Looks so sweet, doesn't she?

Loving?

Well, she is. Sweet and loving. But she also has issues. Cheyenne is a problem child.

Most of you know the story about where she ate my book contracts. The ones I'd just signed and needed to mail to the publisher. There have been other chewing incidents. Many others. Just three days ago, our checkbook bit the dust. Or rather Cheyenne bit our checkbook... lots and lots of times.  Aside from the contracts (and that worked out okay), she hasn't destroyed anything vitally important or expensive... until last night.

Steve was in the family room on his computer. I was in the living room on my computer. I had ear buds in, listening to soothing new age music while trying to push forward on a dratted synopsis. I took off my ear buds to hunt down a research paper and heard a weird noise coming from upstairs. I thought it was Steve up there, moving something around. The sound kept going. I called out,  "What are you doing up there?" No answer. I headed toward the stairs. The sound got louder. Faster. I couldn't imagine what it was. As I climbed the stairs the noise became louder and more frantic and my heart thumped as no lights were on. It couldn't be Steve. The sound came from the bathroom. The door was closed. And instantly I knew... Cheyenne had somehow locked herself in the bathroom and she was trying to get out.  I opened the door and she burst out and flew down there stairs. I glanced at the oodles of wood splinters and said, "Oh, Cheyenne."  Steve's cue to say," What did she do now?" as he climbed the stairs. 

What she did was claw frantically at the bottom of the door, actually clawed through one layer of wood and another to a third. I guess it's a cheaply made plywood door. I don't know anything about doors, except that this one now looked as though someone took a hatchett to the bottom portion. *Sigh*  We stooped down to scoop up wood splinters. I said, "Gee. I hope new doors aren't too expensive." Steve shook his head. "Why didn't she just bark?" 

I don't know. If she would have barked or howled, Steve would have heard her from where he was. If I hadn't had music blaring in my ears, I would have heard her scratching at the door sooner, and the damage wouldn't have been so bad. It was hard to be angry with her as she sat cowering in the corner of the couch.  I think it was a combination of being freaked out because she couldn't get out and the disappointed tone in my voice when I said her name. She's heard it so many times before, after she's destroyed something. She knows it's wrong, but can't seem to help herself. the chewing up stuff part. Although, honestly, she has gotten better in that department. 

The reason I say she has issues is because Steve and I have never laid a hand to her. Never smacked her butt or thunked her nose. Nothing. All we've ever done is take a firm tone. Not even shouting. Yet she cowers, shrinks away with her ears tucked back, and often her whole body trembles. She's clearly afraid.  Cheyenne was found abandoned in a woods when she was about six months old. We adopted her from a shelter soon after.  They warned us that she would be work as she was afraid of everyone.  After only a week in our home, she morphed into this sweet, happy, playful puppy. She's the best. Really. But when she does screw up and we correct her (vocally) she reverts to this pertrified creature. I told Steve the other day that I've concluded someone abused her as a puppy. Somebody must have hit her or kicked her whenever she did something wrong, or who knows, for the mean-spirited fun of it. One thing is clear, she thinks a verbal repremand is going to be followed by a physical swat. That makes me really sad. It makes me think about all the poor abused animals in this world. I'm horrified by some of the things I see on the news.

If you are contemplating adding a pet to your home, please consider adopting an animal from your local rescue shelter. We've adopted all of our pets over the years and they have brought us endless love and joy. Yes, even Cheyenne. As for the door, it's just a slab of wood. Like Steve said this morning, any animal would have freaked a bit when trapped inside a small, dark room.  Cheyenne may have issues, but she also has a heart of gold. We're lucky to have her.

              

Poor Cheyenne! Poor Beth! Poor Steve! Poor door!
I've adopted my dogs too (one from a shelter and one from my vet) and I understand how an adopted dog can be work, but I agree that they're definitely worth it. Cheyenne is lucky to have found a good home!

