Eddie has just settled onto his new faovorite spot on gate thresshold. He was there but when I came carrying my laptop to type this he left. I had gone in and out several times before while rested there but the fan on teh computer must have triggered his catuion circuits and went down tohis den. I called him and he came back up and with a "good boy Ed" he came up on teh deck. He seems want tocome furhter but then settles rigth at the edge of the deck with his noe outward. Something I realized early on with Eddie is he need to have an escape route. I really think he is almost blind so he needs to verfiy and retrace his exit route several times before feeling comfortable. I think he is developing a mental map of the house with it's three levels... really wierd for a dog that probably spent his whole life in a flat desert setting. TOday after our huge pack walk with friends who had all gone I peed by the driveway tree. He came up to whatch standig with right side facing the tree. A large tree with grizzled bark. He turned and smacked his head right into and jumped back with a little half ylep and cowered by antoher tree for a while. THe literal cat of turing to leave is he smacked his. It being plenty light out I can only surmise that he had not been ale to anaccurate echo location on teh high relief and perhaps sound absorbing bark.
As Itype this he has approached further onto teh deck, pacing back and forth cerifying the route past the barbecue and the woold pile. He is now inspectining both. Poor guy the woold pile keeps chaning as wood gets burned and new woold add. He must very close and sniff thins before he feels comfortable. It is now twilight.
We had a heck of a walk see video with Tilla from acros the creek, kuma, osha, penny, and three human friends who were kind enough to being much needed groceries and more meat and beef bones. SO we are all stocked for antoher few days. It was quite diverse pack in age dispositon and energy and while I remained on foot the three other humans skied. HE did great a little wary of the sound of skiis on snow at first. He and I led the way up the hill to allow him a reafy exit at all times. He ahd a great time but was really working to figure out who was who and what was going on. A good time was had by all.

Morning walk day 7

I checked on Eddie several times during the night poking my head out the front door onto the deck whereupon he would unhurriedly rise and begin to head for the gate off the deck. He clearly wanted to stay out. About 7am I heard a whine and went down to investigate with Niko following. Eddie was standing by the lower corner of the house near his under-deck den looking forlornly at the house. I went inside and while having coffee, bagel and lighting the fire observed him pacing around circling the house thinking. I saw him go onto the deck with Niko and snuck out to close the gate. Eddie looked a little scared but after some coaxing went into the house as I followed only to see that Niko had led them back out through the garage door which I had failed to close for fear of making noise. Well if nothing else a good learning experience about doors. I continued with breakfast watched as Niko with Eddie in tow made the morning rounds checking for coyote tracks. They get along great and I think Niko really likes having a buddy to share with. It is difficult to tell them apart at a distance if Niko is not curling his tail up. The temperature was 19F and rising. Eddie does not look cold just a little scared and uncertain which seems to be his morning pattern. I'd feel the same way but for coffee and bagel. He still seems to be figuring about the house and the windows and doors. I guess if you have fur and can stay warm. Why have doors anyway? I doubt they understand about heat and energy conservation

Cool I just discovered this blogging editor has really good spell checker.....

about an hour ago I went out to investigage an alert bark from niko. He went charging off, jumping over Eddie who was still lying on the gate threshold. He chased off something probably coyotes since we have been hearing them lately. I heard a few load barks from down by teh creek. Niko came up from the creek and Eddie who was sitting by the lower coner of the house went out greet him. I went inside for my jacket and heard a couple of yelps probably from Eddie. Anyway When I came out Eddie was waiting and followed me down to the creek to look for Niko. We could hear Niko but he was intent on following a trail and would not come back. Eddie hung out with me and then when I went back to the deck and he followed me onto it!!! a bit later I was listening on the deck and heard some load barks from a nieghbor's dog. Eddie came up to me on the deck and indicate we should go investigate which we did. Anyway now he and Niko are back out on the deck with Eddie laying on the threshold agian. I Think his poor eyesight might make him stick nearby at night. Anyway he is wary guy and I'm glad he does not go charging off with Niko after coyotes.
So the invading coyotes made for a tgreat opprotunity for some pack bonding but more importantly for Eddies training we had something other than him to focus on but he could participate in and contribute to the pack effort.

This is great! Eddie is now hanging out in one of Niko's faovorite daytime spots lying on the deck looking out the open gate. Hooray! Eddie is lying comfortably and of his own free will on the very threshold he had such a hard time crossing just yesterday. This is really good he is undergoing much positive very rapidly. One thing I should point out as an aside about the squeeky hinges on the door is that they may have been spooky at firts but they also a distinctive warning whenever teh door is opened. I have been noticing the last two nights that he would be pading off the deck well before I could openteh door and put my head out. So the distinctive squeak of the door opening enabled him to hang out on the deck and yet not be trapped on it perhaps....

Trust is a two street

So I just tested the trust idea by letting Eddie out the gate about 1/2 an hour after I thought he had not wanted to go. Perhaps he was saying I'll come back inside if you let me out. He was one happy dog on the walk and the most relaxed I've seen him at night. On the way back he did not linger at the tree by the plow turn-around like last night. We all stopped to listen at the driveway. Niko led off toward the house in a purposeful fast walk and Eddie immediately followed with me following close behind. This is completely new usually Eddie would follow me and hang back a bit. At the deck he hesitated just a bit and came onto it about 10 feet. Niko was setttling into the blue bed from inside and I asked him to move onto the bean bag bed closer to the door. He obliged and Eddy began to approach but then heeded back off the deck. My theory about trust is reinforced by this!!!! One thing about commnicating with a non-humanized dog is the expression of his will and ideas. It could be that human socalization process pupies go through establishes a strong one way communication channel, being taught only to recieve requests and not make them. or at least not make them clearly.

