Almost 3 months since adoption

Except for some rough nocturnal playtime (her only exercise), Petal continues to spend all of her time in the nest (i.e., their recliner). She watches a lot of DogTV, so she has assumed sole ownership of the 12.9-inch iPad Pro shown in the second photo below.

Three months after adoption, Petal is still completely mute. Of the two dogs, she’s the easiest one to pet, and sometimes she seems to appreciate it when we scratch around her ears and head. But whenever I’m carrying her to the yard or another room (because she won’t go anywhere on her own), I can feel her heart beating hard and fast. She’s still scared of us, and she has possibly developed a form of agoraphobia. She’s a sweet dog, and I think she wants to believe we are trustworthy, but she can throw her guard up in a split second, and whenever Zuzu goes into instant panic mode (which often happens when she hears us walking toward their room), Zuzu’s fear infects Petal and causes her to tremble.

Zuzu seems to live for the following: (1) being Petal’s companion and protector, (2) playing with Petal during the night, and (3) watching the back yard through the glass wall and running out through the pet door whenever she sees people and/or dogs walking along the alley beyond our see-through fence.

Zuzu barks at most of the people in the alley, but there’s one woman who walks a fluffy white dog. Whenever Zuzu sees them, she will get out there quick and follow the white dog along the fence. The woman allows her dog to visit for just a few seconds. I will hear some vocalizations from Zuzu, but not her usual shrill barking. Her tail will be wagging quickly, and she will keep looking back at the house as if to say, “Petal! Petal! Look what you’re missing! Come share this with me!” But of course, Petal never goes outside under her own power; she just watches from the nest.

If I walk out into the yard myself, Zuzu will run back to the house. She doesn’t want to be in the yard if we are out there, and she would prefer not to have us in their room with her and Petal.

Even if Zuzu doesn’t bark or growl a lot when we enter their room, she will almost always hop down from the recliner (before we can get close to her) and start circling the room, walking behind the three chairs hundreds of times if necessary, until we leave. She will walk very close to me on each circuit of the room, and might even sniff one of my shoes for half a second, but as long as she’s in motion, she seems to feel relatively safe. She might eventually get back in their recliner, especially if one of us is sitting in the chair next to it and feeding some chicken baby food (their favorite snack) to Petal from a small plastic spatula. Once Zuzu starts accepting some baby food, she seems willing to trust for a few minutes.

And if Zuzu sees one of us walking toward their room carrying their two food bowls (for their twice-a-day meals), she won’t go ballistic. She has decided meal time is a safe time. (And we are just their chefs and maids, after all.)

Zuzu also comes into other parts of the house at times. Whenever we’re home, the door to their room stands open. Until very recently, she would always run back to her room if she knew one of us had spotted her, but now she will actually follow us around occasionally. She won’t get too close unless she’s behind me. When she’s behind me and I turn, she quickly moves around me in order to stay behind me. She’s very good at this, and it’s almost impossible for me to see her when she’s doing it. It’s hilarious.

If I’m in my office typing (as I am now), Zuzu might appear in my peripheral vision, walking past my office door, slowly and quietly—she can be very stealthy—or just peeking her head around the corner to see if I’m in here. If I turn my head toward her, or speak her name (even in a whisper), she will run off, although lately she seems to be understanding that I’m not going to chase her down, so she might look back at me for several seconds before running off.

Picking Zuzu up is almost impossible. If you’ve watched videos from those wonderful people who capture strays, then you might know what I mean. She’s a ball of fear. If we are in their room long enough for her to get in the recliner and lie down, she will always lie on her stomach with her hindquarters coiled up tightly, like a spring, just in case she needs to bolt. Last week we were worried there might be something in her hindquarters that was causing her discomfort, and my wife wanted to inspect her. I reached over from my chair to pet her, then I started to stand so I could pick her up. She knew what was happening and I had to pin her so she couldn’t run before I could pick her up. I managed to pick her up, but she was as frightened as she could possibly be. She peed on me some and also bit my thumb pretty hard, but didn’t break the skin. My wife hurried through the inspection (nothing obvious to see) and Zuzu got some more baby food as a reward.

I’m thinking we might need to separate them for periods of time, mainly to give Petal some time away from Zuzu’s “sphere of fear.” If Petal can eventually warm up to us, even a little, she might be able to influence Zuzu, as unlikely as that seems.

We sometimes use Trazodone (only 25mg per dog), but when we do, Petal’s eyes lose their shine. It might just be sleepiness, but it also feels like we’re robbing her of the ability to just watch her DogTV with a relatively happy expression on her face. So we won’t be drugging Petal very often, possibly only before grooming.

The Trazodone seems to let Zuzu relax a little more, so that will be its primary use, although we don’t want to use it too often.

We haven’t had any success with calming chews. Zuzu and Petal are both very finicky about anything that resembles a snack. We’ve tried several. They might lick or hold a snack in their mouth, only to drop it and lose interest. Apparently, the smell of the calming chews is such that it prevents even the slightest lick.

I still think about getting a third dog, but so far we have only been feeling our way into that discussion. I think it would need to be an adult dog, already capable of having healthy relationships with humans, and young enough to play with Zuzu in the yard. That might do wonders for Zuzu. At night, the new dog would possibly stay with my wife and me from the start.

I’m imagining only benefits from having a third dog, but it could also be a disaster. The bond between Zuzu and Petal is extreme, and there’s potential for extreme jealousy and even some fights. If we ever decide to take the risk, I don’t know which might be better, a male or a female. And should it be the same basic size as Zuzu and Petal, or larger?

Or we might simply find someone else whose dog could visit occasionally.

And we expect to get some help soon from a trainer who works with our vet.

We miss having dogs who love us in return, but we love these two dogs regardless. We also worry about them.

Petal's TV