Wilson (called Max on the website) arrived Saturday afternoon. I think this blog is going to be primarily dedicated to him for awhile (sorry Abby!) because I'm hoping that he'll make a lot of progress in the next while.
When he first got here, he was a terrified mess. All he wanted to do was find a corner to hide in as fast as possible. When I showed him his crate, he was in there in a flash and he had no intention of coming back out. He had a little drink while I was watching, but I could hear him drinking a lot more as soon as I left the room. He didn't want to take any food from me, so I decided to wait until the next day to let him try taking food from my hand again. He ignored all the other dogs (a puppy was here overnight until her permanent foster home could pick her up, so things were a bit hectic) and pretty much went right to sleep in his crate. I had to drag him out for a pee by the leash that I'd left attached to his harness.
We went for a hike on Sunday, and I made one of the worst decisions ever and let him off the leash. He'd cheered up as soon as we got to the woods and actually had some bounce in his step. His tail was still tucked, but he was a bit more responsive. So...I let him off. He was fine all the way up - he stayed with the group (6 people, 7 dogs). He was having so much fun. He was chasing the other dogs, initiating play, wagging his tail and smiling. When we turned around, I decided to put him back on the leash. Hah! He was having none of that. Whenever any of us so much as looked at him he turned around and ran off into the woods in the other direction. He continued to stay with us, but he kept his distance. I was terrified that I wouldn't be able to catch him. As we got closer to the cars, I stayed back from the group and hid behind a rock at the side of the trail, hoping to spot him following the group (at this point we hadn't seen him for 10-15 minutes). Eventually I gave up and went to stand in the middle of the trail, just in time to see him making his way up from the wrong path. He'd come running down after us, and turned the wrong way, and then realized his mistake, I guess. We were *so* close to losing him completely! He followed me down the path, but whenever I looked at him, he either stopped or turned around and went the other way. Finally he was walking just a few feet behind me, so I stopped and crouched/lay on the path, looking down and away from him, and told him to "come". He snuck up to my side and I was able to get him by the collar and put his leash back on. Phew! 2.5 hours or extreme stress, for him too I imagine! Poor terrified Will.
Yesterday evening he perked up a bit. He decided that he likes Mia, and he actually played with her! He bounced in the yard a few times with her, and played a long game of bitey-face. He played with Mia again today, and with Abby a few times. He's very cute when he plays, especially because he looks so happy!
Last night he slept on my bed, all cuddled up next to me. Then this afternoon, when I got home from class, he came out of his crate himself to lie on the bed next to me. He won't come to me if I'm looking at him and calling him, but there is definitely progress being made. He is so scared of every movement and sound in the house. I'm hoping he'll get used to my room, and we'll progress from there. He also started taking canned food from my hand last night and today.
When we went to the field today, I had him on a long line. Abby and Mia played fetch, and he kind of ran around them and back and forth, very low to the ground. Every so often he'd stop and lie down when they stopped, then he'd get up and keep running back and forth. It was kind of neat to see. I wonder if he lived on a farm before, since he seems so out of place in the city.
I'm going to try and get some better pictures of him tomorrow. He's a very good looking boy!