P1000912 Eddie eating first bone

Eddies first bone at new place

Eddie on his 6th day

The little guy is a really tough neogiator and I fear that an unbiased observer might conclude that he has me completely out flanked out patienced and is pretty much winning on most fronts. He still will not come into the house but last night did peer in the open front door from the deck three times around 11 pm. I'm glad the wood stove cranks, but feel bad about the extra carbon going into the atmosphere. At least I don't have to drive in to see him at the pound every day. I got to sleep at 2am and planned to wake shortly thereafter to trap him on the deck and then get him inside, but I did not wake until 5 am. I closed the gate and Edie came inside but he was shaking from perhaps both cold but mostly fear (22 degrees F). Fear becaus the water purifier back flushed at 3 am which makes a horendous water flowing sound for about 1/2 an hour. I think it must have terrified him. He settled uneasily into his crate after making his usual rounds carefully checking the sliding glass door and skylights in the loft several times. Poor guy.
here are some videos of the morning and day after:






Well Well Well..... HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY.... Eddie came inside and it is only 6:30pm. I heard him out on the deck and waited a few minutes before going out the garage door and up onto the deck closing the gate behind me. Eddie calmly lifted his up from where he had settled on Niko's deck bed. I walked past him opened the front door and the brave little guy came right inside. Niko and I hung out by the fire as he paced and checked out the general situation with the windows and the fornt door doubling checking everything. I let him in and out several times to communicate to him that he could stay out on the deck if he wanted and that he was not trapped. He is now settled peacefully in his kennel in the loft listening to me type. He is a heart warming little fellow and I am beginning to glimpse my life returning to normal. Thanks ED!




One of the questions I have been wrestling with all day is whether letting Eddie roam freely is the best way for him to learn. The alternative of keeping on a lease or confined. I really didn't have much choice in eth matter anyway because his collar slipped over his head on third day he was here. In some sense alowing him great freedom may also have freed his mind to reform his neural pathways with out the constriction of being trapped. Trapped in the sense that his mind would be focused on the other side of fence, or how to get out, or just trapped depression. I've throwing alot of ghanges at Eddie bring in at least one new thing each day and changing up the routine, the lighting, the food, my habits that his mind must be in information turmoil. His freedom may allow teh sorting of that information into more peaceful and open constructs.

I think his mental process might be going something like this. He has a list whether concious or subconcious or both that categorizes sensory phenomina in terms of danger. What I am trying to do I think is reclasify the items on that list that have to do with teh house as not dangerous. He already recognizes I think that inside is warm is good. inside is where his pack is. He had teh desire to come inside but there are things like windows, computer fans, fire, etc. He is motivated to reclassify these items because he and I are buddies and knows that I want him inside. The most important thing he has to go is trust of me and Niko in reforming his judgements about things. That is trying to hold his colar on the hillside was so bad. I have to trust him more and then he will trust me more and a positive cycle is established which feeds on itself.

Any way BS aside Eddie just a moment ago indicated to me as I was typing that he wanted to go outside. He wnet onto the dekc and immediately settled onto Niko's bed, where upon Niko came out the door and rousting him before he could ly down. I took the bed taht was using by the fire and put it outside beside other bed. Niko chose that one and Eddy kind went in and out a few times gingerly stepping on the cornre furthes from Niko who was lying with his nose very close and a bit above the other bed. I moved the other bed a few feet away but with a better view of the scary door.
Just got back from checking: no on the bed. Eddie is hanging out half way to the gate sitting. Thinking about what I had just written about trust I figured I'd let him out if he wanted to go. He did not and instead came inside and half way up the stairs to the loft and then back outside. I think he is worried about taking Nikos bed. Niko can be a grouch at times. Anyway I moved the bean bag bed back to where it had been adjacent to Niko on what I thought should have been Eddies bed. Eddie is really great progress!!!

EDDIE

I first met my buddy Eddie several months ago. He is really good looking and really smart, perhaps that is why we’re buddies. As I write this he is sleeping peacefully in his crate. This is, in and of itself amazing, given Eddies past. Eddie is now his name, but what his former compatriots called him is not knowable. The whole issue of dogs assigning names to each other can quickly devolve into a philosophical black hole, but one thing is clear, Eddie initiated our conversation. I was literally hanging out studying his walk and enjoying being as dog-like as possible in the side run of the local Humane Society shelter… the pound.

Homer is a real sweet heart but tough and tough looking with pointy ears powerful snout and no nonsense demeanor which is why all the other dogs looked up to him, including as it turned out Eddie. One day in the side yard Homer and a human volunteer walked by outside the fence, so Eddie with happy trot style nosed in Homer's direction his body ready to follow. That was great because Eddie had never been outside the fence since arriving inside a crate almost a year earlier. The Humane society website described him as “The wyle Eddie”. He is very jumpy and clearly much more comfortable around dogs than people… can you blame him.