B, that was such a sweet and heartfelt post. I'm so proud of how you are raising your puppy. I have two shelter cats and had others in the past. In the future, we may want to get a dog, and it will definitely be a shelter dog. The hardest part is choosing between them all! I don't want to leave any behind.

Love, C

B, good for you and Steve to recognize that Cheyenne has fearful issues and not raising your hands to her. She's still young and *should* grow out of the chewing. It took Moe awhile, but he got there eventually.

Oh, poor baby. Give that pup a hug for me, 'kay? Though we don't have one now, all our dogs in the past have been adopted or given to us (to avoid her going to the shelter).

I'm so glad you and Steve are understanding pet "parents", Beth. Cheyenne was probably terrified and figured she'd get out of the room herself, without your noticing. Too many animals have been abused in the past (and those abusers should be in jail or worse). People don't always realize that when you take them in and give them a good home, they will adjust and make fabulous pets. I'm sure Cheyenne knows that yours is her forever home and she's grateful. I am kind of surprised the other dog and cat didn't raise a ruckus...sometimes they alert you when there's something wrong with your other animal. Oh well. Our dog was from the local shelter and was fearful around men for a while, but now she's fine, and very happy and friendly. Just give Cheyenne some hugs and reassurance to show her she's still loved!

Beth, what timing! Now, I'm not saying I'm getting a new dog but the topic of animal abuse hurts me so bad (I think its the worst thing in the world, honestly). I've been thinking if my mom DIDN'T kill me and my dad for getting a new dog, we'd surely get one from the shelter. I mean, why not do a good deed on top of getting a reward?!

As for your dog stuck in the bathroom, Buddy has done that plenty of times except not in the bathroom. Buddy likes to go on a twice-daily trashcan check (He checks every possible trashcan he can get his snout into for a tissue or something he can chew up) and one so happens to be in my room. Somehow he manages to lock himself in all the time without me knowing it. But see this is were our dogs differ. You're dog is smart, she tried to get out. My dog just sits there. He knows he can't escape so he just sits there. No moaning, no barking, no nothing. Just sits there. And it's not one of those "I'll just relax for now" kinda sit-downs; it's a "what do i do now?!" kinda sit-downs. My dog is so dumb, I swear. But I love him more than my life. Like you said about the afraid situation, Buddy has that complex. If I say to him he stinks, he cowers under the dining room table.

Dogs. Gotta love 'em. P.S.-Have you ever watched "The Dog Whisperer"? I know it may sound odd, but it's a real show haha!

There's the story teller in you making that incident a really entertaining read! Glad everything worked out. Bathroom doors can be really inexpensive, unless you're going to turn it into a "safe room".

Our cat, Lydia, has quirks too. She never got over that need to 'knead'. You know, that alternating forepaw pushing that kittens do to the mother when they are feeding? As a fully adult cat, she still does that to anyone who's lap she visits. But, she does it with her claws fully extended, and on your tummy! Ouch! I can't do the claw clipping thing because she came to us as an adult and has never had her claws trimmed. She'd freak out! So, I just wear canvas shirts or other heavy material. Maybe I should get a Kevlar apron. Gotta love our pets. The things we do to accomodate them and inconvienience ourselves. Isn't that one of the definitions of love?

Did you hear the story of Mohammhed (Islamic Prophet)who loved his cat so much, that once when the cat fell asleep
on the sleeve of the robe he was wearing... rather than disturb the cat, he cut off the sleeve.

I tell you what. We've gotten ALL of our animals from people giving them away or them simply wandering up. We've taken in a dog that the sheriff was going to shoot. And I swore to myself when she was gone that I would get a male German shepard. No such luck. We head out to my Mom's (also out in the country) and she has a dog/horse that has decided to stake out her yard as his own.
*rolling eyes*
So we take horsedog home, and he settles right in. Spooky that. He's just as good-natured as can be.
And it really just ticks me off that some inconsiderate a$$ dropped him off to fend for himself.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Here's to the animal parents! We love the little babies when others turned them aside.
Grins*

First time I've been able to check in today and can I just say... WOW! I love, love, love these stories! Thank you so much for sharing everyone! I knew you guys were special. Ya got be ol' gooey, marshmellowy hearts, but I wouldn't want to meet you in a dark alley if I were an animal abuser. What a cool combo. Heh-heh!

