The Nanny's Homecoming

We saw a picture of The Nanny on a website I am now forbidden to view; petfinder.org. The "proper" way to choose a dog I suppose, is to meet the dog with an unbiased opinion, in order to logically decide if this dog will be a right fit for your family. Luckily, at the time, our family only consisted of two humans and two cats, and there was nothing in her description about not being suitable with living with either species. Which is good because we had our mind made up before we even met her.

We travelled 50 miles to meet her at a Petsmart adoption fair. She was shy, and uncomfortable in the chaotic surroundings. Reasoning would tell us that she is not confident and to pick a more outgoing dog, but even after the foster moms warnings that she might take some time to warm up to us, and she might be scared riding in the car she was abandoned at her vets office,  we couldn't go home without her.

She was nervous in PetSmart, but as soon as we passed through the doors, she became a different dog. Her tail stood up, she lifted her head, and she began walking with a pep in her step, happy to be alone with these two humans. She even cut Shawn off to make him stop so she could hop her front paws onto his leg and lean into him. Once to the car,   hopped into the backseat and sat in the middle so she could poke her head in between the humans on occassion, as if to let us know that she was enjoying this trip.

We laughed regarding the foster mom's warnings about the car ride. A sparkle in this dogs eyes and an occassional light lick to our cheek told us that the car ride is obviously one of this dogs favorite things to do.


Upon arrival to the house, I ran inside and locked the two cats in the bedroom. We allowed the Nanny to explore the house and become familiar with the smells of her new family. After torturing the cats with a couple hours of isolation, we released them from the bedroom jail-cell.

Surprisingly,  (because at the time we thought herding would be trained, not an instinct) The Nanny's herding-instinct instantly took-over and she immediately chased the cats, rounding them back into the bedroom. I am sure those poor cats lost one of their lives that day due to a heart-attack. We immediately took off to the store to purchase a baby gate, in order to give the cats a safe haven to get away from the new monster taking over their territory.

After 2 months of stress and not knowing how to get the Nanny to stop terrorizing the cats, we nearly gave up on her ability to "fit" in with the family. There were a couple nights that we laid in bed saying....what did we do? But we couldn't just give up on this dog, she had so many wonderful loving qualities about her, we carried on with our discipline of distraction when the Nanny stalked the cats. Miraculously, our persistence paid off. I couldn't even tell you when or how it happened, but we suddenly realized that the Nanny was ignoring the cats.

Of course The Nanny still enjoys pestering the cats. Particularly if one gets to close to the human food, The Nanny is right there to nip at a cat butt, pushing them onward passed the temptations of the milk or ice cream. They don't snuggle together, but when all of them are outside in the yard, they do not stray far from one another, they are all part of a pack of a hodgepodge of species.

La-La-La

I walk each of the dogs, one at a time. This either makes me not lazy or really lazy, I haven't figured out which.

I walk them one at a time because Mr. Party needs to be in the lead, therefore zig-zagging every other step to ensure the Nanny stays behind him, and the Nanny needs to stop and smell every flower.

So yes, I'm lazy for not training them to be better walkers, but I'm not lazy because I walk twice.

A couple nights ago, I set out taking Mr. Party for a walk. The Nanny is left at home with Dad. Dad decided that he would take her for a ride in the car, it was a sunny day, she could have the window down and let the wind blow in her face. When Mr. Party is in the car with her, the windows have to stay up because he wants to jump out when he sees people, rabbits, dogs, cats, garbage cans, rocks...you get the idea, right?

Dad opens the door that leads into the garage, not realizing that the big garage door is open, the Nanny takes off trotting down the driveway in search of Mr. Party. She was already to the end of the driveway when Dad realized what happened. With her head held high and her tail straight up in the air, the Nanny prances passed all the houses on the block. She had a gleeful look on her face, as if she was singing a tune, la-la-la-laaaa. Dad was trotting behind her, leash in hand, his call laying on deaf ears.

This Nanny was on a mission to find Mr. Party and Mom, but soon her nose got the better of her, she had to stop and smell a flower.

Dad caught up with her, just as she stopped sniffing, she looked at him quinted her eyes and turned up her lips in a grinning expression that says, I'm so cute you can't help but love me, then started trotting back towards the house. la-la-la-laaaa. Round two,  passing the neighbors windows with the Nanny prancing, head held high, tail straight-up in the air, and Dad chasing after her.