Eddie at the pound oct/7/2008

So one day few weeks later I was walking him on a leash around the side run to get him comfortable on the leash. Initially he would panic and buck up on feeling any restraint or pull on the leash. He can now tolerate pulling and has become downright obstinate. The thing about Eddie is you can’t really force him because his collar will slip over his head so one has to negotiate, the great thing about Eddie is that he is polite and persistent. I will always be grateful to whose ever words I read about the supreme importance of patience when dealing with dogs. Something that can be difficult to practice in our busy human worlds. I am beginning to think that animals and dogs in particular being rather well armed must abide politeness to one another in order to survive. People all armed to the teeth would do well to be polite one another and not drink alcohol, a problem dogs do not have.

I was glad when it started to get dark and bit windy, because my toes were getting cold and I had to keep thinking about patience and meditating on the trees, something unfamiliar to Eddie from his life spent in the desert of Gabbs Nevada. At a certain hour of twilight Trees begin to loom. Eddie eyed the house which, now after two hours was only 20 feet away, the automatic lights having turned on, Eddie weighed his options and after sitting, which seems to be his sign of compromise, I remained firm continuing the gentle pull of the lease in the appropriate direction. Niko by this time was getting with program and standing by the gate onto the deck beckoning us. Eddie Finally caved and after a few hesitations at the gate hopped onto the deck, as I anticipated warming my toes and closed the gate Hooray. Dogs are amazing…. I just wonder how much negotiating capital I had used up.

Its now 8:44 and Eddie has been in his crate for about 2 hours with one brief excursion after Niko and I went up to the loft… to type this… he is relaxed hanging out in his crate. He most likely has never been inside a house, he has never seen windows from the inside, a fire inside a wood stove, strange sounds otherwise know as music and on and on. For example the other day hanging out behind the pound and after post-holing the snow I sat down to remove my boot. Eddie sniffed the toe as I undid the laces but when the boot started to come he gave a crazy look and backed off ready to bolt. I realize he had never seen that and must have thought that I was coming apart…. Removing my foot. That combined with my cell phone…. made necessary by having had an hour long negotiation impasse with Eddie, He was clearly a bit less sure about the trustworthiness of his human buddy. For some reason he has decided to trust me, which when you think about it is amazing. Consider for a moment how long it would take you to trust an alien abductor or even a human abductor? I’m not a expert on Eddie's past but I have heard said that it took two months to catch the Wyle fellow, and the only reason he went into the trap is that he was hungry. People left him food during his lone stay at Gabbs after 144 of his buddy had been hauled away by aliens… umm humans. I say he is one impressive animal and can perhaps teach quite a lot. I believe that many dogs have given up trying to communicate because we humans tend to view the communications as one way from us to them. This tendancy seems to be agrevated by our lack of patience caused by our need to be on a shcedule.

9:04 I went out onto the deck leaving the front door open spurring Niko to come down the stairs and outside, Eddie came out 30 seconds later and tentatively snuck past the glass door out onto the deck. He went back inside and came out again eyeing his reflection in the glass… He is a cautious boy and does not seem inclined to venture out much right now. I think perhaps he was being polite and putting in an appearance to acknowledge my invitation. Right now there is huge shift going on in his mind as the forces of darkness subside into the back ground of his consciousness. So far so good. He is a wary observer, perhaps a canine explorer of consciousness… If only they could speak… or at least communicate faster. Then again perhaps important ideas can only be communicated slowly with the passage of time, perhaps they have no need to express frivolous baloney the way most humans do… who needs English anyway, well at least to hell with proper grammar and the like.

Out on the deck again, Eddie comes out and sniffs Niko who is lying on the deck and heads back inside to the crate. Moving ahead a few minutes now I’m ready for a walk with a head lamp on…. Very spooky… Niko gets up and Eddie comes out clearly wanting to go. Thinking that my Patience needs recharging I hope he can hold it till morning. He hasn’t eaten much tonight… especially after that big meaty bone I gave him yesterday to celebrate….unbeknown to him… his last day at the pound.

We are back fro a few short walks interspersed with checking on Eddie. I left the front door open so he could go out on the deck. I think he likes the idea of a walk but is not sure about the darkness situation.

Well so much for concern about darkenss he seemed quite at ease during a walk up the road, Eddie seems to be looking everywhere for grass to eat. It being winter, he was only able to find a few brown shoots and only because the snow is mostly gone from around the bases of trees. This time he came right into the house after only a few very polite attempts at a longer walk… he is a runner I will be happy for the day he will run without the leash…. He is amazing and Niko likes him.

Sunday Morning second day first morning: Patience… I’m glad I dressed warmly this morning since Eddie was far from motivated to go back into the house on returning from a good walk. We were joined by Tilla from across the way and enjoyed about a mile of walking through partially crusted snow… really good for my Knees. Eddie pulled constantly being on the lease for two reasons: to keep him from running and perhaps injuring his joints and other biomechanical locomotory apparatus, and of course so he would stick around. This morning’s negotiations were difficult. Half an hour after returning home I had maneuvered Eddie close enough to open the front door thinking he might prefer that entrance (less scary)… wrong he did not like this and strengthened his resolve to stay outside. About an hour later, after making concessions we had un-progressed from within 20 feet of the house all the way out to the end of driveway. With the door wide open and not within reach, Niko looking forlorn but patient, and me worried about snow and cold getting into the house as the wood fire died, I called Mary, one of Tilla’s humans who came right over and closed the door, and spurred Eddie to move back to within 20 feet of the house. Progress... but no warm toes yet. After Mary left I appreciated the wisdom of her question as to why Eddie’s collar was so loose. After de-ossifying my brain I tightened Eddie’s collar thus gaining some negotiating leverage. After tugging a bit harder to no avail, and after some petting and praise Eddie caved and came inside, overcoming his obvious fear of the brown house with scary windows, the fire, and scary deck gate not to mentiona a miriad other things. So after morning deliberation Eddie decided that: Yea though he walks through the valley of the shadow of death, he still fears evil but will go inside anyway, to the great relief of all involved, and thoughts of gratitude to our neighbor. On a practical note and much to my and surprise and Eddie's relief he left a big well formed pile on the trail. I know he would have preferred to go off into the trees… but what could he do restrained by the silly leash. On the way back but at respectful distance from the house he emptied his bladder only slightly lifting his leg. It took a while which was no surprise as he had not peed since arriving yesterday afternoon.

