Silk is now officially LILY BETH!

Some of our new people may not know who Silk is.  She was rescued by Col. Potter in Oct 2009 as part of the Fabrics to Keep You Warm  group.  She came in pregnant and was put in the wonderful care of Loni D in Manassas, VA - midwife, foster mom and intakes extraordinaire.  Silk had a litter of 4 pups - .   After the puppers were adopted, Silk seemed to take a few steps back in her progress in freedom.

Then in July of 2010, foster mom Loni sent out a message to nearby CP homes asking if anyone would B&B Silk while foster family went on vacation.  This would not only save CP money, but would probably be less traumatic for her than boarding at the vet.  Our current foster was in the process of being adopted, so we volunteered to have Silk stay with us for a couple of weeks.

 

Foster dad Ed met Loni to pick up Silk and her "overnight" bag.  Before he even got home he was sending me pictures and calling her "his princess."  One down.

 

That night when it was time for bed, we all went up to the bedroom.  The doggies got their bedtime crackers.  When I told them all to "go to bed" Silk immediately bypasses her crate and jumps straight into Chewy's bed with him.  She snuggles next to him and he "shrugs" and settles in for the night.  We are in shock!!!  One more down.

 

Silk is very sweet but very, very skittish and scared.  She jumps and/or hits the ground with any sudden movement/loud noise. She HATES to be picked up and when I try to clean around her mouth and ears she kicks like a mule.   We have never had such a scared mill mama before and our household is not exactly calm & quiet, but surprisingly she is doing things that amaze FM Loni when I send her updates while she's at the beach.  She will take treats out of our hands and always wants to be with the pack - including the humans.  After some discussion, we all decide that maybe she's in a rut and the change is good for her so we agree to continue to foster her.

 

Over the next few months we adapt some to help Silk - try not to move too suddenly, etc.  We start putting her on the bed with the pack during TV time, always telling her first "I'm going to pick you up" and she starts to let us do so without thrashing or kicking.  She comes running to greet us with Chewy & Walter and after some waivering (do I dare?  should I?), more and more she starts to allow us to love on her.  Then she starts to EXPECT it and she sticks her snout under your hand if you are giving too much attention to one of the boys.  She jumps up on the couch with Ed.  She plays with toys in the middle of the night when no one is looking.  All these little steps add up, even when she takes some steps back, she is still making progress.

 

One evening Silk is on the bed with us watching TV.  Walter (our CP boy) jumps up on the bed and lands on top of her.  She snaps and growls at him (who can blame her?).  Walter puts his head down and goes to the foot of the bed.  Unbelievable!!!  Our Cujo?  The boy with the skull & crossbone bandana?  A couple of days later when it's time to "go to bed", Silk goes and jumps in bed with Walter.  They curl up together like yin & yang.  Three down and one to go.

 

Now foster mom is the only hold out. I'm reluctant for several reasons and keep weighing the pros and cons, waivering back and forth in my decision.

And then one day I'm giving Silk some loving, rubbing her ears like she likes it and she's very relaxed and I suddenly realize that SHE isn't worried about it all because SHE already thinks she is home.  While I was pacing the floor with indecision, Miss Lily Beth not only unpacked all her bags, but she also reorganized the household to her liking.

 

We are very happy that Lily Beth is now officially a part of our family.  I hope that she will continue to gain confidence and lose her fears over time and we will be there celebrating every baby step with with her.

 

Note from Angel -  I wrote this "announcement" a couple of months ago but I've waiting to get some better pictues, maybe a video, a little more grooming, and so on.  So these pictures are from last fall - hopefully I'll get some new ones some day - it's hard when she's afraid of the camera and Walter just goes bonkers.

I was completely ashamed when Amy posted an entire album of Tess on her very first day with them and thought I better post this even if it's not perfect.

Hope this link works.

 

 Lily Beth

Angel R
Burke, VA
Chewy
Walter (CP kid)

and the newly adopted Lily Beth (Daddy's princess)