All our cats have been rescue cats in one way or another - most adopted as kittens with no homes.

They always bring their little neuroses with them, but the hard work and damaged house is so, so repaid by the joy, affection, fun and company.

Our two newest (we have four at the moment) Cleo and Chrissy were so dramatically shy that they would hide when prospective adoptees came round, and so were the oldest kittens at the shelter when we visited.

We'd only gone for one kitty, but when the shelter owner mentioned she didn't know what she'd do with these two, because they needed so much patience, and never got a fair showing with the other, more rumbunctious, younger, cuter kittens around, our fate was sealed.

C&C spent two weeks hiding behind the sofa, only emerging at night when we slept. Then they both had cat flu (they'd have had an background infection that was brough on by stress) and we had to nurse two kitten that had to be corraled with sofa cushions and caught with towels in order to medicate them.

You wouldn't recognise them now. This morning Cleo woke my by pressing her wet nose into my ear and purring, then trying to eat my hair. Chrissy jumped on my chest, stared straight in my eyes and went, "meep!" which either means, "food, NOW!" or "Hugs, NOW!"

They both spend hours cuddling or playing with us and each other, and throw themselves at visitors and strangers to demand attention, too.

With nervous or shy pets, it's all about patience, patience, patience. A quiet, soothing voice and knowing when reassuring attention is needed is part of the game, too.

And the prize is priceless.

Thank you for this post.
I moved to another country last August and since then I've been trying to get my cat to come (I got her from a shelter a couple of years ago). There has been so many problems and postponing and "sorry, not possible anymore" that I've been feeling in the "I should just give up and give her to a friend" mood lately, since my parents wouldn't be happy with a more permanent arrangement. Your post reminded about how much I miss her and love her, and damn, after losing to the evil changing laws, the evil airplane companies, and the evil ferry companies, I'm not going to lose faith against the evil landlords! Thank you so much, for that and for your blog in general. I really like your tone and it's a pleasure to read you, you sound like such a nice person. :)

What a great post. And what a lucky dog that she has you and Steve, who understand that she's got some quirks. big hugs to Cheyenne. Hopefully the bathroom door won't be too hard to fix.

And I love the stories that everyone has shared.

When I was a kid, we had a dog come up and adopt us. She was only about six months or so when she came to us. And she'd been abused. If you raised your voice to her, she cowered and urinated. Every time. New people caused the same reaction. Such a sweet dog and it made me mad that she'd obviously been abused.

Right now, we have our own rescued pooch who has quirks. She adores people, any and all. But detests other animals, from squirrels to cats to other dogs. I'm not quite sure she knows she's a dog ;). She was at the SPCA with her puppies (and only 11 mths old). We've speculated she was maybe a runt and got picked on by other dogs before she came to us. But we'd never trade her or her quirks for anything.

Aw, poor baby! She must have been so scared to have locked herself in that way. It's so good you were understanding about her reaction - she was just doing what she felt she had to do to get free.

We have a rescue dog - rescued by a no-kill group when the dog pound called them to say they were about to euthanize her - and she's the same way about cowering. She is just the sweetest, most lovable creature. But she's so submissive, especially with my husband. He just barely has to raise his voice and she cowers all over the place. If I even call her name slightly loudly, like to get her to pause at the door so I can wipe off her muddy paws, she looks so upset, like she thinks she's going to get hit or something.