Sunday evening, Eddie's second evening in his brave new world. The bed placed beside his kennel with the hopes of enticing him out is instead used by Niko, which is really great after the fight.... well not really a fight, Niko’s foot got tangled in Eddies leash as I was untying the other end. I turned around to see Niko going after Eddie and then Eddie laying on his back in submission but giving of three quick snarls to which Niko snarled back and with a few calming words and quick untangling tensions were defused. Eddie slank up onto the snow bank in fear. After a few moments as Eddie relaxed Niko approached him slowly with his tail wagging in friendly manner. At about two feet away Eddie gave the same three quick snarls and I brought out the treats to have a little peace party. As we approached the house it being dark upon returning from a walk, Eddie was still upset and maximized his distance from Niko as well as could on the lease. He clearly did know why Niko had become upset. So after a bit of back and forth and hanging out petting Eddie he followed Niko up onto the Deck and into the house it being about 7:00 pm all were happy. After we hung out for a while Niko went over and stood on the bed beside the Kennel with Eddie inside and touched it with his nose saying he likes Eddie. I agreed Eddie has an impressive and scary snarl that makes him look like a serious dude. I can only reiterate the wonder politeness and stepped but mutually choreographed escalation of hostilities between animals that respect each other and generally get along but neither of which takes any baloney or rolls over to a bully. I think they actually gained a measure of understanding and trust from today’s encounter perhaps for no other reason than they both now know they play by the same honorable rules. No question about who is dominant: Niko weighs in at 92 and perhaps half that for Eddie who is also the new guy.

Niko is definitely hanging with Eddie and even sleeping with nose toward the kennel door. I think Niko likes Eddie's disposition. Earlier: Dinner consisting of ground buffalo and cuisinarted peanut butter celery, lettuce and rice which I hand fed him and that he seemed to enjoy. Niko Finished off Eddies leftovers in front him. I was sitting in the garage/kitchen with Niko and Eddy came up and touched my hand with his nose and pointed to the door, so we all went for a walk, but only after following him back to his kennel so I could put on his collar and leash. He did not want his harness so I caved on that one it being night which seems to make Eddie come into the house more readily (that's being generous). Eddie did really well and is gaining confidence.

The Walk earlier in the afternoon about 4:00 was good. Eddie had on his harness for the first time and tighter collar. We went down the road and he showed interested and asked to follow Tilla's trail from that morning. Niko and I opted for following the snowmobile track and the old road over to visit Tilla. Eddie went onto the deck and stepped through the sliding door into Tilla’s house but was spooked by the TV and we had to go. At least Eddie knows that Niko and I are not the only idiots that live in scary houses. I don't think he had ever been inside a house before. The pound facility is much simpler visually than a house. I don't think he has very sharp vision. I think he might see mostly blurry shapes and light and dark. I need to find a way to gage his visual acuity. At the end of our walk we went up the creek road and on the way back the big snow plow with flashing lights came up the road and was turning around. Niko barked once and went up the road to the house and truck. Eddie followed stopping twice before deciding Niko who was out of sight needed back up and started to pull hard as I quickened my pace. The Plow finished as we caught up with Niko. We went to check out scene duly noting the appropriate smells etc. before returning to the house and the leashfight etc.

After returning from yet another walk just after midnight during which Eddie accomplished great feats indeed out on the road and by actually going into the house in short order. The deck lights were on and the front lights were off.... He also peed in the same place as this afternoon at the snow-plow turn around but did not lift his leg. Niko of course watched approvingly but did not over mark his spot. I'm pretty sure that the main reason Eddie wanted to go out was that he is tired of holding it since it manifested in a solid well formed appearance. Also Eddie took his first and only drink since he has been here, out of the creek on the way back from Tilla's during the morning walk. He drank mightily from the creek after partially breaking through some ice at the edge of a hole in the ice and snow covered water course. He would not drink from a bowl just before the midnight walk and he sounded a bit dry. I think he is beginning to feel more comfortable, but I am growing to think he has poor visual acuity more and more... how to test it? The time is now 1 am Monday morning, Niko and I both worked from walking so much but you have to give Eddie a break he has a lot of walking to catch up on after a year in the pound and only limited walks around the city yard after being terrified on his second and last walk down by the river two months ago. I'm not sure but the other reason he feels more at home is hearing the big snow plow earlier was just business as usual, after experiencing the town of Truckee snow plows near the pound. So far the weather has been perfect with overcast and light snow.

Eddie is making rapid progress and for a dog of 2 or 3 considering he is learning everything a humanized puppy must learn and at the same time overcoming fears manifest in his more developed mind. One thing is sure: he speaks softly, is very polite, and he has worn Niko and me out. Also Niko is beginning to understand that he is the role model and is beginning to understand that Eddie is perhaps not quite like other dogs we have known. Years ago Niko would refused to get into the truck in a timely manner (sometimes more than two hours) after walks, Eddie does the same thing about going inside the House. Niko early on though did not want to leave the house for long as he was already familiar with the “civilized” idea of home.

