P1010140 eddie by first crossing

video from four days ago

End of Week Five: What happened to the time?

Niko stood trembling after I let him into the house. Three loud shots from down the road broke the evening silence just as dinner was about to be served. I rushed out to let Niko in knowing he would be terrified. I'll check for bullet holes in the truck tomorrow. I called Eddie and heard him come down the hill and stop forty feet from the house. I went around and called him from the deck and back inside to wait. After a minute I checked but he was not there so I opened the garage door and he came down the hill and went up onto the deck. Going through the house and I opened the front door and he came right in. I think that might count as coming inside when called for a lax disciplinarian like myself.

Another first. He has decided to tolerate being in my presence while inside and curled up happily in his spot on Nikos bed. He did not even seem to mind the flash nor my going down stairs and coming back.

Eddie staying in the loft with noisy Ogre-like human for the first time since the first week.

He did leave right after the click of the plasitc connector flap/door on the camera snapped closed after disconnecting the upload cable through which the above photo traveled just now. He has settled on the landing and I'm happy to see that he will not be going back and forth so often in the future as I was becoming concerned he might wear a trail in recently finished floor. Neither dog is interested in food right now, which is surprising since it 8:20 and last night's dinner was a late afternoon meaty bone. They did have a lunch of Origen fish kibble. They also got to run around with my neighbor's dogs for a while as we stood around and discussed doggy acoustics. I'm pretty sure I'm going to win the bottle of wine that was wagered. I Am thinking that direction information is resolved in the brain using the phase difference information between ears. He was thinking that determination of sound direction is based on the spectral information and amplitude differences of various frequencies between ears, since higher frequencies refract less around obstacles such as ones snout or face as the case might be. So any help in winning the the wine would be much appreciated if there are any doggy neurologist out there.

Eddie has been slowing hanging out by his normal trees nearer to the house after the gate/roof snow incident a week ago. Also last night I came up to find him preparing to do a downward facing dog on my yoga mat... actually just lying on it, I'm sure his form in that pose would be better than mine. He stayed on the mat for about 15 seconds as I tried to ignore him and then headed for the landing. He clearly uses an incremental approach to accepting my hospitality, which is interesting because he knows in what direction to go to become more civilized. Given that he has completely taken over Niko's Bed, I'm beginning to worry a bit. We heard two more gun shots and so I put dinner in the fridge. I suppose a hitherto unknown benefit of owning a gun would be to scare appetite away if one is out of dog food. I'm pretty sure the gun shots did not terrify Eddie nearly as much as Niko, and that Eddie is picking up on Niko's chicken ques.

Eddie takes over Niko's bed

Eddie feeling comfortable

Niko the tireless gentledog scrunched up so Eddie can stretch out

Theoretical bunk aside, Eddie seems to have decided the house is maybe OK again since he came right in and settled on Niko's bed ast night. He seemed perfectly comfortable in the house alone while Niko and I stayed on the deck to listen for coyotes and and write about bowl acoustics. Earlier we had gone for our customary after dinner walk and heard Mr. Coyotaronian and his buddies up the canyon. Niether dog wanted to go far and upon returning home Niko and I went up onto deck and Eddie followed after about 20 seconds passing us both. He waited for me to open the front door and padded inside. Everyday he makes progress even if it is not visible to his boneheaded human.

Back to acoustics,:Another reason why windows are so scary might be the multiple echos they create. If the house pops or creaks as I walk every window will reflect and amplify the high frequency sound component which makes it appear as if close-by multiple incoming threats are happening simulataneously from different directions. Eddie's brain would be over loaded. the visula analogy is a room full of mirrors all reflecting back and forth multiplying each reflection many times with a rabid vampire bat monster creature that wants to suck your blood and is flying around looking for you using echolocation. You would not be able to tell which was the real bat and which a reflection until it close enough for you to here or feel the wing beats. all in all pretty terrifying... kind of like the mirror room in Bruce Lees film enter the dragon.

