Looking at this sweet sleeping Poppy bichon you wouldn't imagine that sometimes she can turn into a real Mr Hyde. This dog is the rescue dog that I have blogged about quite a lot in the past. She was badly treated for the first two years of her life and has a lot of 'isms'. One of them is that she gets very upset and hysterical when people leave. She loves them arriving and doesn't want them to go away. Consequently each time a visitor gets up to leave there are ructions and growls and she has to be restrained.
My m-i-l is not very confident with dogs and the Poppy situation sometimes worries her. I think Pop can sense this and is sometimes extra cross that m-i-l is going. Pop thinks 'I know, if I tear at her clothes a bit she will have to stay' - yes, bloggers, we recently had an 'incident'.
Tomorrow Pop and Misty will both be spending the afternoon at m-i-l's as an experiment. She will come and go quite often and see if Poppy is a bit calmer. If it all works out okay then she will agree to look after them for a long weekend next month so that I can go to Paris and stay with Mr FF (who was home last weekend and it was good to be together again)
Here is another sleepy photo - and yes, they are spoilt for choice with their daytime beds
30 comments:
Awwwww. Hope Pop and Misty have a lovely time with your MIL and Pop is indeed calm so that you can have a lovely relaxing time in Paris with Mr FF. Glad your weekend was wonderful, Kathy.
I definitely think that training will help! And how kind of your MIL to be willing to give it a try - in spite of the clothes-tearing! ;-)
Awww, I hope she's a wee calm soul when with MIL so that you can get to Paris!! You must be missing Mr FF terribly!!
I'm glad you had a lovely weekend together
C x
Hiya Kathy - yes, fingers crossed for tomorrow
x
Ladyfi - We spent a fortune on an educatrice canine and it was a waste of time. Pop actually has a lot of mental trouble and there is not much modification that can be done unfortunately. This is according to the three vet specialists she has seen for her behaviour (not to mention the four for her allergies)
Yes, we call Poppy our money drain - about 4k worth of treatment so far
Carol - yes, it was lovely to be together again
Perhaps I share an ism with Poppy. When people leave my house I go very funny too. I become attached far too quickly. Could it be trained out of me do you think?
Rescue dogs come with a whole heap of baggage. My grandparents last dog was a rescue dog and was the so-called runt of the litter. My God, did he develop a huge personality once he was given the space to do so...!
The 'Incident' sounds interesting.
I hope the weekend comes off.
I can vouch for dogs getting in the way of seeing loved ones; they are great but difficult to leave or travel with (therefore, it is me who travels to Brittany). Fingers crossed that the experiment works!
Ah, the old "lampshade" as we call it at the manor. Our Ralphy had to wear one after his surgery, years ago, God rest his doggy soul.
Well, she'll train MIL or MIL will train her. My money on the first option.
Rescue dogs have so much going on in their minds that we just cannot know...all you can do is love them, which you do.
Hope it all works so that you and Mr.FF can get together without worrying until you can move house and be together again.
Poppy looks like a real showgirl in that top photo, and the bottom one looks like they've both had a right night out on the town!
Oh, the poor baby! Sounds just like my daughter. Hates it when company has to leave and she must get ready for bed.
The trip to Paris sounds so exciting! What will you wear? I'm sure it will be fabulous and you will knock Mr. FF off his feet.
As others here have said, rescue dogs do come with a lot of baggage, and we have to be prepared for it and make allowances for their behaviour.It's always a problem finding someone to dog-sit if you want to go away. We have friends who were happy to look after one, but draw the line at four. Good luck to your M-I-L..she'll need it!
Molly - I'm the opposite really. I'm usually quite happy for people to leave - not that I'm unfriendly but I just like my own space very much.
Steve - yes, the educatrice canine said the same thing about Poppy. Now that she was free to develop a proper personality it was all too much for her. She had been living in a tiny room with 15 other dogs so had never had her own territory.
Ken - ah, legs got lunged at and a non-doggy person got quite agitated - which I totally understand. However I've always been a doggy person and have no fear - that's the key - you have to be stronger than them.
Carrie - without the dogs my life would be totally different - better in a lot of ways and more miserable in just as many. Hobson's choice!
willow - Pop has to wear the collar all the time or she will bite her paws through to the bone. She has seen quite a few experts about this - there is no solution (after having tried dozens)
tfitw - most people are happy to find someone they know as a surprise visitor at the door. My heart just sinks when the bell goes because I know the problems that will occur when the person leaves. We just try and bundle her into another room now with a treat.
Lulu - yes, she does like showing her all to everyone - Misty as well. Two uninhibited dogs there
Angie - I never dress up much these days. Usually I'm in black trousers, Rocket Dog boots and a jumper
Ayak - when it was just Misty there was no problem as she is sweet and gentle and quiet. Since we've got Poppy Misty has now developed a yap.
That's a difficult one! Poor doggie having to get over post-traumatic stress syndrome.
Hope all goes well with MIL.
PS. I get those spammers too, it's so frustrating.