So the end of day three and Niko Eddie and I are nicely tired after wandering around Eddies new territory all day. Eddie was ready long before Niko and me, and then there was the coffee and bagel not to mention the warm clothes boots and fruitless negotiation about Eddies harness. It is a step in type and so requires some modicum of canine cooperation which heretofore eludes Eddies capabilities. So after returning from our walk to the first stream crossing and then cruising around up on the hillside to make some phone calls (best cellular reception) and returning to the truck Nanette from the pound called to check on Eddie. I tethered Eddie to the truck partly as an experiment but mostly so I could hop on the bank to get adequate reception. Eddie Jumped back when I jumped up. We both stood looking at his caller sitting on ground in the moments of realization for both us as we took in the situation. Eddie I must is a good looking Dog with out his caller on which I had a good chance of appreciating as the day progressed. I'm not sure what on Eddies head but he realized something and came right beside me as if on the lease. I let pass to attempt getting a lease on him and as result we a good but tiring day.

The first thing Eddie did was mill about back and forth and then I decided it was walk time yet again. I soon came to realize that the bond of Pack is greater than the bond of leash. Eddie, Niko and I took turns leading our pack around and around the neighbor hood (quite rural). When we got the place where Tilla had met us the other day Eddie paused and motioned in that direction. So decided to follow Tilla's trail back to her house

Thankfully Niko took the lead and we followed a snowmobile track. We enjoyed briefly the good will of Tilla’s folks and invited Tilla out so the Pack was off, back across the creek to our place and up the hill to make a call to Nanette to say things are fine despite the caller dilemma, or more accurately the impending dilemma of getting Eddie inside. Just as we were approaching the house I had high hopes that Tilla might lead Eddie inside, but just as the plan about to hatch, The call for Tilla came across the creek and she was off heading home. It was going to be a long day.

The day turned out good in end since Eddie decided to come inside. One thing of interest is that he continues to whine. I thought it was just because he was on the leach with a tough negotiator on the other end. But oddly he continues to whine when he heads off in a new direction that we resist going in and when he can't bring him self to enter the house. Today he circled the house several times before going inside. He looked at the scary glass lower level door onto the lower deck quite a few times. I think he was seeing his reflection as he passed by. He seemed to be assessing some unknown hazard. I have come believe that he has very limited vision which may limit to seeing mainly larger light dark contrasts like trees and windows and even my house which is dark with a large overhanging roof. Perhaps that is why he less spooked about coming in at night. I think he is beginning to get used the outside lights. He may have very acute echolocation and overhanging roof might seem pretty weird.

Given those considerations his kennel is perhaps in bad location facing two stories of big windows. Against a white wall, black reflective squares which show Niko and me moving around in the loft. If he can't see well that might seem pretty weird. I now think that Eddies is not only dealing with incredible new and different surroundings but that he doing so with limited vision, which might be when one considers it really scary. I wonder if having bad vision might on the other hand be beneficial in some ways since he doing quite well compared to some other feral dogs from Gabbs. We are going to try and find out more details about his past. At any rate is very good natured brave little fellow. But he still will not eat or drink out of a bowl. Not stainless, not white ceramic with dark square covering the bottom, not even a flattish asymmetrical square with randomly rounded corners fashioned by hand by renowned local potter T. Wik. He did however enjoy the hand fed barbecued ground buffalo with cuisinarted: boiled oatmeal, peanut-butter and a carrot, as did Niko.

After dinner which we had on the deck, Eddie seeming to me interested in the gate and perhaps leaving for while and a bit scared. After dinner I put his leash on and we took a brief tour of the house and made it down stairs to see the inside of the lower door. I realized that I have been horribly negligent and rude so tonight I'm going to try and put Eddies crate up stairs so he can be with Niko and Me. No wonder guy is scared he's been sleeping in a scary than need be space.

A few hours later and Eddies crate is now upstairs. He poor guy went out on deck and I took his crate before he could get back into it and while he was watching I carried it upstairs. I was trying to get Niko to lead so I could follow and hopefully Eddie but Niko was so stiff he did not want to go up the stairs. I think stairs are new to Eddie also, at least flights of stairs since he scraped his feet going up the lower stairs earlier on our house tour. So he and I wandered around the house a few times and I demonstrated the operation of light switches. He only really shows he “sees” the switch when it makes a sharp noise, other wise he looks almost blind to the motion of the switch and motive hand.

He is laying on his belly easy reach of jump position on the bed in the living room that Niko was beside his kennel and calmly observing and I hope enjoying the Mozart on Pandora coming fro the loft above him. I put some logs on the fire which is facing and that did not seem to trouble him. I noticed that when I move he is watching my reflection in the windows so I tried to demonstrate the idea of reflection by moving around at different distances fro the glass where I could see his reflection (meaning he could see mine), I thought some wheels spinning.

