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Thanks Irene. Yes she had not chewed my slipper either so she saw it as a connection with me. She is now settled on the rug beside me totally relaxed and doesn’t move anymore when one of us moves. Tomorrow will be another day for new learning and adventures for her and for us. Enjoy your break and will keep you updated.
Luna (nee Sky nee Blondie) is now pretty confident in the house unless there is a strange noise which still spooks her. She was quite unsettled at night, guess she is missing her friend Ruby, coming upstairs several times when we go to bed. She would come straight down when told ‘no’ but would cry for a while and periodically during the night. However for the last 2 nights she has come upstairs once and then stayed downstairs the whole night without crying. Guess she is learning our routine and that we will be there in the morning when she gets up. She had 3 visitors (one adult & 2 children) all the way from Dublin especially to meet her on Saturday and she certainly enjoyed having them. She was sociable and happy with them and the children took her for a walk on her harness on Sunday morning which they all loved.
We went to the beach at Duncannon this afternoon but it was very windy and cold with noisy waves which Luna didn’t like much. It will be better on a nicer day. She had a run in our garden today off the lead and it was lovely to see her run for the first time, she must have some whippet in her I think.
She demonstrated some real dog intelligence today: Having put her food down for her I then went to prepare a salad for ourselves which involved opening a tin of Tuna fish. Luna put her front paws on the kitchen top and was sniffing the air with great interest and none in her own food. After a while I remembered that her foster Mum, Irene, said they gave their dogs a tin of mackerel for the fish oil and omega 3. So I opened a tin of sardines and gave her half over her food and it was magic the way the food disappeared. She must have associated the tuna fish smell with her Irene treats…………how clever they are. Just hope she will eat her food tomorrow without the sardines!!
We are so happy to have her and lucky too, in just under a week she has totally gotten under out skin.
Will take some photos to post on here soon.Mary it’s great to hear that Luna is settling in well and getting used to her new surroundings. I think the reason she is coming up the stairs is to be part of the pack
While we had her in our home both Ruby and herself stayed in the kitchen at night. Now Ruby is on her own again she is back up sleeping on the landing just be be near us
Dogs love fish and I found it was cheaper to buy some tins of mackerel and give it occasionally to their nuts rather than adding tin dog food. So fish and chicken were on their menu my son has told me Ruby is using the house as a race track since we went on holiday she runs from the back door to the front and jumping the two steps between, like an agility run. She had stopped doing this while we were fostering, so she has not passed on this habit to Luna thanks again for the update. IreneHere are some photos of Luna (if I can upload them) on her visit to friends where she had a doggy playdate with two big girls, Honey 1 year old Rottie and Molly the hairy GSD. Luna loved playing with them and chased around happily and has been invited back. She is progressing very well at home and is now off lead in the garden which is three quarters of an acre and comes and goes as she pleases. She is exploring all the smells especially the bunnies that don’t seem to visit any more!! Luna found a perfect bed recently, on top of the grass cuttings heap in full sunshine, so she was getting warmth from the sun and from the fermenting grass heap.
lu.jpgMary, Luna looks really fabulous she certainly has filled out in her rib area. Great to see her mixing with her neighbours Rottie and Molly. I think there will be lots of fun days ahead with her palls
She is really a great dog, true lady and eager to please. Thanks again for the updates. IreneIt is still in small steps but Luna is getting more confident all the time. At night she is very good and only if there is unexpected noise, like me dropping my book, does she come upstairs but happily goes back down to her bed.
She is having trouble adjusting to our rural life with busy farmers and their noisy equipment. Recently the countryside has been a hive of activity with the good weather. Tractors, rotavators etc. working all hours are bothering Luna when in the garden and she cannot get into the house fast enough.
Walks on the lead, watching sheep and horses, are great fun. Quiet pub gardens are quite exciting too especially if there is a chance of getting at Daddy’s pint!
We can now leave her for about two and a half hours if we give her her filled Kong toy and sneak out the back door. They are a wonderful toy for dogs like Luna who are very anxious at being left alone.sk.jpgIrene so pleased you have seen my updates. Glad you think Luna has filled out a bit, she certainly likes her food and is now confident enough with us to steal food if she can reach it! We have had to adjust to having a ‘taller’ dog than our previous two staffies who couldn’t reach food on kitchen tops. We were due to come to Dublin this weekend for a first Communion but came to the conclusion that Luna would be set back in her progress if we left her with anyone just yet. We even thought of asking you as her foster mum to have her back for two nights but in the end thought it a bit cheeky and even that might have been unsettling for Luna. Though I am fairly sure she would have loved to see her foster family again. I will keep updating from time to time. Mary
Mary any time you need her minded we are here for you. Do come up and as other foster dogs come back to see us it does not set them back. We are here over the weekend, so no worries. Irene
We had a serious setback with Luna at the end of last week. She spotted the meter reader passing the closed patio doors (ouside) and freaked completely. Spent the next 2 days hiding and trembling behind furniture, only going out on a lead and then fearfully. We were very upset to see her like this and I spent 2 evenings surfing the net looking for help for a very nervous dog. I found on Boards.ie Animal & Pet Issues: Very fearful dog collapsing Post No 27 by ISDW the following entry: "Good call from Sweeper, the thundershirt could be an option, a friend of mine had a setter that would get sick every time he went in the van, one day they put his harness on before they went, and he wasn’t sick. Different to Harley I know, but it might work. However, before you spend out on a thundershirt – Moy Vets in Ballina by the way are selling them cheaper than anywhere else than I’ve seen put a t-shirt on him and see if it has any effect, it needs to be small enough that it feels tight on him, but not too tight obviously that he can’t breathe or move properly. Again, a friend of mine has a husky that has severe stress problems, a couple of weeks ago she posted on FB that he was totally freaked out, in a really bad way because of building work next door, she put a t-shirt on and he calmed down straight away and went to sleep, they had tried behaviourists, medication from the vets, rescue remedy everything. Nothing worked, she couldn’t believe what happened with the t-shirt."
Sorry this is such a long posting but I feel the information may be of help to others. The outcome for us is that having gone to the charity shops and bought 5 baby grow type suits without long legs for 1 Eur0 each I tried the first one on Luna and Glory Be……a changed dog, walked confidently around the middle of the room straight away. "Talked" and interacted with us and settled down happily without trembling in her bed. It seems that the t shirt or thundershirt work like swaddling a new born baby. Can’t tell you how marvellous it is to see her chilled again. Today we had someone doing some work in the garden and she is wearing her tea shirt and when he came in for a refreshment break she went to him for petting!!!
While we had her in our home both Ruby and herself stayed in the kitchen at night. Now Ruby is on her own again she is back up sleeping on the landing just be be near us 
my son has told me Ruby is using the house as a race track since we went on holiday 
she runs from the back door to the front and jumping the two steps between, like an agility run. She had stopped doing this while we were fostering, so she has not passed on this habit to Luna 
thanks again for the update. Irene
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