Out with the Old, In with the New

Poor little Belle.

She actually was better today. I think that given enough time -- probably a long time -- she will be able to trust people and be able to be adopted. But it's just going to take time.

I took her out in the back yard on the leash and she actually walked quite well with me, so I decided to try her on a walk around the block.

Well, I don't know if that was a good idea or not. The first 2/3 was fine. She walked next to me just like a normal dog and as long as I didn't look at her or look like I might touch her, she was fine, but the last 1/3 she fought the leash, tried to bite it, and tried to twist out of it. I had horrible visions of her getting loose and my never finding her again (which definitely would have been the case had she gotten loose).

She was as relieved to be back in her cage as I was to have her there, but then something must have spooked her and she got loose. When I had fed her that morning I apparently hadn't locked the door tightly and when I looked out of my office, the cage was empty and Belle nowhere to be found.

She soon turned up at the back door, sans leash. This meant that she was uncatchable. I left the back door open and just left her alone to come and go, figuring that it would be Megan's problem to catch her when it was time for the dog to leave.

But with her running loose, I began to notice that she was becoming more bold. Oh a looooonnnng way from being able to be touched, but instead of hugging the wall and slinking around the room, she actually poked her head into the kitchen when I was there and didn't immediately jump away until I actually moved. She didn't do that 2 days ago.

Also, I've been very conscientious about being loving with Sheila and Lizzie around Belle and I had noticed she watched closely.

So Lizzie and I were in the front hall. Lizzie jumped up to rest her paws against me and I was giving her a lot of loving and I noticed that Belle, who had been standing back about three feet, actually started moving toward us. It was the closest she had ever come voluntarily. I didn't move, but just continued to pet Lizzie.

There was no wonderful breakthrough here, but I could see from just that willingness to be close and not jump away immediately, that, given enough time, gentleness and love she will come around and hopefully be able to find herself a forever family.

I wasn't here when Belle left. Megan came and, with Walt's help, was able to catch her and transport her to her next home. At least I was able to get a snippet of film before she left.

I was gone most of the afternoon, about which I'll probably write tomorrow. When I came home, I left a message on Megan's phone and within a couple of hours, she arrived with a new project for me.

"X" marks the body of little Daisy (she didn't seem to have a name when she arrived, so I named her), who is about 4 weeks old and who has been at Megan's for the last week or so. She looks like she's part lab, part pit bull and is the first brown puppy we've had in a long time.

She's already on solids, so I don't have to worry about bottle feeding her. I expect that we will start the bonding work tomorrow, though she has already spent a long time asleep in my lap.

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One final note, a personal note to the actor who called me this evening and lectured me for more than 20 minutes on how wonderful he was and how he didn't understand how I could possibly have given him less than a glowing review.

It amazes me that people who rely on critics to say good things about them to bring people to their shows turn around and essentially bite the hand that feeds them. I've dealt with a lot of reviews of groups and/or individuals for which I was working over the past 30 years, reviews which I felt were decidedly undeserved, but would never, ever risk alienating a critic, especially after she has warned you not once but twice that she was finding your attitude annoying.

I doubt that the actor will check this blog, but what the heck...I'm still fuming, so I might as well get it off my chest.

Panicky Belle

This is Belle.

Belle is in the cage because, trust me, that's really where she wants to be, where nobody can get to her.

Ashley called me this afternoon on an emergency basis. They needed to find homes for Belle and her brother immediately. I'm not too clear on the details, but apparently the dogs were dropped in the night drop at the animal shelter and someone from the SPCA realized that they had already been in the foster system and apparently had escaped or something.

Ashley said I would only need to keep her until Monday and that she would probably be happiest just staying in the cage all the time.

Megan brought her by in the late afternoon and said that she had gotten bitten trying to put her in the carrying cage. I suggested we just put the cage itself inside the bigger wire cage, which we did. I didn't expect Belle to come out immediately and then, of course, have NOWHERE to go because the carrying case was taking up the whole room. My bad idea.

So I locked Sheila and Lizzie up in my office and opened the cage door to let Belle out and to remove the carrying case.

She came slinking out quickly and ran all over the house (fortunately there is nowhere she can really go with all the doors closed). I didn't even try to touch her or even look at her. I wanted her to feel unthreatened.

She peed and pooped so much it makes me think that she hadn't relieved herself all day. She ran around the house, tail between her legs, against all the walls and doors where she felt safer, not out in the open. Lizzie and Sheila were all right in my office for awhile but then Lizzie really really wanted to get out.

I decided to introduce just one dog to Belle before introducing two. Lizzie seemed to know that this was a dog who wanted to be left alone, so mostly she did. She was more interested in getting inside the cage to check it out. Belle was very leery about everything. Eventually I let Sheila out too and just left the door to my office opened.

That's when I discovered Belle knew about dog doors.

Once outside she could run very fast, with the dogs in hot pursuit. I didn't know how I would ever get her back in.

I was starting to panic myself because we had to go to a show in about half an hour. If we were going to be home, I would just let her take things in her own time, but I didn't feel comfortable leaving all three dogs alone. Belle had shown hostility toward the other two dogs, out of fear, and I didn't know if Lizzie and Sheila might gang up on her.

I put out an emergency call to both Ashley and to Megan. Ashley answered first and said she would come over and help catch Belle.

In the meantime, Belle had come back inside on her own, which made it a bit easier (I thought). I closed off the opening to the dog door, but as soon as she saw me in her line of view, she managed to sneak behind the thing that I use to block off the dog door and outside she went again.

Time was growing very short. By the time Ashley got here, Belle had, unbeknownst to me, snuck in again without my seeing her and was sleeping in one of the recliners. Walt found her. I quickly blocked off the door to my office and all the other doors. Ashley came with a leash and, when Walt and I left for the theatre, she was sitting under our kitchen table with Belle backed up against the credenza and she was trying to get her to come close enough so that she could catch her.

I wondered, several times during the show I was seeing, how the Great Belle Hunt was going, but when we got home, Ashley was gone and Belle was in the cage so whatever she did, it worked. Of course now I have to figure out how I'm going to deal with her tomorrow. She is obviously going to have to go outside at some point, and I'm wondering how to let her out and get her back in again! I suspect a leash will be involved!

We got to Old Sacramento early and stopped at a Middle Eastern deli where we had hot dogs and watched a program on TV that looked like it was either Arabian Idol or the Arabian version of that new karaoke program that is on in the States right now.

The show we saw was very funny. It was Every Christmas Story Ever Told, and it pretty darn near was. Kind of a reduced Shakespeare, only with a Christmas theme (who knew that A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life would mesh so well?).

This company holds a nice reception on opening night, with wine and hors d'oeuvres. We don't usually go -- I get into my wallflower mode in a crowd of strangers and am very uncomfortable and it's just easier not to -- but since we had such a small dinner, Walt suggested we stop by. It was quite nice, but the room was about 1/4 the size it should have been for a group that size. It was like trying to serve yourself while standing in a full cattle car. Still, it was nice and I listened to one of the actors talking about their rehearsal process ('cause I was entirely too shy to actually talk to him myself).