I realize that the crate he was in was restricting the amount of information he could receive, by fowling up the echo location and letting him only see a small portion of his surroundings out the kennel entrance. Getting him out of the crates was great move. He is now more relaxed than I have seen him at night and inside even his crate. So again it seems that limiting information is a bad thing that makes for fearfulness, just as with George W…. Eddie is now seeing a broader vignette of his surroundings and the increased information cross correlations helps him establish cause and effect relationships and perhaps rule out certain phenomena as harmless or at least less threatening. For instance the idea that I am controlling the lights instead of some hairy eyeballed zombie creature somewhere nearby. I’m not sure doing it any sooner would have been good since the crate provides a safety zone. Also during the day I think we deepened our bond through mutual trust. He may have been testing me at some times when he came close to see if I would try any funny business like trying to slip his collar on. I didn’t try that and only tried toward the end by offering him the collar which of course he refused. So I asked for his trust and asked for mine and trust begets begets trust. I’d consider letting him out right now at 10:30 pm but it is about 6 Fahrenheit outside. And he is doing so well now inside. So often we only get what expect out our animals.

I’m beginning to realize that this experience with Eddie may be as close as a semi-civilized lay person can come to inviting a wild animal into one’s home. Quite an opportunity for interspecies communication. I expect as Eddie begins to feel more home he will try to communicate more. We had fairly good conversation about rout finding and destinations this afternoon.

A few hours later around midnight Eddie is relaxed with all lights except for the loft light out. It casts a shadow on the wall with windows which he can see. I’ve been trying to teach about shadows by moving about so he can see both me and shadow move at the same time. He might be more worried about my sanity than the shadows… difficult to say. He made some only half hearted attempts at coming up stairs so I don’t think he misses the crate. I hope to regain control over my life soon… just waiting on Eddie.

Just after sunrise I heard Eddie stirring around and go down to check on him and light the fire. He is pacing about and is shaking like yesterday morning. I make coffee and toast as he paces about and checks out the world in his Eddie way very tentatively.

As I was making Coffee he wandered up into the loft for the first time past big bad Niko. When he heard me coming up he came back down. After sitting with Niko on his loft bed while Eddie wandered up and down many times and here and there around the loft he finally settled into the kennel, until the video camera decide to go into power save mode a minute later. As I type this he is wandering about… HOUSTON… Eddie has landed… touch down in Kennel. Eddie can see me typing and Niko Hanging out by my chair. He looks relaxed and is trying to figure out what that strange clicking sound is. The some what rhythmical sound dyslexic typing. The Video is still running and should be interesting. I’m glad Eddie is relaxed today as it is about 4 Fahrenheit out. I can only guess what he thinking about his new pack and their strange den and stranger ways and sounds. As an aside earlier I let him on the deck and when he came back in I opened the door for him from the inside so that he could me through the glass… I thought for second about this and hope began to figure out the strange mystery of glass and light he has been working on. Perhaps Eddie has the heart and mind of a scientist. We all know that Science is the key to survival and Eddie certainly is a survivor.

Wed morning just after waking up at the luxurious hour of 8:30 made sweeter by yesterday’s early dawn wakeup to be with and calm Eddie, which meant getting outside as quickly as possible. He is now watching me type this from his Kennel. We are all up in the loft: Niko curled up on his folded over futon, Eddie a short distance way with his kennel situated so that he can see both Niko and me from his corner of the triangle we form. I tried to situate the Kennel to minimize scary things but the skylights still seem to bother him especially now that they are closer. I’m pretty sure Eddie was not hereto fore familiar with the concept of a roof let alone a hole in such filled with glass another very strange with a myriad of different appearances depending on ever changing lighting. He is looking much more relaxed than yesterday morning. The brave little fellow came up the stairs last night from his bed by the fire immediately upon my turning on the light so I could go take a pee. He came up check things out looked at the nighttime skylight above his kennel and headed back downstairs. He returned to his bed by the fire and after finishing my business I sat with him a while, before resuming my sleep up stairs. Later I woke and turned on the light and he came up again but this time twilight was barely lighting the window and he came up and with a few “good boy Eddies” he settled into his crate, and Niko and I gratefully resumed our slumbers.

It must be a very different thing for a puppy versus an older dog to learn about the world and strange behaviors and goings on about the house with fans, running water, windows, doors, toilets flushing, sewage pumps rumbling, forced air heating sounds, fires, the myriad creeks and pops of a wood house, pots and pans clanking the occasion clattering pandemonium of something dropped, the strange acoustics of enclosed spaces, computers etc. Older Dogs have already learned what is dangerous in the world so things that are danger neutral to a puppy put an older dog on high alert. A Puppy learns from scratch based perhaps on the trust of his significant others. An older dog like Eddie who has learned to fear everything out of the ordinary must unlearn some fears. I am amazed that his trust goes that far in such a short time. It’s difficult to say speaking as both the observer and observed but Eddie’s perceptions on both Niko and My calmness and confidence as the cacophony of dangerous sound s and images progress around us my help Eddie with the appropriate cues.

Eddie’s self reliance shows through in the limits of his trust. Last night for instance He understood that both Niko and I wanted him to come into the house. He was having difficulty overcoming his fear of the house and would not come in. As evening progressed to night and the 10 pm came around he would still not come in and would not let me pet him or otherwise get close enough to grab, not that that was my intent. He was getting scared and cold and was whining at the threshold of both the garage door and the deck but could not bring himself to enter the house, and so I could not even pet him to calm him down. I put on and off various combinations of lights during his repeated attempts and he finally ventured up on the deck but only part way to the front door. And thus the impasse stood as Niko and I had dinner and generally milled about wondering what do.

