Nickel Silver Labrador Retriever Female 2 Years Old ID #3307

May 26, 2023

Nickel continues to do well in her foster home. One of the challenges I had was trying to get her to eat. Finally, she started eating all her food which was a relief. It took a lot of trial and error with different food add ons to her dry kibble. She was a grazer on the farm. Phoebe is a vacuum, she would of inhaled all of Nickel’s food too. Slowly I will increase her kibble and reduce egg and ground chicken. She also loves cottage cheese.

Nickel is starting to relax. She loves to run and play with Phoebe. Her personality and play style is coming out. She is beginning to trust Pheobe. I love watching them chase each other across the yard or wrestle. When Phoebe comes home from daycare, Nickel greets her by gently grabbing her snout with her mouth. She is so happy to see her. Foster dad reports she is less anxious when we leave.

We have been walking around the back yard on lead with mixed results.  We only do it for 5 min at a time. She flops down and rolls on her back I coax her up. She is slowly catching on. This is all new and sometimes scary for her. I want to take her on a short car ride with Phoebe to get her used to it. Eventually graduate to a walk of going to a pet store. That’s for the future.

She is also less nervous around us. She met my contractor yesterday and greeted him. She really didn’t have a lot of interactions with people prior. Her favorite thing to do is snuggle on the couch with Phoebe or us. She is very sweet and gives lots of kisses. It’s nice to see her becoming comfortable in her foster home.

May 22, 2023

Nickel is beginning to be a house dog whoo hoo. When she goes outside to pee she runs back to the house to come back in. Her recall is excellent. She goes in the crate often although I have not crated her for any length of time. I am going slow and easy with this sweet girl. She sleeps on the dog bed in our room every night. She walks in the kitchen no fears at all.

She has had 0 accidents with us. We left her out crate for 5 hrs.

We did have a couple of casualties since she has been here. One destroyed remote (our fault), one chewed corner on a pillow, and this morning she took the TP and chewed  little bit of it. She did try to steal our cookbook. She got caught walking away with it. I want to believe she was going make us a gourmet dinner.

She got up on the couch when I was out, my husband sent me the picture. She and Phoebe were both hanging out on it. Since then she has crawled up on the couch and snuggled with me. She is so sweet and gives lots of face kisses.

She is really adapting fast. She is not as submissive when I walk by her. She no longer runs off nervously as much. All positive stuff. She was allowed to graze for food on the farm. That won’t fly here Phoebe is a vacuum. I have  to really coax her to eat. She will eat about 1/2 then I hand feed the rest. I am hoping she will not need to be hand fed much longer.

The goal this week is to put her harness on and walk around the yard to get her comfortable. Of course, Phoebe will assist. If that goes well we can try a car ride with Phoebe. I don’t want to go to fast with her. I am extremely happy to see so much progress in a short time.

May 19, 2023

Nickel is starting to relax more. She is still nervous around my husband and myself especially when we walk by her. I believe it’s because she didn’t have a lot of human interaction before, she is improving. She is very submissive when we are standing. She does a submissive smile.  She will come over when we are sitting and is more relaxed.

She is more comfortable inside now. She even walked into the kitchen. At first she would only come in a foot at most. Today she walked in all the way and went to the front door to check the rest of the room out. She still is nervous but I try not to make a big deal of it.  Inside I am celebrating hard. She also slept in the dog bed in our bedroom. Then today when I went to get Phoebe from daycare my husband sent me a picture of her lying in the crate. Who is this dog??? Phoebe loves the crate and naps in there. I just turned around and she and Phoebe are sharing the crate.

She and Phoebe are playing and Nickel is initiating. Phoebe always took toys from the other dogs but Nickel stands up for herself. Phoebe went to take her bone and Nickel said back off. Nickel is helping Phoebe with boundaries.

I have to say Phoebe deserves most of the credit for all the changes we see with Nickel. Nickel watches Phoebe then imitates her. She is using her paws to wrestle which is Phoebe’s patented move. It’s very exciting to see all the changes with Nickel. She wants to come in the house, she races to the kitchen to get a cookie. Thanks Phoebe for being my helper.

Based on what I am seeing Nickel needs to have a confident resident dog in her new home. She is scheduled for her spay June 9th.

May 17, 20233

Nickel is beginning to relax a little bit.  Her first night inside she was frozen to a spot on the rug. Yesterday she began to move around the house wandering from room to room, nervously checking things out. She would tentatively approach me while I was working at the dining room table. She comes only so close then belly crawls the rest of the way. She is very submissive with people especially if you are standing. If you are sitting she comes over to see you for head rubs. I am rubbing her head as I type this. Her tail is tucked as you pat her. She seeks out love but is unsure.

I am not crating her because she is still nervous. Having Phoebe helps her. She is following Phoebe’s lead. If Phoebe tries  to get rough Nickel puts her in her place. Good girl Nickel. She loves to run after the ball with Phoebe.  She won’t take it but you can start to see her relaxing.

She has been really good no accidents.  She is afraid to go in to the kitchen, I think she will eventually. She has checked out all the other rooms. Last night she kept coming into the bedroom and licking my hand. She was not ready to sleep on one of the dog beds. I am letting her go at her pace.

This morning I got her to eat her breakfast inside. She is feeling more comfortable. She needs a bath but I am trying to go slow with her and not scare her. I did manage to wash her with a face cloth with a little dog shampoo and rinsed her off the same way.  She was pretty freaked out. She is not so dirty and smells much better. It’s baby steps with this girl. She has made a lot of progress. She is no longer panting and is relaxing on the rug now.

Her coat is very sparse I have been adding salmon oil to her food. I think in time it will look healthy and shiny. She has been good about eating her food.

I think she doing great considering all the changes she went through. She is getting spayed next week. Hopefully she will be able to walk into the vet’s office. She was a rubber chicken dog our first day there. My husband carried her everywhere. She is a solid 78lbs. We have some time before that happens.

May 16, 2023

Big welcome to Nickel a 2 year old silver female.

Nickel is from an Amish farm but was never bred. She is doing well considering how scary and confusing this is for her.

She was pretty shut down when she came to our house. She basically melted in the backyard.  Phoebe came out and that seemed to help her relax a bit. She is very shy right now. She comes over to get pets but is very submissive.

We brought her to the vet and she weighs 78lbs. She is in great shape. Needs a bath but she has had enough stress for today.  So, it can wait.

She definitely likes having another dog. She is more relaxed with Phoebe. Not only has she left her home but she also was separated from her mom. But I am impressed with how well she is doing.

She has managed to step onto the deck. She has entered the house but is extremely nervous. This is her first time ever entering a house. She needs some time to decompress. I think she is doing great.