Cally

We have finally decided on the name Cally for our new dog. Cally is a shorten version for a local Indians tribe. Both my DH and I think the name fits her better than Sioux. It has been amazing to see how much better she is doing since we picked her up from the pound on Saturday. She now walks up and down the deck by herself. (That is something that we have had to teach her to do.) Since Saturday she has had three accidents on the tile floor but yesterday and today she did both of her businesses outside. Believe me this lady is very happy about that!!! The biggest change is she is going on walks with me off leash up in a field by our house. She will either walk right next to me or go out a little distance and then stop and wait for me to catch up to her. Yesterday a very loud motorcyclist drove by and she freaked out and took off running. She disappeared out of sight and I wasn't sure how far she had run. I called her and whistled for her and a few seconds later her head comes around the corner and she looks at me a little sheepishly. I called her again and she came running up to me!!! She has made huge improvements from when she was in the kennel!!

It has been funny to watch because Cally really hasn't been taught that much. We are had to or are having to try and teach her how to go up and down steps, eat in a bowl, walk on a leash, check to see if the glass door is open before walking through it, how to come when she is called, that its okay to bark when someone comes into the yard etc. Poor thing really does have much of a clue in some of the small things.

We did have one scare on Monday when Cally met Monk and Jasper. Jasper has been sticking his nose over the fence trying to meet Cally. I've been trying to keep an eye on that because my DH did say Jasper really doesn't like dogs. Well Monday afternoon Cally was in the corral with my DH and I as we were moving chicken into a larger coop. Cally had no fear of Monk and Jasper. They were sniffing her and she was sniffing them. The problem came when she brushed up against Monk's back leg and he kicked out. That scared Cally who accidentally ran into Jasper's back legs and he kicked. Cally caught that one and she took off running. Well, Jasper then took off after her. I started yelling for Cally and Jasper while running after them. (Let me tell you the two of them can run fast!) They took off into the other corral where Cally finally turned and barked at Jasper but by that time Jasper "ran" her over and she sat on her back legs yelping. By this time my DH, who had been in the chicken coop when the incident happened, came running and scared off Jasper and picked up our poor Cally. (Apparently if Cally had run to us or not run at all Jasper won't have gone after her but when she took off running he thinks it as a game.) We were both so scared that she was hurt real bad. My DH looked her over and on her back hind leg she has several hoof size pieces of fur missing. The whole incident literally scared the pee out of her but fortunately nothing was broken. She was just shaking like a leaf as DH carried her out of the corral. We were able to get her to walk on it and except for being scared she seems fine. We are so glad that, that is all that happened!!! And of course my DH and I thought this whole thing might sent her back into her shyness but it surprisingly didn't!!! We almost wonder if it bonded us even more because she sees us as someone that will protect her!!! Cally now growls and barks at Monk and Jasper whenever they come close to the fence she is at. I think she now has a fear and strong dislike for them!

She really is a sweet dog and we're glad that we brought her home!!!