The Tallahassee Diary

9/10/07 - Citizen’s call to LBR:  boxer abandoned in house next door  7-10 days ago.  Neighbors  has 3 boxers (2 parents and the white one was their baby.)  They left the white female because she would fight with her mom.  The man would come by every 2 or 3 days but he hasn’t been back in a while.   LBR reported the situation to the Humane Society of North Texas.  A cruelty officer located owner and received release to take the dog on 9/17.

9-19-07 - From the shelter:  Here are a few pics of your boxer friend - and I will try to get you more information such as heartworm status and etc tomorrow.  She's terrified of people, not leashed trained, but give her a home where she can build up some of the confidence she desperately needs, I think she will be a great dog. She does not seem to be a fear biter, as I carried her and loved on her in the office and she didn't snap once, she's just scared out of her mind right now.  Talk to you soon. 

9/23/07 -  I think she's been in the backyard all of her life, but we know she was alone for 2-3 weeks.  Today, I had to drag her out of her crate to potty.  She had held it since yesterday, and she ate a big dinner and drank plenty so I know she was dying.  She slunk to the back of the yard and went pee pee and poo poo right away. 

I thought I had all my dogs put up, but Levi was out in the yard.  I saw her looking at something and he came wiggling around the corner.  I just stood and watched to see what would happen.   They met and she seemed to relax a little.  He saw me and came over for some scratches and petting.  She was like "WTF?  You are PETTING him?"  I think she thought he was in trouble.  Anyway, she eventually relaxed enough to venture into the house and sat by me at the computer for a minute.  I think it helps for her to see that dogs have fun here and don't get hit.

I think she'll be fine.  We've already made some progress.  She still makes me carry her everywhere and shakes like a leaf, but we'll be patient and see what happens. I think after the trauma of her spay on Tuesday, we'll be able to really work on the trust issues.

9/23/07 - Tallahassee is terrified and stays still like a rock. Makes me carry her EVERYWHERE.  I'm worried about this one.  I'm going to give her a week or so and see how she does. She may be past the point of help, but maybe she'll come around.  Send good vibes and tell her telepathically that Aunt Kathy is a nice person.  She has had no socialization and thinks I'm going to kill her every time I move :(  So very sad.

9/24/07 - She's doing a little better as each hour goes by so I'm hoping tomorrow’s spay doesn't set her back too much.   Dr. Norris is going to let me hold her while he gives her a pre-anesthetic shot as soon as I walk in the door with her, so that should help.

9/26/07 - How is Miss Tallahassee tonight?   She's good.  Up and around. Staying close to me but won't let me touch her. Progress I think.  Levi is out with the other doggies, otherwise, she sticks to him like glue.  I saw her wag her tail at him this morning.   He is such a Ladies Man!!

12/17/07 - Just when I was about to give up on Tallahassee, I think she's starting to come around.  My son moved home and she apparently likes boys better than girls.  She responds well to him and he tells me that she will actually go in and out the door when he tells her to.  She slept in his room last night.   He had a couple of friends over the other night and he said that all three were able to pet her.  She actually will stop running away when I tell her to stay and she moves toward me when I tell her to come.  Very odd indeed.

1/24/08 - Tallahassee had a bit of a breakthrough tonight.  For some reason, she likes it when you whistle.  My son has been whistling to her and she responds by moving toward instead of away from him.  I even got her to come to me by whistling. 

We were both able to sit with her and pet her tonight without her freaking out and looking for an escape route.  We even snapped a leash on her collar without her doing her "fighting marlin" impression.  She absolutely HATES for her feet to be touched, so we even did a little bit of that to let her know that it's okay.  She likes to have her face and under her chin scratched most of all.

And the best news of all - she took treats from our hands!  That is a HUGE deal for Miss Tallahassee.  You can tell that she still doesn't feel comfortable being touched all that much, but the fact that she ate from our hands gives me some hope.

My son has a friend that had a dog like Tallie and he said that it took a full year for her to act "normal".  Tallie has been with me for almost 5 months now.  She's just a baby, only about a year and a half old, but she has a very old soul.  Right now as I type, she has chosen to lay on the dog bed closest to my computer.  There are other beds spread throughout the house, but she picked the one next to me.

I have hope for this girl yet.  I don't know what the future holds for Tallie, but for now, I need to at least continue to work with her a little each day.  My son is planning on joining the Coast Guard and has about 2 months left before he leaves for basic training.  He's promised to work with her a little every day until he leaves.  She really prefers teenage boys to anyone else that she's met so far.

Attached are some more recent pictures of her that I took tonight.  She was totally un-fazed by the flash and by the camera getting close to her.  Not the best pictures, but they show her as she was tonight - a little more relaxed and without the wild look in her eyes that she had the first time I met her.

1/30/08 - What did my dogs do when the fence went down?

….My son ran to the back yard and found Levi and Tallahassee still in the yard.  Thank goodness that Tallie loves my son because he was able to get her to go inside and not dash off to the side yard like she does when I try to get her in.  She would have been long gone, never to be seen again because she does NOT like people.  No way would she ever allow anyone to catch her.

3/15/08 - Tallahassee did a…..PLAY BOW! Yep - she is getting braver all the time. She actually got so

excited at breakfast yesterday that she bounced around and play bowed at me several times. She comes when I call her most of the time and has started asking for small pats on the head. My daughter reports that she is actually standing up on the side of her bed like she wants to get up there with the other dogs.

I love watching her get braver and more trusting.

1/13/09 - Tallahassee says "Hey - where's my bling?"

At PF the other day, I cleaned them out of clearance sale collars.  I got some really cute ones for super cheap (like $3 each).  Anyway, Maple picked the pretty shiny pink collar with skulls.  That left several in the bag.  When the other dogs saw Maple getting her new collar, we were quickly surrounded by other dogs wanting in on the action. 

I picked the dangerous dog orange for Tres and Winston got a new cool ROGZ collar with some sort of military emblems.  I never mess with Tally much.  The pink collar that she had on has been on her for over a year.  She went and sat next to Faith facing her like she was asking "Hey - where's my new collar?".  Faith was able to unbuckle her collar while she sat still like a statue. 

I got the new collar ready with her tags and thought she would let me slip it over her head.  Nope.  She wasn't having that.  I chased her for a minute then gave up.  Faith said "Give it to me.  I'll put it on her." I'll be damned if Tally didn't climb back up on the couch and sat facing Faith again, waiting for her pretty new collar.  Faith put it on her like it was nothing.

She's perfectly happy and is now sound asleep on top of Winston.  She's a strange dog for sure.

4/28/09 - I have a digger here.  Tallahassee LOVES to dig rain or shine!

11/07/09  - Who does Tallahassee belong to?  Tallahassee belongs to Tallahassee.  She is like a spirit wind that comes in and out quietly without making any noise.  She doesn't let anyone touch her unless you have a cookie in your hand.  She's Levi's best friend.

Sometimes she'll come and sit on the dog bed next to my bed and let me pet her nose if I hang my hand down.  But mostly she just is.