Post #26: My Fair Queenie

My Fair Queenie

Beautiful Queenie

Queenie has made a lot of progress over the last week and it occurred to me that living with her, and teaching her all the wonderful things that life has to offer is a little like the story My Fair Lady. Queenie is a canine version of Eliza Doolittle (albeit with a little less spunk) and we are like Professor Higgins (but much, much kinder thank you very much!!). We have plucked Queenie out of a life that had little to offer her and have transported her to a world where everything is new, every experience is eye-opening and people are kind and generous. I'd love to think that, by the end of our tutelage, Queenie will make as dramatic a transformation as Eliza did in the movie, but I guess we will have to wait and see on that one. In the mean time though, both her Foster Dad and I are having a blast seeing her blossom into a happy, even-keeled young dog. 

Queenie - Standing pretty

We've started taking her out places with us to expose her to some new places and people. Yesterday we went and visited another volunteer who had been looking after Queenie's sister Iris over the weekend. Iris was gaining some new experiences herself, so when we went to pick her up, we thought it would be a good opportunity for Queenie to come along and meet a new friend and be reunited with her sister. Seeing the 2 dogs recognize each other and react to being together again was really beautiful. Iris wagged her tail till we thought it might fall off and Queenie showered her sister with kisses on the muzzle. There's no doubt these 2 girls are bonded!! Queenie then spent a little time with the volunteer who had been working with Iris. He gave her some lessons on how to navigate the stairs (she is still leaping with abandon down them!!). It only took her a couple of minutes to catch on to what was being asked of her, and even though she was deathly afraid of taking those steps down, she did it. In those few minutes I saw just how intelligent and willing to please this sweet girl is - such a wonderful example of why we love this breed!! 

Queenie keeping a close eye on us...from a distance

A couple of other "firsts" this week included being left uncrated in the main house while we went out to the gym this morning. We were both a little nervous about that experiment, but it went well - all pillows and rugs were still accounted for when we got back!! She also licked my breakfast plate for the first time this morning - I know, I know, not the greatest thing to teach a dog, but when you see dogs like Queenie just being a "dog"it really fills your heart with happiness. All our other dogs gather around when we are eating (especially breakfast) and know that there is a really good chance they will get to lick my plate at the end and take care of any egg I might have left behind. Well, much to my surprise today, Queenie joined the line of dogs sitting patiently for me to finish. So we went down the line - everyone getting a couple of licks to make sure the plate was completely clean. Queenie took her turn like a champ and was very conscientious in her cleaning duties!! It really made me smile. Which reminds me of another Queenie incident that made me smile recently. We decided to leave her out in "general pop" one night as she seemed very calm and her and Iris were snuggled together, so it seemed a shame to make her go downstairs to her "room". So, off we went to bed with clear instructions to all the dogs to be good. At about 2.00am I was woken up by barking. I knew instantly which dog it was (our alpha male) and I could tell just as quickly that something was not right. I turned the light on and looked downstairs and there I found quite the scene!! Iris and her brother were crowded on the stairs looking at me as if to say "we tried to tell her it wasn't right!!" and there, in the living room, was Queenie, wagging her tail and standing in the middle of destruction!! In the few short hours we had been asleep, she had torn down some blinds, chewed her foster Dad's wallet (no idea where she got it as I have gone looking for it before and never been able to find it!!!), torn to shreds a vintage shoulder bag, chewed some batteries, destuffed a cushion and somehow managed to remove her collar and rendered it useless by chewing off the clasp!!! Queenie was standing surrounded by all this mayhem wagging happily - apparently completely unawares that what she had just done was a MAJOR no-no!!! How could I be angry? I didn't want to be a buzz kill for her, so I just patted her and gave her kisses and then promptly put her in her room for the night!!! Of course, we'd already learned the hard way not to put any kind of rug or dog bed in with her - she is QUITE the artiste when it comes to mixed media consisting of rug fibers and pillow stuffing!! Still, its nothing that hasn't already been done a dozen or so times here, so there's really no harm done. And it kind of worked to her advantage as she got a brand new collar out of the whole episode!

Queenie's new collar

To complete the list of "firsts" for this week, today was the first time Queenie came with her foster Dad to pick me up from work - all on her own. When I came out of my building and saw her across the street I was struck by just how beautiful this girl is. She is tall and graceful and has just the perfect combination of colors from her parents (Buster and Susann). It took her a moment to realize who I was, but when she did she lowered her head shyly but pulled her foster Dad over to where I was. Boy oh boy was I a proud Mama :) Everyone was looking at her - I mean, how could you not? She did well with the attention, but was clearly relieved to also get back to the safety of the car. Still, it's these baby steps in her rehabilitation that make all the difference. I'm quite sure that it won't be long before Queenie is happily barking, "the rain in spain stays mainly on the plane"!! .....if you don't get this, look up My Fair Lady in Wikipedia :)