Welcome Flower: Besse-girl is Back

Miss Besse has been back with us a week now. Keep reading the posts below and you'll read about the time she was with us earlier this summer. Her adopter found her to be too much puppy for her lifestyle.

So, what's different about Besse? Well, in my opinion she's cuter. Her hair has grown out some and she had "feathers" along her legs and body. Instead of looking "lab-ish" she now looks "collie-ish" in my opinion. I really like it.

She is still good with our dogs and our family. Besse was happy to see Miles and Missy again. I watched them sniff and then it kinda looked like a light went off in Besse's head and she started wagging her tail and got excited. We had Tinee (another Fluffy Dog) here for a week and Besse even met Tinee nicely and the two had a great time playing for two days until Tinee went to her permanent foster home (my mom's house).

My girls have had friends over and she is good with them. All the girl friends (10-13) have thought that Besse is cute. She is shy and it will take her a minute to warm up but then she will roll over for a belly rub.

She has been good about doing her potties outside. She had an accident her first day back here but since then has been good about using the back door and doing her potties in the yard. She still sleeps quietly in the crate at night.

So, what's different? She hasn't used the bell on the back door to go outside. I work from home and the dogs get out many times during the day so she's not really had to "ask" to be let out yet. She sleeps later than before will wait for me to get up or for the other dogs to start stirring before getting antsy in her crate.

She seemed a little more shy for the first 5 days or so. Even my girls said that she was different. I'd say she's feeling more comfortable now and will approach us for petting.

She is still puppyish and will jump up when she wants attention. I'd say she seems more pushy about this than before. She will jump up and pull at the back of your pants or your sleeve or she will bark. I decided that she wasn't going to get attention that way and I ignore her when she does that. I stop what I'm doing and look the other way. This is working well. When she approaches me quietly I will reward her with a nice scratch on the chin and some petting. If she gets mouthy when I pet her I gently hold her mouth closed (and tell her no biting) and then stop petting her. If she starts again I stop and do the same thing. These are the types of things that will help her learn proper manners. My senior sheltie, Holly, barks at meal time and a long time ago someone told me to use a squirt from a water bottle to get her to stop. I would probably use a different method these days but I'll tell you it does work. All I have to do is hold up my trusty red bottle and Holly stops. Besse gets excited at meal time too and she seems to know that the red bottle is not good based on Holly's reaction and will back up and stop.

Besse will bark at the other dogs that pass us on our walks. She also will jump and try to grab at the leash which she didn't do before. Her reaction would make one think that she isn't good with other dogs but she's fine with my three and with Tinee who was here last week. She was also good at the doggy daycare when she was there for a few weeks until we could begin fostering her again. She had a group of "friends" there and they had a great time playing together. I do think she's just anxious and not sure about the other dogs. So, if lots of walks are in your future she'll need some help gaining some confidence so that she can walk nicely around other dogs while on a leash.

She is a gorgeous, young girl who is shy and submissive. She is puppyish and does need to learn manners and could use some confidence building.

Thanks for reading and thanks for thinking rescue.

Here are some pictures and videos from the last week. Keep reading below and you'll read about her first stay with us also.