Despite all that Eddie has managed to take over Niko's prime bed. for the past two nights Niko has been sleeping on the floor or on the amll blue bed. Niko could easily kick Eddie off but I think he realizes the need to make Eddie feel extra welcome given the huge sensory issues has with the house. Eddie is doing great and it sure looks like he is here to stay. If anyone out there in doggy blog land knows Steve Jobs: the 24 inch iMac still has not showed up on the door step. I'm sure Eddie would greatly appreciate the sleek QUIET performance of such a machine sitting on his human's desk. Fed Ex is prefered per Niko.

Niko on carpet

The Acoustic Dog

So quite a day, I have arrived at some integrated understanding of Eddies behavior patterns. Today was sunny and warm but the house still dripped from as the snow melted on the roof, rain drops have acoustic properties similar to other sounds that Eddie is afraid of. So the balance of positive and negative forces in Eddies decision making tipped in favor of the house. positive being a nice sunny day combined with fewer rain drips being less negative. It might have been the power of President Obama's speech to the country, because when it was over I went down and opened the front door and he padded right in up to the loft as if he had been listening through the door. It seems Eddie is an Obama dog. I will also point that running the chainsaw today did not seem to bother him a great deal. He hung around and observed from about 50 -100 feet, even when Niko wandered off to visit Tilla as is his predilection when the chainsaw comes out. One more observation of relevance is his fear of bowls. After Obama's speech I fed them as usual with Eddie being his usual apprehensive self. But it all makes sense now when bowl acoustics are taken into account. Many of the sounds that Eddie is apprehensive about like the clink of a tooth on a food bowl, the crinkly noise of gortex clothing, the clanks of gate latches at the pound all have an appreciable high frequency component. For a blind who relies on echolocation one way to replace the distance information normally received from stereoscopic eyes would be to judge distances by sound pitch. High pitched sounds seem closer because high pitch sounds do not travel as far as lower pitch sounds. He does not seem to mind the thud of a mall splitting wood, or the sounds of the snow blower, or tractor.

Eddies fear of bowls has nothing to do with the visually appearance but everything to do with acoustic appearance. Tonight when his tooth knocked the bowl he jumped back after being fairly relaxed. He thought and finally came back as he has done many times before. In addition As the snow melts I have been placing his bowl on bare dirt and rock ground and wondering why he all of sudden became more apprehensive to the point where I had place it further from the house and as it turns out on soft wood chips. In addition he has always had more trouble finishing his food than starting, which despite the obvious answer of appetite, I now attribute to the bowl acoustics since it is quieter when covered with food. Literally as he eats the bowl gets scarier.

The reason higher pitch is more frightening is that it means closer, which means an unknown potential threat must be resolved as safer or not in time to jump back if necessary. With limited brain processing power a closer threat requires a faster a decision, so the prudent reflex to develop is: jump back and then decide. This is pretty much Eddie's modus-operandi, which most people just call jumpy or skittish. The reason he and perhaps other feral dogs are more skittish around people is that humanized dogs have been exposed to human noises as puppies during a phase of brain development when the auditory centers of the brain are re-ordering and forming new neural connections in great numbers and at a high rate. Eddies brain is doing that but because is brain has already passed the puppy phase the process is slower . So wooden bowls might be quieter. I'll do the experiment starting tomorrow.

The acoustics of windows fit into place as well in this model because glass reflects higher frequency sounds much more than wood and sheet-rock. So a wall of windows would look as if the windows are much closer than the wall as if they were protruding into the room several feet like the ends of massive wooden beams. Acoustically skylight would look like a rectangular box hanging from the ceiling but visually and sniff-wise it would not. So that also solves the mystery of him not wanting to be near me in the house. The house is where I make most high frequency sounds. That is also why he hangs closer with me outside away from the house but will only really let Niko get close to him in the house. The guy is a very very good little negotiator... pretty soon I'm going be living a super quiet mud hut in the woods with nothing but Macintosh computers, and wooden cooking utensils. My house right now has a huge high frequency component especially because it pops when heating and cooling and when people and dogs walk around for the first itme in the morning, which is always when Eddie has been most apprehensive.

