Dogs are Good People

Trying to think of a title that didn't sound too negative, regarding a particularly disappointing and toxic Human, I fall back on the positive: Dogs are good people.

Lacie, the tri-color Rough Collie, joined our family three weeks ago. She's thirteen years old, very deaf and partially blind. The nose, however, works just fine. I thought it would be hard to teach a senior dog who couldn't really see us and had no idea we were calling her name, to find and use our Doggie Door. Lacie needed a bit of help orienting herself in our house. She paced for several days checking out walls and corners and food bowls but quickly recognized the smell of bacon treats from the other side of the dog door and started going in and out as needed. She was rewarded each time. Now, she'll follow me outside through another door, realize no treat was forthcoming and return to go through the house to the doggie door and appear triumphantly around the corner demanding her just recompense. She makes me smile. 

We initially set up some bright night-lights around the house to help her navigate at night. I had solar garden lights outside, facing towards the door so she wouldn't step out into darkness and awa, to illuminate her pathway. I'm averse to sleeping with the lights on but would have been awake listening for any restless moves in the night anyway. It only took a few days.

Lacie is a Forever Foster. She'll be with us for the rest of her days and our Rescue Group will take care of any vet's bills. We have rules about only adopting out dogs that have been spayed or neutered and Spay Surgery is out of the question at Lacie's age so she needed a soft landing. As you can see, she and Misty are a pack already.