Hira hasn't seen Ds for the 3 1/2 weeks that she's been here. She was getting used to us, the other critters, and her new surroundings, and they've been sick. In fact, ddil still is.

So, today, Ds came by, and came in the house. I wasn't sure how she was going to react. I knew how it would go with Krypto - he was going to go nutty over Ds, as per usual.

When Ds came in, she wasn't sure what to do, and when he began patting Krypto, she began barking at him! He then pet her, as well.

I asked if he wanted to ask her to sit, but she kept out of his reach, walking away sideways with her eyes in him. I think it was the raised hand that we use in conjunction with the words. But, he was able to go up to her and pet her. He said that he wouldn't have been able to do that 3 weeks ago, and was impressed with her progress. She's put on weight, her fur looks better, and he could go up to her.

And, speaking of fur...it's the oddest thing. So far, she has no undercoat, and I don't know if she ever will. A few exceptions aside - carrying a particular long-furred gene, GSD's are double coated. So, we'll see if that changes, or not.

She's gaining her confidence. She plays better with Krypto all the time, and she now will lie down on her mat with an elk antler and chew it, even if Krypto wants it. Previously, if he wanted it, he took it, and she didn't argue the point with him. I'm glad to see her standing up for herself a little.

That said, she's definitely not the top dog, unless she gets truly annoying with him, or hears something outside that bothers her.

She's definitely getting attached to him. If he goes to the kitchen door to see/listen to something, she gets off of the couch and trots after him. And now, if he going for a walk, she gets a bit upset when they get out of sight.

It's for that reason that I'm going to continue to walk them separately for a while, and probably 1/2 of the time even after that. I don't want either of them to not be able to go somewhere without the other.

So, Hira is around 4 1/2" - 5" shorter than Krypto at the shoulder. And, when they sit side by side, her head, not counting her ears, is about level with his collar.

She enjoys her training time - which is really nothing more than learning to do it, at this point. I'm teaching both of them that they cannot steal the other's treats, not get in the way when it's the other's turn to do something. It's not easy, because Hira barely 'gets it' yet, but I think that I'm seeing a lightbulb over her head now. A refrigerator bulb, but a bulb all the same!

We just stick with 'sit' for now, since that's new for her, and the lesson is more than that.

For example, when they are side by side, and I say sit, she wants to climb on my chair with me. So, part of the training is that she must stay on the floor to do what's asked. No getting in the chair with me!

Since we know so little about how her life was, we are learning more daily, the same as if she came from a pound. For example, she likes being dried off when coming in from the rain. She stands still, being easier to dry in her way than wiggle-wort. (Krypto.)

Also, she gets on the couch/bed, etc. most of the time, but at night, if we make up the bed for the night, she gets down and won't come back up for most, if not all, of the night, choosing her mat, instead. She definitely figured out that it's hers, and Krypto doesn't ever try to claim it, even though it was once his. He has 4 sleeping spots - with us, in his crate when he feels like going in, under the plant table in the kitchen next to one of the big, south-facing windows to sun, or on a mat in the kitchen if there's activity in there - sometimes. I guess that he just doesn't care about that mat or it's location.

The worst thing that we learned, is that she actually not fully housebroken. I guess that she was sent outside at night by her former person, and therefore didn't have issues with housebreaking much?

Because she's not living outside here, we really do care, so I proposed that we start housebreaking 101 with her. Not that she's had tons of accidents, but a few are too many.

So, we began rushing her out when she wakes up, eats, etc...you know the drill. And, now I'm teaching her to use the bells at the door that's we'd put away months ago. But, Krypto hasn't forgotten how to use them, so he's a good example for her.

The problem is...her signs that she needs to go out are too subtle. If we are busy, we can miss them, thus, the bells.

Another problem was that she had very loose stools when we changed to a different food. We got rid of it, and put her on Krypto's new food, and everything is solid, as it should be again.

I figured out that she'd never had real house breaking a week ago, and we've had only one accident since...which she did on a piece of cardboard on the floor when we were busy and her signal to go out was very subtle. Easy peasy to clean up, at least. So, I'm leaving a piece on the floor, just in case.

She's nearly as concientious as Krypto about wanting to do her business outside (I'm not sure that any dog is more concientious/obsessed than he is about going outside - and I'm not complaining! I've never had a dog housebreak more easily than him.) so she really does want out when she has to go. That makes this easier.

That's pretty much how things are going, 3 1/2 weeks into her coming here. I'm sure there will be issues, there always are, but so far, so good.