A week on
Twinkle Berry has been with us now for exactly a week – almost to the minute as I write. She has been a wonderful arrival in all of our lives, she is bringing out the confident side of Susie-Belle which is gorgeous to be a part of. Susie-Belle seems to be adopting the role of big, wiser sister and often trots over to check that Twinkle is joining us if we’re all getting ready to go out. Twinkle at the moment is very wary of any touch or us approaching, but this is lessening bit by bit, day by day. So putting on a lead to get her ready to go out is a bit of a task and involves catching her and trying to be calm myself whilst she’s panicking. This can trigger Renae and Susie-Belle to come running into the panic zone, which we don’t really need or want them to do as it appears to worry Twinkle as not only does she have me handling her and being all scary getting her lead on, she also has two little schnauzer sisters trying to get their faces into the thick of it too. But, this morning it went a bit smoother as we’re all steadily getting the hang of it.
Once we’re outside, TwinkleBerry trots along beside Susie-Belle and Renae, if it’s just me with them I am keeping Renae close and on lead with Twinkle, Susie-Belle potters around within easy reach anyway. It’s easy to see how scared Twinkle was at the weekend when we went out for a walk by her posture, tucked in tail, crouched and tense body….
….but last night we all went out and she trotted along on lead quite happily with Michel well away from Renae and Susie-Belle. Signs that she is gradually gaining a teeny fragment of confidence, which will take root and grow and grow as we give her the time and environment for this to happen.
One advantage we have is that she is very food oriented, which can give us a little way into breaking down her fears. Of course, this presents other challenges as SusieFoodie’s open mouth is never far away when she catches a whiff of a treat. And SusieB has the advantage of knowing all our moves, our routines, she has trained us well after all, so Twinkle has a little catching up to do to get level with her sister, but we’ve little doubt that she will soon be taking the lead there.
We’ve had a couple of days of lovely spring sunshine, Renae made sure yesterday that she chose the comfiest sunniest spot in the conservatory….
…whilst her sisters cuddled up in their new bed……
The stag bar is Renae’s property….Susie-Belle has never been interested, but I do think Twinkle berry may have been having the odd sneaky nibble when her big bossy sister Renae has been busily interfering in other business. Renae is a super nosey schnauzer and right now, she is sitting watching the world go by in the garden, this was taken the other week but is exactly what she’s doing now…
We have a happy house of schnauzers, some more relaxed and happy than others, but all will be super relaxed and content one day, we just need to be patient. We’ve seen remarkable changes in one little scared schnauzers over time, it’s such an exciting journey we are on to see it happen once again in another.