I tried the barbecue, thinking he was hungry, but shortly after that failure Niko and I went out find him, after I had removed the green tarp which was covering the plywood leaned up on the deck and accidentally knocked a heavy piece of wood over with a loud bang with resonated on the deck. We found him at the end of the driveway eating something dug out of the snow. I approached and he let me pick up a piece of who knows what nastiness that I realized was ground turkey and rice which Niko had regurgitated sever months back just after the first snow and which I had shoved off into the snow back. I felt better knowing that it was at least a known nasty. That might be why the food trick did not work as it had the night before.

It is now 9:40 and all is peaceful except of course for the clicking of a key board, what a luxury to be able to enjoy the morning creative time again. Eddie looks relaxed and is even snoozing. I realized that my perspective and nerves had been frayed a bit, but I can only imagine that Eddie must have been even more sleep deprived and stressed out that either Niko or me. So patience, trust, and sleep. He has never peed in the house, something I cannot say about most dogs I have known and he has never gone after the meat wrappers in the easily accessible garbage, although the line around the food prep area defined by Niko might be the reason. Well lets see how he handles me talking on the phone. I petted Eddie in his kennel and retrieved eth cell phone charging on the table beside the Kennel and returned to my desk . Eddie got up ad headed downstairs but he returned to his kennel after a couple of “good boy Eddies”, He clearly wants to do nothing wrong.

Very interesting. I opened the sliding glass door onto the upper deck and went out. Eddie peer out and sniffed the cold air. Eddie would follow despite verbal coaxing but went out after I cam in and sat on the bed near the door. He sniffed and began to step but banged is legs into the stair situated just below is neck and head as if he did not realize it was there. He sniffed around peered through the glass railing and then came back inside and sniffed around. I went out and then he sniffed the door but would not come out until Niko roused himself and stiffly walked out where upon Eddie followed. We hung out until my bare feet could stand it no longer and went inside. Eddie went down stairs into the garage below which is directly below the deck and came back upstairs. I wonder if his having to learn about three dimensions as they pertain to orthogonal structures like houses. Hills are three dimension but one does not general go inside a hill so existing on a three dimensional surface is really like thinking in 2 dimensions!!! This time as he approached the sliding glass door which was closed I slowly opened it I could see the wheels turning and after He tentatively followed me he went back inside and paced around a bit. He and share that…. To think we need to walk or pace…part of the reason for my poor writing which by necessity involves sitting. Well I just put on some Mozart music and videoed Eddie as he tried to figure that on out. I have of course been playing Mozart for him since his arrival… with a little Indigo Girls and a smattering of NPR news. He is really starting to gain confidence and the ensuing ease peace as his knowledge and experience of his new home develops. Living with Eddie these past few days has been an exercise in mindfulness of every little thing I do especially in his presence. I know one thing I’m glad to be able to sit inside the warm house instead of tromping around outside all day.

The past focus on his stay has really been about establishing his outside territory, and clearly his comfort level has grown there. Now we need to develop that sense of ease with his inside territory. Of course having Niko as a role model has been crucial and necessary in this process. Niko has two key traits, he is big and does put up with much nonsense or insubordination, and he is supremely calm partly due to his 10 years of experience. He was actually quite wary on this house when moved also… there is something kind of scary about my new house…. Perhaps it was not built with canine feng shui in mind. So Eddie looks up to Niko for guidance about what is dangerous and not ( Eddie is also developing greater trust of Niko’s judgment). I think that Eddie felt he were the dominant animal and had no one to look up to progress would be slower.

Wed 7:00pm

Eddie has taken up residence under my lower deck. Marilyn another Human Society volunteer came by commented about Eddie not going under the deck to den….. Well great minds think alike I guess. Its been an interesting day, Eddie has just shifted the terms of negotiation. I had intended to put the harness on him and assert some soft “smart power” on him. But Marilyn showed up and so the harness plans went out the window. Eddie has taken advantage of the opening while at the same undermining a key assumption of my side, which may do us in and ultimately arrive at the best solution. Show the little has out smarted me. He as reframed the strategic work by taking the middle road, technically we do share the same roof, I just worry about weather it is warm enough. The little guy has really got me because the question I have answer is weather or not put his bed under deck for him and thereby condone is actions. It is certainly much better than him deciding to strike into the woods or head to the neighbor’s house…. I’m not sure they are ready for another dog. He is really bonded to me and yet demands respect and his personal space which is much larger than most dogs apparently...

Thurs 11:03

Eddie doing great and beginning to figure out and become more comfortable with windows. Last night about 10pm I caved in a put a bed under the deck for Eddie since it was about 20 F outside. About 7 I made some dinner of bbq’d ground buffalo and ground turkey mixed in with cuisinarted boiled oats, lettuce, carrot, celery and of course peanut butter. Niko Ate on the deck and I put Eddies out infront of the house at the border of his comfort zone about 20 feet away on the T.Wik plate with wavy edges which were mostly hidden by food and the snow I set it in. Eddie was hungry and spent a few niutes checking it out from all angles before grabing a bite or two. He ended up eating most of it, HOO-RAY. Earlier in the day I had given Eddie a peanut butter cong filled with some Origen kibble a few chuncks of left over ground buffalo. He licked the peanut butter out but I had to empty the rest of in the snow for him. He was clearly much more interested in the Meaty bone I had given Niko. Eddie had not taken it two days earlier and I had not thawed out any more so Niko being top dog had to get it. I thought Eddie might like the Peanut butter Kong better anyway… which apparently is not the case. He must have bben too stressed out to eat it before.