We have no idea of her history, other than that she must have been tied up outside at some point because she has scars under her eyes from fly strike (which is incredibly disgusting and so sad it makes me sick to think on it) and a scar where her ear was torn or something. If I ever found out what happened to her and met the people responsible, well, let's just say it's a good thing I don't believe in owning my own gun! Those people need to be horse whipped.

Anna, bless you for taking in Cleo and Chrissy. I know what cat lovers you and your husband are as you often feture the kitties on your blog. Love that.

Leippya, how sad that you had to leave your kitty behind! My husband and I dream of someday moving to London, but that has always been a worry to me--transporting our pets to another country. The officials make it very hard, don't they? I am thinking positive thoughts for you and your beloved cat, hoping that you can indeed be reunited. You seem like a very nice person, too. I tried to read your blog but alas I don't speak French! Please chime in again sometime. It was wonderful to hear from you.

Mechele, Chyenne has that problem too. The 'if you raise your voice to her she cowers and tinkles' thing. So we're careful now to try to be firm without being loud. LOL You seem to have a history with special needs pets and that makes you special indeed. How funny that your current dog doesn't know he's a dog. When I was a kid, we found a very young pup, abandoned in a ditch. We took him home, intending to find him a good home as we had sooo many other dogs, cats and horses. (We ended up having 'Tiny' for sixteen years. LOL). Meanwhile, one of our cats had just given birth to a litter of kittens. 'Tiny' was only a little bigger than those kittens and don't you know the mamma cat took him in! We always swore that dog grew up thinking he was a cat.

Lynn, thank you so much for sharing your story. And thank you for giving that precious, abused dog a loving home. She's lucky to have you and I'm sure she feels the same about you. I'm not sure what 'fly strikes' are and I'm almost afraid to ask. We adopted our older dog, Billie, from a shelter. They had actually gone in and taken her away from her first owner. These people left her tied up outside, all the time, no matter the weather. They hardly if ever FED her. She was slowly starving to death. The shelter had fattened her up, but they showed us a picture so that we understood what she had gone through. I felt sick. You could count every bone on her body. Just horrible. Really makes me want to believe in Kharma. (which I do)

I haven't been around in awhile. Had some problems with one of my own furbabies. He ran off back on the 30th of January, and things took a bit of getting used to. My cat was a biter and a scratcher, too scared for his own good. My younger cat, JJ, can fetch balls and his other small toys. He likes to lay on top of the couch, and he doesn't like being locked in my room at night, so he scratches at the bottom of my bedroom door until I let him out. We had planned to add a new kitten from the local animal shelter over the weekend, but the vet there found an irregular heartbeat in the one we had picked. So we decided so soon after losing our ten year old by his running off, we'd be crushed if we brought home a baby, and he didn't make it. My brother has now found a friend of his who has a litter, and we should have a cute little bundle of energy to add to the family later on tonight if all goes well.

Gina, I'm sorry about your fur-baby who ran away. I know how much you love your cats. That must have really hurt. I'm glad you're ready to adopt a new kitty into your loving home. Be sure to let us know how it turns out!

Brooks, speaking of cats, I meant to say I know exactly what you mean about the kneeding. Sadie does that to one of our soft toss pillows. Repo, when he was with us, used to do that to our stomachs. But we clipped his nails, I can't believe you don't... OUCH!

Jan Fennell--The Dog Listener. You need this book. It will totally change your relationship with Cheyenne for the better.:)

Hi Alex! Thank you for the book sugesstion. I'll be at the library today. I'll look it up.

You're totally welcome! It's not an "obedience" training book per se, but more about establishing a relationship with your dog based on its understanding that you are the pack leader and its your job to keep the "pack" safe. Her methods are very gentle and easy for a dog to comprehend. And you see results very very quickly. I have an unruly 7 months old English Springer pup and I saw a total turnaround in her destructive behaviour within a week. I believe the book even has a chapter about rescue dogs :)

Be happy, Cheyenne can become a well adjusted fear-free dog. Been there, done that :)

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