The other day we were hanging out on the hill during a walk and Eddie was scratching his neck the way dogs do. He let out a Yelp, the way he would if he ran into something unexpectedly. There being branches around to accidentally run into, I think he may have scratched the wound on his ear by accident and not immediately associated the scratch with the pain perhaps. Eddie is adapting to an acoustic world which is so new and different, his brain must be changing in fundamental ways and perhaps he yelped because some circuits have been broken and not yet re-wired. If like most of my friends you probably think I'm completely out-to-lunch on this one. The wooden bowl experiment will be very interesting. And consider also that when he bangs a tooth or moves his bowl while eating he does not seem to realize that he caused the sound that scared him. His brain it seems has not yet correlated the cause and effect. Perhaps when he realizes that he also makes scary sounds he will be less afraid of me making scar sounds. It could be that he has no conceptual framework for the idea that he can make noise.

In addition, I happen to know that Niko has excellent eyesight. He can pick out a UPS truck coming at full speed in plenty of time to jump up and bark as it passes going the other direction. He is terrified of low frequency sounds like thunder and distant gun shots and blasting coming through the rocks from the local quarry several miles away, or as was the case yesterday, avalanche blasting at ski resorts several miles off, while Eddie did not seem to mind at all. So poor eyesight makes for a skittish dog, while good eyesight makes for fear of the distant and unseen gigantic monsters.

Eddie on landing

Eddie sleeping on the landing, in relaxed dog position which he began using a few days ago. There are four steps up into the loft and about 10 feet to Niko's Bed. Every time I leave the loft I walk past him and he gets up without fail and goes up into the loft usually onto Niko's Bed. Upon my return to the loft he leaves and settles on the landing again. I'm not sure what he is thinking. He either doesn't like me or he is showing me respect or...???.

Tonight he made more progress by coming onto the deck having to walk past me to the front door, while Niko was still out and about sniffing the coyotes that had passed through earlier. I opened the front door and he came right in and up and onto Niko's bed. So maybe the noisy ogre (me) is not so bad after all. Earlier I placed the folded blue bed from the deck on his landing spot, causing him to stay in the loft even with me present. After a while I moved the bed into the loft whereupon he took up his usual position and routine on the landing.

After seeing all the photos of him at Gabbs looking relaxed and happy I see that he has a long way to go before he really feels comfortable here. I still think he is really trying to overcome his fear... Please forgive my anthropomorphization but he seems to realize how irrational many of those fears are. The wall of fear is solid and takes time to chip away at even for many people. I'm just glad he is trying and wielding his metaphotrical hammer and chisel to great effect. I give him more credit in that regard than many people I know.

Kristine's photos of Eddie's past life at Gabbs

Great photos and check out more of Kristines photo albums of Eddie and comrads at Gabbs

Album from Kristine
another great album from kristine

Hooray,
Eddie is civilized. I opened the front door to let Niko in but instead Eddie was standing there by Niko who was laying on the bean bag bed. Eddie came right in and went up to the loft and settled on the landing which is his place of go when he is not confident enough for Niko's bed. So Eddie likes to be inside the warm house. An hour ago I came inside after hanging out with Eddie and Niko in front of the house for about an hour trying to coax Eddie closer to the horrible house. Anyway all is well and all will have a good warm dry night.

I let Niko in and he settled onto his bed in the loft joined in short order by Eddie. For some reason known so far only to Eddie he insists on hanging out on the landing when I'm in the loft, unless I'm sleeping. I haven't figure this one out yet. I think he asscoiates the house with me and the two of us together are just too scary. Anyway it seems that Eddie with the help of a cold rainy night outside has overcome his fears of the house once again.

Hanging out in sunshine Feb 18

Edster is wet but OK

Niko and I followed some fresh tracks in the snow headed up to cell phone lookout, where I get decent cellphone reception on the hill abve the house. He met us in the dense stand of trees near the lookout. He was very very submissive toward Niko and still a bit trepidacious of me but he did take some treats from my hand. He was wet but did not look too cold. He lowered his torso and craned his extended neck around in a horizontal plane as if presenting the side of his neck toward niko always ready jump back. He did this several times over the course of about 30 seconds as Niko stood by sudiously ingnoring him from about two to three feet away. Thats when I brought out the treats, after which we took a new way back to the house throught the trees. He would not come any closer to me or the road by the garage than Niko. I gave them another treat and then we all went over to the house Eddie only coming about 3/4 down the driveway. I brought out some kibble which Niko gobbled and Eddie ate half of before quitting. I moved the bowl from its position about 20 feet from the house to about 40 feet from the house and eventually had to dump the remaining kibble on the snow before he would finish it. All the while he kept a close eye on the house as Niko waited to finish his left overs.

