The initial adventures of Rosie the Rescue Dog

I first saw Rosie in a local dog adoption organization's photo with a Santa hat, and she was a cutie, with a sweet beagle face and white paws. We were struck by her description - she was a bit timid but gentle and good with adults. The rescuers suggested a quiet home, and we thought, "Perfect." We have two sets of older parents nearby and our kids are grown, so this sounded like a match.

She was also supposedly crate trained, housebroken and good with cats. Actually, she was none of those things.

When we picked her up, we found out she had gotten carsick on the ride over, and she drooled heavily as we brought her home. Not a great start.

Then, we tried to get her to go to the bathroom on a leash. This was apparently a new concept for her - we all took a turn walking and walking with her with limited success. It quickly became apparent she had not been around normal household noises, either She would peel out of the kitchen when we got out pots and pans, when the microwave dinged, or dishes clanged together. Even the ice maker startled her. Not the most auspicious start.

Then, the cat problem began. We have an older Himalayan cat named Chai who had a distant relationship with our former beloved Jack Russell. They mainly ignored one another, but the dog would chase her away from me if she got too close. Otherwise, they were relatively cordial to each other.

However, our cousins had visited the weekend before we got Rosie with their little shih tzu, and she had made quite a stink whenever Chai came anywhere near her. So, I think the cat decided she'd had enough of dogs for the time being. (It is worth mentioning that Chai had occasionally chased smaller dogs and our neighbor's cats out of "her" yard in her prime.) So, we were showing Rosie around the bedroom when Chai suddenly attacked with no warning, while Rosie ran yelping to the other room. Oh my! The dog was terrified, the cat was steaming mad, and we had a big problem on our hands.

This led to us having to rotate Chai in and out, because my husband actually let Rosie chase after the cat once outside so she could stand up for herself. (Big mistake - now we were afraid the dog might really injure the cat.) We ended up letting the cat stay in the basement on cold days (it was January) and brought her upstairs at night after Rosie had been put to bed in her crate.

This lasted about 3 months, as we gradually let them be together across the same room while I was holding Rosie on a leash and my husband was holding Chai. The advice of the behavioral vet that we consulted was to keep giving Rosie treats when she ignored the cat and slowly let them be around one another for slightly longer periods of time. After about 3 months, they finally worked it out and largely ignore one another now.

Their truce is now strong enough that Rosie waited patiently for dinner this week while Chai tried to eat a couple pieces of dog food. Rosie LOVES dinner, so this was quite a surprise. (Her bowl even has little ridges in it to try to slow her eating process a bit, because she gulps down her food. Another suggestion from the wonderful behavioral vet.)

In my next post, I'll share how we got Rosie to go outside to the bathroom. It's been quite the journey with this precious pup.