Nishi was one of the Missouri 8 puppy mill dogs DC SIR rescued in August 2013. Nishi was adopted into her forever home on Sept. 6, 2013. Nishi’s mother reached out to us with an update:
Our brave little lady has many new milestones to celebrate.
2 weeks of walking out of the condo on her own. For 1st two months, I needed to carry her to get her to leave my unit. We now have a ritual. The door is propped open and I walk up and down the hall, calling for her. The first time it took ~40minutes before she made the decision to run down and join me. Within days we were down to 5 minutes, and now it can be less than a minute! We take a short tour around the hallways then head outside. She always walks to my left and just a little back.
She leads me outside our grassy area and onto the sidewalk to get to the park in back of the building for her longer walks! For this she has to brave the traffic. You should see how her tail curls and wags after she “leaves a message” in the park. I think she has a friend out there! Sounds and big winds can be a bit scary sometimes and I may need to carry her to get beyond a few scary patches on our return. Yet she still insists on taking me there if I take her to our grassy area in back (you can see the Shiba spirit).
And the best is in the AM: She tells me it’s breakfast time by shaking hard and rattling her tags to get me out of bed! (6:30am is the time we set. What was I thinking!). And as soon as I look up or say her name, her tail curls and she launches into puppy spins. If I don’t get up, then she waits a half hour and tries again!
And she’s been winning the hearts of everyone in the condo. Those that know it scares her to have other people in the elevator will wave us on and get the next one to come. Other’s will walk away and hide behind a wall or turn their attention away if their presence is scaring her from walking into the building. And yet others offering playdates with their dogs to help her along. She’s shown that she’d like to play with this other Shiba we met next door.
Thank you to Nishi’s mom for the update! We’re so glad to hear she is adjusting well and growing more confident in her new experiences!