Last night I had trouble sleeping. I closed my door to keep my cat, Circe out. (She always takes up way more space than her little body ought to.) Bella sleeps on the floor in my bedroom, and doesn't make a sound. After a few hours of sleep, I got up and went into my office. It was 3 am. Very shortly, I heard the familiar clicking of Bella's toenails on the floor. I got up an went into the hall, whispering softly, "Bella?" She had retreated. I went to the kitchen for a glass of water and heard the the clicking sound again. I turned around and there was Bella, looking at me with curiosity, or so it seemed. As if she wondered what I was doing up at this hour. I reached my hand down to her to pet her expecting her to turn around and go back to the bedroom since there was no walk to be had, but to my surprise, instead of scurrying away, she let me pet her for a while. We were two silent creature of the night sharing a moment. This was the first time Bella didn't scurry back to her corner and instead voluntarily accepted my touch.
Still, no tail wag. I was beginning to wonder if she might have a damaged tail. I texted Ellie, the woman who had Bella for a month before me. Ellie assured me that during the first few days in her household, Bella was playful. She shared a short video, and sure enough, Bella is playing with Ellie's two Berners, and her fully functional tail is wagging happily. Bella even does the bow/invitation thing, urging the other dogs to play with her.
So the mystery is, what is the source of Bella's depression, and why did it emerge after a period of playful connection with some other dogs? Ellie said "When she first came she was so excited that she wasn't locked up and had other dogs to be around and play with but then she just slowly went back into herself with every noise and every time my son would run or yell." She adds that Bella "seems to like stuffed animals as she stole my son's a few times to sleep with."
In my home Bella can listen to my therapy sessions and doesn't have any 6 year old boys running and yelling. There are, alas, no other dogs, but she does have peace and quiet and plenty of walks. Could it be that despite the initial excitement that came with her liberation from the puppy mill, Bella just feels lost and traumatized? Does she miss her puppies that were taken from her? My poor Bella.
Still, no tail wag. I was beginning to wonder if she might have a damaged tail. I texted Ellie, the woman who had Bella for a month before me. Ellie assured me that during the first few days in her household, Bella was playful. She shared a short video, and sure enough, Bella is playing with Ellie's two Berners, and her fully functional tail is wagging happily. Bella even does the bow/invitation thing, urging the other dogs to play with her.
So the mystery is, what is the source of Bella's depression, and why did it emerge after a period of playful connection with some other dogs? Ellie said "When she first came she was so excited that she wasn't locked up and had other dogs to be around and play with but then she just slowly went back into herself with every noise and every time my son would run or yell." She adds that Bella "seems to like stuffed animals as she stole my son's a few times to sleep with."
In my home Bella can listen to my therapy sessions and doesn't have any 6 year old boys running and yelling. There are, alas, no other dogs, but she does have peace and quiet and plenty of walks. Could it be that despite the initial excitement that came with her liberation from the puppy mill, Bella just feels lost and traumatized? Does she miss her puppies that were taken from her? My poor Bella.