Penelope

Dear A Second Chance:
As you know, Penelope came home with me on Sunday, June 3, 2012! It was a long ride as far as Penny was concerned and when we got home, she wasn't real sure she wanted to get out of the car, or to go inside the house. She was SO tense! Very understandable, yes?
We introduced her to the back yard, the water dishes, her food dish, the patio, the rest of the house and she ignored the three cats. This was good.
That night she slept with me and my white cat Einstein. They were, of course, on opposite sides of the bed. And all three of us really only dozed since when anyone of us moved the other two woke up.
The next day, Penny started relaxing. She acknowledged her new name, but wasn't always sure we REALLY meant her when we called. That afternoon, she relaxed completely and discovered this fantastic new game she ran across - literally. You see she wasn't scared stiff anymore, and since the cats moved away from her whenever she came close to them, she chased them. Yes. And she LIKED it!!! So much fun, and excitement, and exilaration, and fun and more exciting, and more, more, more. You know terriers, it's always more-more-more and really really focused attention. Well, now the cats were not happy campers. And I had no more visits with my beloved cats. So what to do. Well, first I anchored a leash to my recliner and tethered Penny to it. It allowed her a 6 foot radius around my chair and let her up onto my lap but stopped her when she tried to cat chase. And I used another leash to walk her to the yard to do her business, and to my room at night. We slept but I kept the leash on my arm and din't get much rest. The next day my sister lent me her dog's cage, one of those big metal ones and we began a new campaign.
Telling Penny "NO" didn't penetrate her enthusiasm in and focus on those fast moving, four legged, furry, new squeaky toys she'd found. So I started telling her no and then putting her in the cage for 15 minutes every time she chased a kitty. She didn't like that. No, she didn't, BUT those new toys were sooooo entertaining. What to do? In the next four days or so, I got to the point what with not enough sleep, not enough visit time with the cats, and very tiring days, that I was wondering just how many months it would take for Penny to remember not to chase the cats! You see, she understood now what I didn't want her to do and what the consequences would be, but she didn't remember in that split second when she saw a cat's behind retreating so enticingly and swiftly!
But by this Tuesday she was able to be unleashed during most of the day and all of the night. We've had a few sessions in the cage throughout the day, but she is remembering! She's so sweet and playfull. She is very gentle and still unsure in new situations, but she's getting her bearings very well and we are moving forward. She already looks on me as Mom and once we perfect the almost never chasing cats lesson (she is after all a terrier, and that chasing thing is her JOB) we'll start on building confidence and the sky is the limit.
Thank you so much for both our second chances.

Nancy R