But, I don't really consider this a failure in the negative sense of the word...
My husband seems to feel that Bella bonded to us immediately out of pure necessity... He feels she was traumatized by being pregnant, delivering one pup, picked up by a shelter person, transported in a closed but vented shelter truck, deposited into a shelter kennel with all those strange sounds and smells, to deliver the other four puppies she carried...
From the very first moment I approached Bella, I did my usual 'dog voice' and I allowed her to move out of the kennel into the Xpen area at her own speed... She's never had any reason to mistrust me, but I expected her to be aggressive towards me as I removed her puppies from that kennel...
So maybe he is right - she bonded with us out of pure necessity... We provided a serene environment for her to nurse and raise her puppies, we were the source of her food and water while our dogs are exceptionally affectionate towards us...
Bella did NOT care for riding in a moving vehicle since day one (and that can be from that ride in the shelter truck as she was delivering her litter)... Every trip in one of those contraptions meant going to the vets and being prodded and pricked with needles, especially after the trip to ER and then ICU for most of the day!... While nursing, I could not allow her to get out into the general public for fear of what she'd bring back to the puppies... So she's had 2 months of not being forced to socialize with strangers...
Even visitors to our house have been looked at apprehensively by her, although most that cared to render treats were able to scratch her underneath the chin eventually... We don't have people coming and going around here like a revolving hotel door, so although this was a great environment for her to raise those tiny puppies in, now it has proven to be somewhat of a detriment...
My husband disagrees that Bella was a homeless person's dog... He thinks she did indeed have a deep and loving bond with her previous owner, but when she showed up pregnant, they didn't want to deal with a litter of puppies, so they dumped her at Hanson Dam... He tells me that's a dumping ground for stolen cars, dead bodies and just about everything else someone wants to get rid of fast...
However, we both agree that Bella's previous owner must have loved her and spent a lot of time with her because once she gets to know you, she is so deeply attached to you... If she were mean or aggressive, she'd never sleep every night on my pillow for sure!...
So for now?... I've been working with her on the halter and lead, but I couldn't start doing that in public until the stitches from the spay were removed... We're going to start taking her to one of local malls on lead so she gets more used to strangers moving about (and they don't hurt her) to rejuvenate that acceptance again...
She's no trouble at all here at the house (smile.. more than I can say about her pooky puppies!
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