Meet Greta!

Greta is a little Berner, just 69 pounds, perhaps headed towards 65, but no less.  She comes from a family that loved her dearly but had a string of unfortunate health problems that led to Greta not getting the attention she needs to be a relaxed, calm companion.  Greta is hanging out with us for a couple of weeks while Anya finds her forever home.

I picked her up from Dawn Flaherty on Monday night and she's settling in pretty well.  She likes to find a quiet corner to be alone — the above picture shows her squeezed between two pieces of furniture — in the thick of things, near everybody, but where the other dogs won't pester her. I took her to work today and she spent most of it under my desk in the space for my feet.

If she's uncertain about something or someone, she just avoids it.  She's slow to warm up to men, for instance, but I escorted her to this position on the couch with John and she didn't rush off.  Women, on the other hand, she'll immediately turn and sit on their feet quite forcefully!  At work today she met three men, including the mailman — she wasn't aggressive or terrified, but she was cautious and curious.  She would follow them and sniff them, especially if they were handling food.  She would step back if they wanted to pet her, but rather than being really afraid, she just doesn't trust them. 

And she doesn't know about living with other dogs, so she avoids them, too.  She might peek at the other dogs, but mostly she just goes where they are not.  However, I was able to walk all three together without any problems — a small miracle!

Her original family didn't have a lot of dog experience, so she needs some work.  But so far (three whole days!) it seems as though there are some simple things to help her get her to a point of being more comfortable in the world.  She's developed "a thing" about small dogs, but you can "walk on, WITH ME!" with a bit of cheese waiting to quickly reward when she reconnects with the person on the end of the leash rather than the small dog, and it's over.

We have met a few men, while out walking — men in hats, men leaning towards her, men in cement trucks, construction workers — she doesn't especially flinch, but she pays them ZERO attention.

So far, I haven't seen her play, although she is very happy just to run around and sniff things.  She apparently can "sit" and "give paw" and little else, but she certainly knows what "go for a walk" and "go for a ride" mean and is ready, Ready, READY! for either.  While she's busy dancing around and making it impossible to get a leash on her prior to leaving, she keeps her front paws tucked in, so she isn't jumping ON you, just around you!  At the gate, she's a kangaroo, SO excited to go do something.

In summary, someone will get to adopt a fun little companion who may just need some reassurance that her world IS a safe and stable place after all the upheaval she's gone through.