Torii's first day

Torii has had a lot of upheaval these last three months.  She had lived in her first home all her life and she was living with at least 3 other chihuahua's before going into the shelter.  We know this as they were all surrendered together in January 2014.  1 of the 3 chihuahuas is still at the shelter looking for his forever home - he's a cute little guy named  Peter 

 

When Torii came into the shelter, she was in desperate need of a dental which the shelter did for her.  Torii had seven teeth removed and then came down with a cold.  When I first saw her in February, she was coughing and sneezing and she was very stiff when walking.  As I mentioned, Torii was adopted out the day I was filling out paperwork to bring her into foster care.  Sadly for Torii she was returned after a week.  The reason was due to a seizure.  When she came back into the shelter she was placed in observation for over two weeks and they did not witness any seizures.  She'd not had any seizure activity her first time in the shelter and no report of seizure from the person who originally surrendered her.  What we do know is that once she was adopted she went to the vet and was placed on some pretty strong medications of which one had a side effect of seizures.  The medications were to treat diarrhea and some mild nasal congestion that started as soon as she went into the adopters home.

 

So, we don't know all of what happened but, the shelter vet notes suspect that the seizure was drug related.  I would also guess that stress impacted Torii more than anyone realized and that compounded what was going on.  We often forget how much stress impacts dogs.  Little Torii had been under stress for a long period of time, likely she physically wasn't feeling well and then was placed on some fairly strong medications.  That's a lot for a dog.

 

Coming into our home also added stress to Torii.  While we know our home is a safe and warm environment for Torii, she doesn't know that.  Like everything else what Torii needs is time and space to settle in while building trust with us.

 

So, Torri spent her first day with us pacing. This is very typical for new foster dogs and it's a stress response.  When dogs are doing this we really need to pay attention and not force ourselves onto them.  Of course there are going to be moments that we need to be able to guide Torii so, we leave the leash on her so that we can be in contact with her giving her distance from us.  We needed this to be able to take her out potty and to guide her into the room and then lure her into her crate with some amazing treats.

 

Also during the initial settling it's very important to pay attention to the other dogs in the home.  How they are being impacted by the new dog and then how the new dog is being impacted by them.  Catty does not do well with dogs that pace so, it's important that we keep Catty separated until the foster dog settles down.  We do this management with baby gates, interactive toys, extra training and extra walks for Catty.

 

Here's Torii moving about the house.  The hope is that in the coming days she will settle down enough for us to put a harness on her. This will be easier should she need to have the leash attached to her.  Torii likes to be in proximity of other dogs so she's doing well with Royal and he's pretty curious about her!

 

 

Torii decides this pad might be a good spot to take a rest



Royal giving me a sit!