After that lunch Tilla had joined us for a walk up the Hill since I had to make some phone calls. We were hanging out and Eddie was hanging close to me. I shoedhim the leash a couple of times to which he seemed a little ambivalent so I decided to try and put it on him. I was kneeling I the snow beside him and put my fingers around his collar to see how he would react when I exerted a little control. He immediately let out a high pitched fearfull yelp and butted my wrist with his teeth…just a warning. I let go jus a Niko sprang up and pinned him to ground by holding his neck. I pulled Niko off with some words voicing my upset. We had a few moments of tension as Eddie apologized and we had treats and were off down the hill again, Niko keeping a close watch on Eddie more to protect me and to make Eddie didn’t try any funny stuff. Niko Led Tilla paralleled and Eddie followed closely behind me with a few forays to sniff stuff. When we got the driveway I sent Tilla home. And began preparing dinner and doing stupid human stuff inside the house.

Then we had dinner as described above and it later Niko was hanging out near the lower deck under which Eddie was hanging out. I went down to investigate but it was too dark so I returned a few minutes later with an LED flashlight and peered under the deck. Eddie always the Wyle one observed me looking and was also interested to see under the deck with the light. I backed off and we slinked under the deck so I left and Niko followed.

An hour or so later I had not seen Eddie so Niko and I started off for a walk, Niko looking like you got be kidding.. another walk? Eddie joined us at the end of the driveway about 200 feet from the house and we went down the road. After hanging out listening to the sounds of cars on and other sounds birds etc. Even though it is January we have very little snow and it is somewhat spring like so the birds have returned. Eddie seemed happy but tentative about getting to close to me unless I just stood and ingnored him which allowed him to sniff my pants from behind. We headed back after a little pack bonding and Eddie climbed into a shallow hole buy the base of the big tree near the snow plow turn around. After a minute or so I went to sit under the tree( no snow) about six feet from Eddie. Niko went over and stood above Eddie with hs Nech craned over him. Eddie slinked away in don’t mess with mode so I got up and headed home with Niko following… apparently that was on Niko’s little hollow’s that I had not know known about.

I was worried that Eddie was too far from the house and he might get ideas bout leaving and his Feral brain circuits might reinforce so I put Niko into the house and went back to hany out with Eddie after donning warmer cloths. That is when I caved and put his living room bed uner the lower deck with the intended message of compromise and this is home please. I sat in the spot six feet from him for a while and then got up in happy mode and called to him where upon he followed. He by passed the driveway and stopped about 100 feet from the house. As I approached his position He mover back another 20 feet and I stood where he had been looking at the house trying to imagine what was going through his head by looking at things from his vantage point to no avail. I walked back the house and brought out my folding chair out to sit in the driveway with my LED headlight on so Eddie could see me from his vantage point still 100 feet from the house. I was afraid he might think my putting the bed under deck might be part of a trap and I wanted him to know where I was as he checked it out which did a minute or so after I sat down. He went down behind the house and came back to make sure I was still there several times. I turned my headlight off to enjoy the stars but made sure to move or say something when he came back to check on me. After about 10 minutes of this I went inside feeling that Eddie had gotten the message and would at least have some insulation from the cold dirt under the deck.

I had also put Eddies Kennel out on the deck near the front door in case he wanted stay warm in there instead of under the deck. I was trying to minimize any further outside noise or presence which might excite Eddie's wariness circuits. I wasn’t sure where he was and decided to pee outside so the sewage lift pump would not activate and alarm him. It is in the crawl space adjacent to the deck. I was terribly afraid he might take off after the day's traumatic events. So after truning in about 11 I awoke at 1 and peeked out onto the pitch black whereupon I heard the pitter-patter of feet heading off the deck… a real surprise in my sleepy state, but a heart warming sound indeed. So I sat by the door in the garage in the dark waiting for him to return for some time and then went back upstairs to sit more comfortably. About half an hour later I snuck downstairs and out the garage door in my quiet but cold bare feet. After listening for a while I ever so quietly opened the door and snuck over to the deck gate which I stealthy closed and latched. I heard not a peep or stirring and feeling out foxed and weary went back inside and around to the front door. Upon opening it I heard again the heart warming pitter patter of feet. This time the gate was closed…. I had out-wyled the wyle eddie. I turned on the porch light and took his kennel back inside up into the loft. After a bit of coaxing he came inside and immediately headed up the stairs and into the loft. After a bit of sniffing and checking things out from all angles he settled into his crate. Great happiness was had by all… by this time I was awake again but decided to leave the computer off and just listen and watch… morning soon came with Eddie sleeping peacefully on his side, perhaps a sign that he felt comfortable enough not be pre-positioned with his feet beneath him ready jump up in a flash.

So after hanging out in the loft watching me type and listening to Mozart for the past two hours he is still peaceful and has not expressed any desire to go outside… HOORAY HOORAY HOORAY… this little guy is amazing. Despite all my blunders we are still buddies.

I forgot to mention that last night before settling into his crate he seemed very interested in the sliding glass door which I demonstrated to him yesterday morning. I open and closed it a few times. He sniffed the cool night air coming in and then went over stood intently gazing at a skylight. I sure he was making some connection between the windows and sky lights and glass door. Seeing the sliding glass door and the fact hat it has inside and an outside and changes color just the way windows do I sure made some connections which are making more at ease with those super scary windows. I’m glad not to have taped paper over the bottoms of the glass doors to eliminate reflections. More information is always better… especially if you're smart and curious.

Eddie eating his first bone in he place 1/29/2009
Eddie and Niko walking after bone 1/29/2009