I can't do anything about the snow on the roof but at least Eddie is sticking around. I think he is keeping an eye or inn his case an ear on the house. It will be interesting to see how long it takes him to come up onto the deck again. It is supposed to rain for the next few days and then snow which is a motivating factor. If it was summer time I think he might just be happy making a den in the woods and only come down to the house for food. We shall see how is little neurons balance out and how it takes. I'm just happy that he is sticking around and is OK at least physically.

Four weeks at new place

Today marks the end of Eddies fourth week at his new home, and one week since my last blog entry. I have been getting back a more normal and noisy routine. He has been coming onto the deck at night and into the house sometimes even with the deck open. Other nights I must close the deck gate form the outside and then go around and open the front whereupon he immediately comes inside and up the loft. It has been an interesting week and I have been spending more time working at the computer and less time hanging out with him and Niko. Tonight started out well with a good dinner, short walk because of bone issues, and then both dogs settled nicely on the deck. It being relatively warm outside I decided to sit out on the deck to write this. That was the beginning, of some scary stuff.

I'd propped the shovel up against the gate to keep both dogs on the deck, and then assembled the necessary clothing and laptop power cord etc before settling into my camp chair on the deck to write this. A minute later Eddie came charging back from the end of the deck by the gate agitated apparently by the wind. I got up and realized the gate had blown open while Eddie was sitting by it knocking over the shovel. I left front door open and continued around to close the gate from the outside. Eddie darted out terrified. We all went for a short walk and then resumed writing this just before a huge sound of snow sliding off the roof broke the night silence. I wrote this paragraph and Niko and I went to look for Eddie.

Eddie met us at the end of the driveway. I gave Niko a treat and Eddie got within six inches of taking one from my hand but then back away whereupon I threw it to him which mad him back away farther, and then came back sniffing the ground until he found the treat, as Niko was munching on another one which seems to make Eddie more comfortable. I offered him another treat but he seemed to sense something unusual was up and went into the woods. Niko and I hung out in the driveway as I whistled and called but after ten minutes went inside to write this at 10pm.

He has not done this before so he must be really spooked. If I'd only latched the gate properly. Unknown noisy things happening like the snow falling off the roof and the gate opening unexpectedly tend to have a compound effect. The House and I now have two black marks in Eddies tally but because they seem to correlate somehow the effect is much stronger than if they had happened further apart in time. He seems to maintain a list phenomenon which all seem to start out as bad and then overtime become accepteded as tolerable or safe. Any new noise or behavior on my part is classified as bad and therefore he increases his distance from me and the change. Anything unusual seems to be bad and potentially dangerous. sorting out dangerous sounds from safe sounds seems to take time.

I check around for Eddie several times during the night. It started raining sometime in the early morning with a temperature of about 39 degrees F and All could do was hope that he was staying dry by the base of some big tree. He is still gone as I write this at 11 am the next morning. Niko and I walked all over in the rain calling but no Eddie. I imagine he is hanging out somewhere waiting for the rain to stop. Rainy conditions are much more dangerous even though it is warmer than freezing because at least it easy to keep fur dry in the snow. He has been eating well and I'm basically waiting until he decides to come back perhaps to get food. I'm struck by the fragility of Eddies progress and who one little mistake can really foul things up. I'm still very hopeful that he will return.

During the last week he was really settling in nicely, eating from his plate and sleeping with Niko on his bed during the night. It will be interesting to see whether four weeks of good food and a nice warm place to sleep has changed his brain enough to overcome the negative things that happened last night. I'm growing more concerned that he some sort of post traumatic stress from being captured at Gabbs and all he has been through since.

