Incidentally, we just learned that the name of one of Tannah’s sisters is Shelby. Those that have been following along with this thread will know what a huge coincidence this is. Either that or ‘Shelby’ is a really popular name lately, and somehow we weren’t made aware of that. You see, our black Cocker, who passed away 2 years ago this coming Mar. 11 was named Shelby. Her replacement, a buff sweetheart of a Cocker Spaniel, whom we were blessed to know for only 20 months, was also named Shelby. We were quite floored when we found out how close we had come to owning a third Shelby in a row.
We bonded with Tannah last Saturday when we met with her at her foster family’s residence for a couple of hours. Little did we know how firm that bond was until today, Sunday, when we tested leaving Tannah alone for a few minutes in the basement laundry room. She wasn’t impressed and she let us know it by barking and jumping at the basement door. Needless to say we made that a short separation interval to prevent scratch marks on the metal door. I hadn’t anticipated such a response because buff Shelby had been so good from day one. She was used to such a routine when we got her; her previous family had a similar pattern to their lives that we do.
We’ve done that several times this evening and so far we’re up to 10 seconds. I love it when a plan comes together!
On a more serious note, how am I going to leave the house for work in the morning? The neighbours aren’t going to appreciate us leaving a barking dog in the basement at 7 a.m. For tomorrow I’ve made arrangements to work from home so I can increase the separation intervals. Also, we’ve arranged to start beginner obedience training tomorrow night. We took Shelby through 3 levels with Capilano Obedience Training in North Van. It was very effective and I’m confidant Tannah will lose her bad habit very quickly.
It’s no wonder she’s experiencing separation anxiety. She came from a family with 4 Cockers; Tannah’s two sisters and one unrelated companion. The family had to move to Alberta and they tried selling Tannah and her sisters with no success. Time ran out before their move and these dogs were given to the CSRBC to be adopted out.
The beginning of the adoption process was to get the dogs clean, spayed, and vet checked, which included a teeth, eye and ear examination. After all that Tannah and her sisters were individually adopted. Tannah, however, was given back to the CSRBC after a week through no fault of her own. So as you can imagine, she’s in a bit of a delicate state right now. She’s very much a shadow to us the last couple of days. She really seems to have bonded with us.
And since we’ve had well behaved dogs in the past, as well as having participated in formal obedience training classes with them, I’m confidant the Tannah will pick up her cues quickly. She’s eager to please; I can tell.
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