Brownie getting settled in

Second stop was to my friends house to borrow a dog kennel they were not using. They have been so generous in letting us use this kennel for as long as need! (which has turned into over a year - sometimes I forget we are borrowing it, I hope they don't forget either)

Why the kennel? For some fairly obvious reasons;
1) We are current apartment dwellers - we are very limited on living space for animals.
2) Having no clue if this dog has ever been potty trained before, I couldn't have her pooping and peeing all over the carpets. Or the kitchen floor. Yuck!
3) Brownie would need a place to escape the girls, specifically, Olivia. Olivia loves animals so much, but has a tendency to turn into Elmyra from Tiny Tunes. I had originally envisioned having the kennel out in the dining room/living room area, so she could roam around the apartment during the day. (this turned out to be a folly dream)




We picked Brownie up on a Friday, and took her to the vet that afternoon. She was underweight at 7.2 pounds, had tape worms, and heart worms. Poor thing was as sweet as could be at the vet office. She never once growled, or snapped at anyone. Just a scared little thing. At home, she didn't move off of the dog bed we had purchased her.



 The following week we had her spayed - poor girl. Surgery went without incident and we brought her back to heal. She was the saddest dog ever. I gave her a scrap of flannel material I had lying around, and it became her blanket. (well, until she pooped and barfed all over it several months later - I decided to just throw it out)



She recovered very well from surgery, and was so happy to get that darn cone off. We felt bad, she couldn't get inside the kennel to sleep due to the cone.  During this time, we began her pre-treatment of Doxycycline in preparation for heart worm treatment. January 31 was her first injection, and thus began her strict confinement (which would not end until April 25, nearly 3 months later). She took her treatment as good as can be expected. Her kennel became her safe haven, which she still loves to this day.

 During this time of confinement, she had the chance to become familiar with us. I picked her up and walked her to a small patch of grass multiple times a day. She was so scared, she would not walk outside on the leash - she kept trying to hide in the bushes. I would set her on the grass, she would do both businesses, and I would pick her up and take her inside. Every day. Five to seven times a day. It didn't take long to potty train her, but she did struggle from time to time to not pee or poop in the kitchen. Ever so slowly, she would perk up with us. It was very encouraging.