Elda's First Day

Elda’s first day with us went well as could be hoped, considering what she has endured over the past couple of years. She spent most of it in her run which we'd laden with enrichment items like Kongs, wobblers, and a lickie mat, and then went in at bed time. The kennel she's staying in is to the side of the other dogs, so she is not worried by them - she'll have the chance to meet them at her own pace, and when she feels confident and safe in doing so.

Her kennel doesn’t have a big run, but does open to a garden available to her when she's ready. We won’t allow her into the main play area until she's comfortable with me putting a lead on her etc.

To help build trust and familiarity (which can be a long and painstaking process), every time I passed, I tossed chicken in. By the afternoon she'd stopped barking at me, also waited expectantly. She ate all her meals, although they were reduced to allow for the enrichment food fed to her throughout the day.

All in all a positive first day. The video captures her yesterday morning after I let her out. Of course she went straight to her lickie mat! And I made sure to film her from a distance so as not to upset her.Keep up to date of Elda's progress via these links:

• A Very Special Welcome to Elda
• Elda's First Day
  
• Elda's First Weekend
  
• Elda's Progress in 'Baby' Steps

While we haven't set one up for Elda specifically (yet), we do invite our generous supporters to sponsor the dogs in our long term care. If you sponsor one of the listed dogs on the sponsor page then you'll also receive a printed sponsorship pack - see more details here - https://gsdwelfare.blogspot.com/p/sponsor-our-dogs.html