Frustrations

Duncan seemed to be doing very well, but we had a tough couple of days towards the end of his first week. Getting him into his kennel in the mornings was getting more and more difficult, and on Friday morning it was just impossible. I spent about 20 minutes trying to get him in without success. It was getting to the point that I was going to be late for work, and continuing to try to get him into the kennel was just making Duncan more nervous and frightened. Forcing him in was not an option, but I could feel my own frustration growing. So I took a deep breath, patted him (and Gracie) on the head and went to work. I left his kennel door open, but let him stay out. I worried about him all day. Would he be ok? Would my furniture be ok? Would there be any puddles? (He had not had a single accident since he arrived.) Would Gracie be ok? Actually I really wasn't too worried about Gracie. Even if Duncan were to go off on her, he wasn't the type to chase after her if she ran. The worst that would happen would be for her to spend the day hunkered under my bed.

However, when I got home all was well. That is, except for a chewed up and discarded leaf on my living room floor from one of my plants . But this could have been Gracie's doing as she has a tendency to enjoy my greenery. (Not to worry, I only keep pet-friendly, nonpoisonous plants.) There were no puddles and no furniture damage. Gracie was calm and undisturbed, although she looked at me as if she knew I blamed the plant on her. I may have been mistaken, but I thought I heard her say, "It wasn't me Mom!" So, allot more suddenly than I had planned, Duncan was granted full access to the house at all times. I continued to leave his kennel door open should he feel the need to use it, however I have not seen him do so and I am considering folding it up and saving it for later use if necessary.

Over the next few days I continued to experience some other frustrations. There were a couple times that I needed to pick Duncan up, and unlike before when he handled it so well, he became startled and snapped at me. No worries, I was not bitten. And it's not his fault. He felt like he needed to defend himself. He did not sleep in the bed with me at all on Friday or Saturday nights, and when I would sit down next to him on the couch to pet him he would turn his head away as if to ignore me. I felt as if he didn't even like me and I began to have doubts. I may be able to provide Duncan a good home, but what if he wasn't happy here? Even though LL Dog rescue had a two week trial period, I could not imagine returning a pet! It was just beyond me. But what if this match really wasn't right for the two of us? As I sat there petting this beautiful if pensive little animal, I reminded myself to be patient. I knew this was going to be hard when I adopted Duncan, and I knew this was going to take time. Just love him and wait, I told myself.