Meet Albany, a Poodle born approx 6/2/21. Albany has been a great addition and is slowly but surely coming out of her shell. She spends a lot of time in her kennel, as her safe place, with the door open but will come out when she hears someone come down the stairs or come in the door. Her cute little tail wags and you can see she's excited, will come as close as she feels comfortable (sniff you or your hand if offered) and run back to her kennel.
She is not house trained yet but we are working on it. It's definitely a challenge with her being scared to take any treats from our hands so it's only using praise at the moment and making sure we take her out on a regular basis. It's going to be a slow process but will be worth it in the end.
Albany is kennel trained I would say, to an extent. She doesn't know a command word yet for kennel but does sleep in there and uses it as her safe place. She has been sleeping well in it during the day and overnight. She hasn't been alone during the night yet as someone has always been sleeping downstairs next to her kennel since we got her.
Albany has been good with our resident dog, Sugar, and with both of our older kids (13 & 15). She still has a long way to go to trusting anyone but will settle in your lap and fall asleep if you pick her up and pet her. She's very timid at the moment but we can already see her slowly getting more courage. We don't have any cats so as far as I know she has not experienced any other animals.
Albany does not like loud noises nor does she like coming into the house or walking over thresholds yet.She has only successfully come in from outside once and it took a lot of encouragement and time. Most of the time she's carried in and out.
Albany walks well on a leash but again is very timid and at times will shy away from you and walk/run the other way.
Albany has only been on a car ride when we brought her home but she did well.
So far, Albany's energy level has been pretty low. She sleeps/naps a lot but is also super curious and will sniff around the house (follow you at a distance to check things out) or outside when out on leash (after she becomes comfortable). She did discover she likes the string on my slippers and was playing with it for a bit one morning before I stopped her and per my oldest daughter she has taken some socks off the couch (and took them into her kennel).
Since we picked Albany up (Saturday, July 5th), she has only been left alone for an hour or two at the most and as far as we know has been quiet. We have been playing classical music to help her not feel alone. Our resident dog is also close by and she can see her as well. When we get home she will bark to say hi and we will come open the kennel door and she stops barking.
It has been a joy to watch her gain some courage over the last week. We look forward to showing her even more love and affection and getting to know her even more as she comes out of her shell more and more.
