I decided to wait a while before updating you all on my progress with Maisie. The home check was carried out and all was fine. The next stage was for Maisie to come to me for the whole day. This went well and I started to feel a little bit in love with her.
The next stage was for Maisie to come for a "sleep over" lol, she stayed from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening, on the understanding that if all went well, she could stay with me permanently. If I was not coping well with her she could go back to the rescue for more training. Maisie arrived last Friday, (the hottest day of the year here). On Friday night I put her to bed in her crate and shut the door, as instructed. Maisie began barking and I went back into the kitchen to reassure her. The barking continued throughout the night, fortunately I live in detached bungalow so she wasn't disturbing my neighbours and my bedroom is the farthest room from the kitchen, with the background noise of the fan and me being extremely tired I did get some sleep. I let Maisie out for a wee around 2.30 am and settled her back in the crate. I got up at around 6.00 am, Maisie was barking again. She spent most of the morning in the garden after having her breakfast. At this stage she was still very nervous and wary of me. When I approached her she would run off. Saturday night was much the same, a lot of barking during the night.
Yesterday was a lovely day and again Maisie spent a lot of time in the garden. She obviously felt safe in the garden where she could escape from me if she wanted to. Also she has only spent five days in a house over the past three months. She had been living in a kennel environment at the rescue and was only brought into the house last week with a view to her coming to stay with me. By the afternoon she was feeling she could trust me a little more and was accepting a little stroke and a tickle. After her dinner I decided I needed to keep her in the house for the evening because I have a large garden and she runs round it a lot I felt she was getting a bit hyper and would hopefully be more calm in the house. She stayed in the lounge with me, pacing quite a bit. Eventually she settled down and had a snooze. Later in the evening I encouraged her to come to me and we had some gentle bonding fuss. I fetched a fleece cover I used for Jazz and placed it on the sofa. I lifted Maisie onto the sofa and we had real "Cocker cuddles". She then settled down and eventually put her chin across my thigh and went to sleep. I was completely thrilled, I felt we had turned a corner and she was starting to trust me and realise I am not such a bad person after all. I put Maisie to bed in her crate, fully expecting lots of barking again. She had a little wuffle but I didn't go back into the kitchen. I am delighted to tell you there wasn't a peep out of her all night. I am so thrilled and over the moon to have her. There have been no toilet accidents at all, and when she wants to go out she barks furiously at the back door. Today I will attempt a little walk with Maisie, I have been advised to take only baby steps with her but I really feel we turned a corner last night. Maisie is a beautiful dog, and the couple of my friends who have seen her have both said straight away, Andrea facially she looks just like Jazz, my beloved boy who died last year.
So I think I can officially say I have a new Cocker spaniel in my life, something I honestly thought would never happen with what is going on with dogs at the moment. Today I will register her with my vet and await delivery of her new Rasberry pink leather collar. Happy days ahead. Thank you all again for your support and encouragement.