Eddie and freinds feb 2009

Videos and photos taken between feb 2 and 9 2009 with Lumix
Week two for eddie at new place,
Featuring Eddie from Gabbs, Niko, and Tilla

Eddie on Feb 2nd

Mr. Nikopotomus as translator

Last night I had a heart warming and intellectually validating moment as Niko helped me to convince Eddie to come inside on returning home from our evening walk. While Eddie coming inside is nothing new last night he was very stand-off-ish with me. I have been introducing some noisy new phenomenon into Eddie's lexicon. He seems to increase his safe distance from me in response to my new and noisy behaviors, such as snow-blowing the driveway (3 days ago), chopping firewood with the increased vigor required by larger rounds, to more vigorously disciplining Tilla as she rudely tried to grab Eddies treats, to wearing my more comfortable gortex jacket, to skiing yesterday for the first time. Even simple things like change clothing type, from cotton to gortex for instance, alters my acoustic signature, not to mention the clicking sound of my cross country ski bindings during heel strike every step. So after all these new and different sounds he was extra wary of me. Interestingly he clearly still felt comfortable near Niko, perhaps even hanging closer to Niko for re-assurance. I have come to believe that having Niko for Eddie to model his behavior has been absolutely crucial to Eddies progress thus far.

Yesterday Eddie would not even approach me close enough to take a treat, which he clearly wanted, until he heard Niko take one and began munching. He would not take a beef from me last night even though he heard happy munching sounds coming from Niko. after about a minute of clearly trying to overcome his fear, he began shacking and then Barked. He gave a moderately loud single bark, so I waited about 15 seconds and then put the bone on the snow. He jumped back when I dropped it but approached, after I walked away, tentatively grabbing and removing it to a safer distance before munching on it. He really tried to overcome his trepidation about me but in the end he could not and probably would never have taken the bone. His safe distance seemed to be about 10 feet.

I may be pushing him to fast but I need to socialize him soon so that I can get back to my nominally normal routine, which includes earning a living etc. I am beginning to construct a mental model for his thought processes, which for lack of better words, seems to be a balance between fear and comfort. As he encounters new phenomena mainly noises he classifies them as potentially dangerous and fears them until he has enough experience to reclassify them as safe or at least not dangerous. During the reclassification process his safe distance will decrease, as long as he an exit route, toward which he will reflexively jump if any unexpected happens. He seems to reclassify phenomenon based on hearing it many times and correlating it with peace and quiet, praise, Niko's disposition, treats etc. I think ti may be him taking him longer than most dogs because he cannot use visual cues during this process. Whether in the long run his vision deficit is helpful to his socialization or not is a question of some interest to me. In other words he may be going more slowly but perhaps he is building a more solid foundation.

At any rate B.S. aside. Last night with Niko's guidance, I came to appreciate the mantra of Patience-Patience-Patience and the significance of time when communicating the limited canine vocal dexterity. On returning from our evening walk about 10:00 pm with Eddie still a bit stand-off-ish Niko took the lead. Eddie sat down about half way up the driveway to the house. Niko and I continued until Niko stopped. We both stood and listened to the night for a minute until Eddie approached and sat down 20 feet away splitting the distance between us. Niko moved closer to the house as I followed. We stopped and waited for Eddie until he moved a bit closer now within 20 feet of the house. Niko and I then moved to the other side of the house and stood listening for about two minutes until Eddie joined us. After Listening for a few minutes until Eddie proceeded up on the deck and then bailed. So after some more listening and slowly shifting positions Niko led the way up onto the deck with Eddie following. I followed but Eddie noticed and bailed moving past me off the deck as I was reaching to close the gate. Niko came back off and we continued to listen for a while until Niko again went up onto the deck and stood halfway to the door. I stood by the gate with Eddie sitting about 15 feet away. After about 30 seconds I praised him twice and he stirred but did not move. After about 10 seconds I took a long casual yawn whereupon Eddie got up and padded onto to deck with me following and closing the gate behind. I walked past Eddie and opened the front door as Eddie scampered inside and into the loft. Niko remained outside on the bean bag bed.

