I'm so tired

Oh, yeah.  I was going to post everyday, every little advance or setback Skywalker had.  Yep, I could deal with it.

Notice that I haven't posted in 6 days.

For a shy, submissive dog, Skywalker has a real "Cairnitude."  I said it from the first day and I still say it:  This dog is first class.

Now I did take some sketchy notes each day and I just did roust out that envelope containing the scratches from the pile of junk that has gotten alarmingly high since Skywalker arrived.

Lesson #1: We were calling him Walker, when I wasn't calling him Traveler.  Beats me.  To dog ears, however, Walker and Parker obviously sound the same so we've been trying harder to use the full name.

Don't worry, the lessons will be intermittent.  Instead, I will get back to the back of the envelope (see 2 paragraphs above) and transcribe my observations.

Day #1, Sunday, 11/28/09.  I think that I have mentioned that when we got Skywalker at the airport, he stuck his head out the crate, licked foster dad's hand, and then was perfect on the long ride back to Flagstaff.  We had a pen set up for him in the bedroom with his crate in it.  We were thrilled that he stood up against the pen, tail wagging, to greet us.  Being first time foster parents, I don't think we were cautious enough though.  Miss Parker and Radley, the resident Cairns, were allowed to approach the pen.  Skywalker was very accommodating but it could have easily been just the opposite.  There were tail wags and nose-nuzzling through the pen on both sides, much joy and acceptance.  Whew.  We were lucky.  Not as lucky as later when Buddy Holly, the 3 year old cat, sauntered into the room.  Holly was raised with another Cairn, sadly at Rainbow Bridge now, but quickly accepted puppy Rad as her new BFF.  I am hoping that Holly sized up Skywalker's personality and assessed the risks first because without a hesitation, she jumped right into Skywalker's pen. My heart skipped a beat or two and knowing what I have learned in the last week about cats and Cairns, I should have been hysterical.  No problemo, though.  Skywalker was mildly interested as Holly inspected the entire enclosure and crate.  Later, when Skywalker was outside in an attempt to induce "dookies," Holly moved into the crate.  Lesson #2: Cairns have a strong prey drive and silly cats raised with terriers have no sense.  Do not ever let this happen again.  Just because a bullet was dodged once doesn't mean it will ever happen again.


Day #2.  Skywalker slept through the night without a problem.  He didn't want to come out of his crate in the morning, so I picked him up and carried him through this house to the outside.  He seemed to think this was cool.  Outside was even cooler, though, and he did not want to come back inside.  Gee, if I'd been in a cage my whole life, I'd probably act the same way.  He was easy to retrieve, however, so back to the pen he went.  Both foster dad and I were quite surprised at the next turn.  Paul stood by Skywalker's pen as he put on his sport coat to go to work and Skywalker freaked.  He ran to the corner behind his crate and cowered.  Poor Paul.  He loves animals even more than me and he was crushed.  There was no denying, however, that the big dark coat, swinging through the air, terrified Walker.

Day #3.  Today, Skywalker was allowed to briefly meet the resident Cairns in person, no fence between them, everyone on leashes.  Not even the slightest aggression from anyone, only the wagging tails, butt sniffing, and general joy.  This is one sweet, even-tempered Cairn!  No results in the morning for the "dookies" walk even though it was about 18 hours since the last results.  Several intermittent trips produced nothing, not even pee.  Finally, a trip at noon produced both.  I was very impressed that this little guy held everything so long!  I took him back to his pen in the bedroom and went to the kitchen for a few minutes.  When I returned, Radley was in the pen!  Rad is a first-class climber and wire ex-pens are child's play.  As soon as I left the room, he scrambled right over and into the pen so he could be with his new buddy!  They loved each other.  Wow, another lucky break.

Day #4.  During the morning feeding, I once again found Radley in the pen with Walker.  Again, it was a mutual admiration society.  And another lucky break for foster mom.  I wasn't feeling like the best foster mom.  I knew I wasn't.

Later, I took Skywalker on his leash (of course), the two resident Cairns, and 3 of the barn cats on a tour of our expansive 2.5 acres.  We walked the perimeter of the fence.  Walker stopped at the first neighbor's horse corral, took deep breathes and wagged his tail furiously.  At the next corral, he met the neighboring woman and was very friendly.

It was probably too much too soon but when we got to the house, I didn't put Skywalker in his crate or pen, allowing him to roam the kitchen and living area.  He was so happy, if a little hesitant.  There was no marking, no bad interactions with any of the animals, nothing bad at all.  What a great little dog this is.

Day #5.  Because Skywalker has become so scared of foster dad, apparently due to past trauma, I suggested that dad leave off the big dark coat and the hat.  It did help but didn't cure the problem.  This is the Thanksgiving break so foster dad will be home for 4 days.  We're hoping this will help.  Skywalker has no problem with me.  He follows me everywhere, trailing his leash, and if I am busy with something else, he bumps me with his nose to say, "Hey, look at me!"

We went to have Thanksgiving dinner with friends and securely locked Skywalker in his crate and put the ex-pen around it.  So I thought.  When we came home, we were greeted by THREE happy little Cairns.  Apparently the crate wasn't latched well, Skywalker climbed the ex-pen, and life was good.  No soiling in the house, no furniture chewed, no problems at all.  Whew.  Another lucky break.

Day #6 & 7.  Walker loves to be outside.  He loves to run, he loves to be chased by Radley, he loves to chase Radley.  Snow was a bit puzzling on Sunday but this boy can adapt quickly.  I let him run around the property with Rad, dragging his leash, but he just refused to come inside, even when Parker and Rad came in.  It was very frustrating and of course scary to Walker when I was trying to catch him, even by that trailing leash.  Not the best two days.  I got very short-tempered and very tired.  Rad's obedience lessons were neglected and I felt like a full-time nanny.  I could do nothing right.  Even Radley was starting to ignore me and shy away when I reached for him.  This wasn't going so well.