Dedene - In ten minutes we will be off so fingers crossed.
If you haven't already, you may want to try Bach's Rescue Remedy for Pets on Poppy. It is available at the health food store opposite La Poste. It is especially effective (on an occasional basis,) with animals going through nervous periods of stress, and a person leaving a room could be considered stress to a (previously traumatised) dog. Good luck!
Theres something funny about a dog that won't let a mother in law leave. Must a be good story in there for your course, I think.
Bonne chance et bon courage! Poor Poppy, she must really have had a time of it before she came to you.
Kitty - hello and welcome to the blog. I tried the Rescue Remedy about three years ago, plus so many homeopathic and veterinary products that I stopped counting. We tried sedatives - there is nothing we have not tried. The sedatives helped in a way but it also meant she slept away her life - which is no life
Mark - yes, that is a good spin on it - but then m-i-l is lovely so I don't blame Poppy. Anyway today's experiment went just fine
Contem Troub - I've blogged about her story before - yes, she nearly died and a vet involved in the rescue of the 16 dogs said it was the worst case of animal neglect he had ever seen
The things we do for dogs FF, and I know you wouldn't have it any other way.
So happy the girls were good at m-i-l's, now you can go to Paris with a happy heart, it will be lovely to get away, and you can come and pick me up, I love Paris, the shops, everything about the place is quite wonderful.
We had three rescued standard poodles (not all at once - one at a time !) and they all came with baggage. Sometimes no matter how hard you try there are problems you can never resolve, even though we never gave up trying.
Then we got a puppy having never had one before. Now that was a real shock to the system - we thought it would be easier !!
Arrived yesterday and slept all of today lol. The fish n chips were worth queuing for, yum. It's bitter cold here and we had hail stones today ugh, wanted to go to Covent Garden tomorrow, we shall see. hugs, Kathy.
I'm so sorry to hear about the struggles with your little rescue. We have had LadyBug for just under two years and it has been a learning experience. She has settled in quite nicely now, but still has "issues". She is VERY attached to me and if any other dog...even my other two...try to spend time with me or cuddle with me, she gets very upset. She does not bite, just gets upset! I'm hopeful that if we keep working with her...in time...she will become more confident. She used to freak out when we went to the store! Now, she settles down in her bed and awaits our return. Even if we are gone five minutes, you would think we were gone a year...based on the reunion!! So glad you had a nice visit with Mr FF.
Hello Ann - I too love Paris and if it were not for the dogs I would have been there a lot more than the several times we have managed trips over the last seven years. Mr FF is now no longer in the centre but a few miles from Versailles - which still counts as Paris and is the posh side. The side where even a three-bedroomed house is way out of our budget.
Oh Jean - I love hearing people talk about the problems they have or had with their rescue dogs because then I feel reassured that it is a common problem. What I do now when someone leaves is bundle her into another room with a treat and let little Misty in with her too. In fact Misty has become a yapper now which she never used to be. Her one little yap can be what sets Poppy off.
Kathy - I can't remember when I last ambled around Coven Garden. It must have been about four years ago when I went to something at the Donmar Warehouse - probably Sondheim's Pacific Overtures.
You enjoy yourself K
x
Hello again bb. Aw sweet little ladybug. Poppy is much more verbal in her 'isms' and when we are walking if anyone approaches us, well they usually cross over. I think I am becoming legendary in our neighbourhood. For a start compared to the usual state of Breton dogs they look like beauty queens and they make as much noise as the biggest loudest dogs you have ever heard.
Hope Poppy and the MIL bond happily.
I think rescue dogs often have 'issues'.
Our son's little cockerpoo (Hm.......) is very nervous of new people but very friendly when he knows you.
The famous Buster is a rescuebut we got him as a little pup and he is cheerful.
Have a good weekend.
Hope the experiment with MIL works. My husband is away Mon-Fri but back every weekend so we don't forgot what we look like. Hope that you can get to see Mr FF more often.
Once had a doberman that didn't like people leaving, and would happily go into a room with people, but play hell if they came into her.
Have now got a beagle that rescued, or adopted, us. It has taken 3 years to get him to run up to say hello, not run out of the barn if you entered and accept OH happily. Think he was a chasse dog that had been badly treated by men. Now, he is a lovely dog.
They are adorable, I want one. I've given you an award over on my Chez Aspie blog. xo
Elizabeth - pop has got worse over the few years she has been with us. The educatrice canine said that she had bonded so closely with us and loved us so much that anyone new coming into our circle (even a casual visitor) would be seen as a threat. Which made me wonder why she then is friendly when they arrive and horrible when they go?
cw - Yes, the experiment went well and she will be looking after the dog for me for a long weekend in a few weeks time. Hurrah.
FFS - hello - aw, your dog sounds lovely and how rotten the chasse were rotten. I've heard awful stories about how the hunt dogs are treated out here - I hate hunting and everything to do with it
Hello Den - thank you for my award. I am so in awe and admiration of you now that I have learnt a bit more about 'stuff'.
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