Niko had been acting as a translator, communicating my desire to go inside. While I would just say lets go inside speaking human, Niko translated that by braking the request into small steps waiting as long as it took for Eddie to understand and comply. It seemed more like Niko was inviting Eddie take the next step and then waiting until he made up his mind. I realized the extreme politeness and patience which takes time and thus perhaps saves face (in the Japanese sense). Niko had taken my desire to go inside and broken it down into small pieces and moved and waited in terms Eddie could understand. I felt really privileged to witness this clear communication between all three of us, probably an educational experience for all of us especially me.

day17 finishing breakfast

Day 17 eating from T. Wik plate

Day 16 evening

Eddie is now coming inside much more confidently and without the gate being closed. I called him from inside with the front door open and after about 30 seconds he tentatively sniffed around the door jam and then came inside. This is a milestone because with the gate open he also had the option of leaving the deck and staying outside. He generally heads right upstairs and settles on Niko's bed. He is eating off his plate but did not take a meaty bone from today or yesterday. He has started to jump and paw me with both paws from behind when he is excited about walk time, something he has not done since about a month before leaving the pound, which was about the time I started to really push him on walks and pick him up to put him in the truck. His pawing I think means he is becoming more comfortable and is beginning to overcome his fear of my strange noisy human ways. I played more roughly with Niko today but Eddie still does not know what to make of it. Tilla and Niko also played today and he seemed confused or ambivalent about it. Maybe he understands the play, but realizes its a sighted dog's game. He seems to have taken over Niko's bed. Pretty soon the little fellow will be running the household, perhaps he already is.

My goal for the week is to get Eddie onto the deck during the day so that I can leave him with Niko in safety from coyotes when I'm in town picking up supplies. I have run out of sesame bagels and most other food stuffs, but still have plenty of beans and rice. I have not been in my truck for 17 days now and am really starting to enjoy it. I'm contemplating how long I can prevail upon my busy friends to deliver supplies. Not having toasted bagels with the morning coffee is real depravity. If my ancestors could read this they would wonder at what a spoiled softy they a progeneratored.

Eddie Now feels comfortable about his new outside territory. He and I are working on the inside territory. I have begaun to relax about minimizing noise and have started to listen to the radio again which Eddie doesn't seem to mind. It is truly unbelievable how petty congressional republican are and how low will they stoop in attempting to defend their ideological hatred of government. I feel like Eddie has proved that you can teach an old dog new tricks, I'm not sure the same can be said about the congressional republicans, what a bunch of sorry loosers. I just hope they aren't able to continue dragging the country down into their ideological morass.

links to some back ground history on Eddie for all my friends who don't google everything they don't know.

http://network.bestfriends.org/gabbs/news/22980.html

http://network.bestfriends.org/gabbs/news/31655.html

As it turns out Eddie is pretty famous dog. If you have any information about Eddie's and past I hope you will share it, perhaps in the comments section, Thanks

Day 15... On the day of rest.

Yesterday, Saturday, marked the end of Eddie's second week out here. We had an uneventful day taking to time reflect and giving thanks for hot water made possible by our friend Chris who took time from his busy schedule to re-fill and deliver the propane tanks on Friday. Living like a dog is fine but I do draw the line at dispensing with some modern human conveniences like hot water. I put Eddie on the leash and walked out with Niko to the road and removed his collar. We had a walk joined on the road by Tilla everyone enjoying the light snowfall. Eddie apparently has difficulty seeing in flat over cast light. I think he mainly sees contrasts between light and dark, so without the dark shadows of direct sunlight he has difficulty and must go slowly to avoid running into things. Tilla has begun to recognize this and approaches Eddie with more deference than other dogs.

Friday night after our late evening walk he followed Niko up onto the deck with me following to close the gate and came right inside and up into the loft. I think he likes some of "creature comforts" afforded by the modern human habitat. He is beginning to expect things to happen according to a routine. I had not fed him a bone for two days, and I think his super respectful behavior toward me was a result of that lack of bones. He had been getting up and would almost casually leave whenever I came into the loft or out on the deck. I now think he was showing respect trying to re-establish my good will so that a nice bone would be forthcoming. After I gave them a bone yesterday evening for dinner (lots of meat on bones) he seemed to relax a bit as if concern about my dispostion toward him had been somewhat resolved.

