we do this summer. I couldn't have been more pleased with the mature staff and the deluxe accommodations at this particular facility, and I know that Savannah will be well cared for with a quiet room to sleep in, a clean yard to play in, and not only will she be taken out four or five times every day but she will get a bath and nail-clipping just before we come to take her home. I'm hoping that as Savannah gets older, we'll be able to just leave her at home here and have a friend tend to her twice a day... but for now, in her still-mostly-a-puppy stage, she really needs more supervision and more play and more trips out into the grass.
My husband and I were talking last night about the great strides Savannah has made since we brought her home last September. From a puppy who didn't know how to trust, Savannah is now an alert and loyal dog who clearly knows who her family is and isn't afraid to both give love and receive love.
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