One week ago tonight we drove to Animatch to adopt Wellie. In some ways, if feels like she’s been with us a lot longer than that. It’s only been one week and already she has come so far.

Wellington was given up by her previous owners because she had too much energy for them. This is a reminder to really research the temperament of a dog before you welcome them into your home. I am sure the rescues see this all the time.

Having experienced the crazyness that was Paddington’s puppyhood, Thomas and I knew exactly what energy level we were in for. It turns out that Wellie is actually less energetic than Paddington was at her age. Additionally, she lacks the stamina that Paddy seems to have (we sometimes calls her the energizer bunny). Wellie is energetic in short bursts whereas Paddington just keeps on going.

Wellington continues to surprise us with her ability to adapt, and her good behaviour. She is excellent on leash (far better than Paddington and Corduroy are!!), is eager to learn, rides in her crate in the car without a peep, is gentle and loving and has assimilated into our lives quite well. In four short days she learned her name, sit, stay, leave it, wait, back up and is currently learning drop it. This weekend we plan on teaching her the down command as well.

As good as she has been, we have had some issues, which is to be expected. She is still having accidents in the house (the housetraining may be a long road), she acts possessive over toys when playing sometimes and she has been trying to dominate Paddy and more-so Cordy, but jumping on and humping them. I also noticed that on some occasions she is a bit snappy at bigger dogs on leash which leads me to believe that she wasn’t socialized on leash in her previous life.

We are working on being good pack leaders and are addressing these issues. The one that concerns me the most is the dominance towards Corduroy. Cordy is a very laid back dog and I have an inkling that Wellie is mistaking this for weakness and she is trying to assert dominance. We are working on this by making sure that Wellington receives everything last. She is fed last, given attention last, treats last etc. and because she seems to be picking on Corduroy more than Paddington, Corduroy is getting everything first.

We will also be doing a lot more pack walks as well as doing things to make sure that Wellington doesn’t feel the need to take over. Such things as stepping over her, petting her by being over top of her, asking her to obey commends such as sit and stay before getting what she wants (ie: food, ball, etc), never losing a staring match, and feeding her last.

I have noticed a difference in her attitude towards Corduroy already, but we still have a long way to go.

Because Wellington is still young (she is just over a year), she still needs to be occupied until we trust her completely and she’s grown out of her chewing stage. We are making sure to have a lot of chew toys around and toys that challenge her and keep her busy.

To be honest I had completely forgotten what it’s like to do all of this. Thomas keeps reminding me that we had to do the same steps with Paddington and Corduroy, but for some reason I don’t remember these things. Paddington was really bad at possessiveness with her tennis balls (we play fetch every night before bed), and we worked really hard to get where we are today, which is: she will bring it to you, drop it in front of you and sit and wait until you throw it. We are working on the same behaviour with Wellington and she is coming along really well.
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