I suppose that it's my own fault, really. I did spend an hour and a half, just getting her to come to me. She had been wandering around, with her head down and tail tucked. Once I gained her trust though, she turned into a little love bug. Then TBH got out of the truck, and that little puppy took right to her. That did it. Should never have let my wife near that dog, lol. That dog was coming with us, regardless of my opinion, after that.
Fortunately, she's a young enough pup to adapt pretty quickly. And, I'm not seeing the red flags that one normally sees with strays; aggression, protective of food, etc.
When we first put her in the truck, she wagged her tail, did a quick sniff around, and promptly flopped down and went to sleep. From her actions and body language, she apparently feels totally safe.
The 1st couple of times I took her back out of the truck, she didn't much like it; it made her very nervous. She wouldn't come near the door. And, when it was time to come back in the truck, she appeared delighted and relieved to be back. My guess is, she once got out of a truck, and never saw it again.
She also appears to have a little separation anxiety. I left the truck, this morning, for all of 90 seconds. When I returned, her tail was wagging and she was trembling. It was if she thought I was gone for good. I note that she gets nervous when TBH leaves the truck, too.
Although, she seems to have gotten better, over the course of the day. Last night, it took some doing to get her to come to me; tonight, when we walked her, she wanted to talk to everyone. So that's good. Also, she seems to want to meet other dogs. This,too, is good.
When she's really happy, she does this little whine, then she throws her head back and does this short howl, all while wagging her body.
Tomorrow morning, she gets a bath. I hope that she likes it. In another day or two, it's off to the vet. She needs shots, and I want an idea of her age. Maybe, we can do a DNA test to find out what she is; I kinda want to know, so I can have an idea of potential health issues to watch for. Also, she has an odd kink in her tail, like it's been broken. It doesn't seem to bother her; I did poke at the kink, to see. Got no reaction, so that's good.
Overall, I suppose it was good to find her. Whatever she experienced prior to last night, she seems young enough to brush it off, for the most part. She went from shy and timid, to brimming with joy and confidence, over the course of 24 hours. I reckon that I'm glad to have gotten her, before she was ruined. I see a lot of strays, in my travels. It's quite sad to see what they've become. Even the ones that come close, keep the tail tucked, and seem almost to expect you to turn on them. And, they've been living like that for so long, it's unlikely that they would trust you enough to be totally trustworthy in a domestic situation.
I imagine that the separation anxiety with this one will wear off, before too long. At least, for the most part.
I think that she'll prove to be quite the good dog.
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