The one or two inches of snow covered his old tracks in and out of the underdeck-den. So despite circling the house a few times as before none of the tracks led under the deck. On another general note he has begun to lift his a leg to pee. I think he only does that when another dog of lower status is around... like Tilla for instance. Lower status because she is a guest and a bit smaller. He only lifts his leg part way with his foot about six inches or less off the ground. Perhaps the height of the leg lift signals the position in the pack. When he and Niko are alone he pees with both legs planted equally on the ground.

As dawn broek this morning I heard a quiet low growl, and saw Eddie scamper off the Bed, as Niko remained. Later Niko got up and lay down at the top of the stairs whereupon Eddie settled into Nikos warm spot on the bed. He is still resting peacefully there after getting up a few times as I came and went during themorning the morning fire/coffee ritual. He would get up and start to head down the stairs but would turn around and come back after I offered some words of re-assurance. I'm pretty sure he is trying to be super respectful not insult the terrrible noisy but beneovelent human ogre with whom he has taken up residence.

Niko has clearly accepted Eddie by giving up the good bed on the deck and letting have a spot on his bed. Eddie is now behaving toward me the way he behave toward niko early on. Having gained Niko's acceptance he in now working on me the next higher, I like to think thehighest, member of the pack. On a general note yesterday I came out onto the deck to find Eddie sleeping the Bean bag chair and Niko sitting on the gate threshold where Eddie had been hanging out. Eddie got up and started to leave but came back and settled in again when I turned my back and then went back inside. This morning and yesterday morning He began trembling as I stood looking at him shortly after we got up. I have seen him do that before in similar contexts always in teh morning. I think it physical manifestation of the turmoil going on his brain about best to be polite to me while not understanding really how to, given my irrational human nature and really Odd behavior (from his point of view). I'm mostly rational and normal as far as humans go although I'm sure many of my human friends would dispute that.

So beginning the third week I have pretty much returned to my routine of sitting in front of the computer manipulating meaningless symbols to acquire more meaningless rectangular bits of green paper taht buys the dog food. We are now at a point where time and patience will allow Eddie to solidify the foundation laid thus far and further develop his understanding and familiarity with his new human Ogre and his strange and noisy habitat. I have seen Eddie looking to, actually listening to, Niko for guidance when I do something new and noisy. I have been gradually relaxing and making less effort to minimize the noise, banging, and clunking of daily life, while trying to introduce new and different phenomenon to Eddie. I'm hoping this will avoid neural entrainment and allow Eddie to develop an open and resilient mental construct of his new circumstances. simply stated allow him to avoid getting stuck in pathological mental ruts. It should be fairly easy given that he seems to a nominally Democratic outlook.

P1010056 Eddie on Deck

Day 13 morning.... Worth watching until the end

P1010008

Day of the big walk day 7

A Case of Mis-Placed Turkey

I awoke to the sound of doggie upchucking and the sulfur smell of poogy stimulating my first thought of the morning "Eddie Poogied". As my eyes adjusted to the pre-dawn light I realized it was Niko puking on the carpet behind my computer chair. Eddie got up from Niko's bed where it appeared he had been resting soundly. apparently the little fellow had taken over Niko's be during the night. There was horrible sulphur smell but it was Niko's vomit not poogy. I let the dogs out onto the deck in case niko wanted to regurgitate some more of the Diestel Turkey and veggies. I fed Niko that ground turkey for years and pretty much stopped when I moved out to the new place a year and half ago. I must say that I used to eat the Diestel turkey also but it really seems to have gone down hill. It barely even smells like turkey anymore and the texture seems be slimier then before. I get a bad feeling every time I cut open the plastic package. This is the third time Niko has puked it up over the last six months and only the fourth time I have fed it to him in that period. Eddie did not seem to have any problems but he is younger and his body is still hungry for nutrients. I'm thinking "No More Destiel", which probably means no more turkey unless I can find a better quality source... I would never consider supermarket turkey... Its too bad because turkey is good food for dogs because it has better balance of amino acids than alot of other meats. I'm thinking its time to start raising chickens since since chicken meat also has the two additional essential amino acids required by dogs. Pardon the pun, but large scale commercial meat production has not only gone to the dogs it has deteriorated past even being fit for dogs. ( see Micheal Pollan "The Omnivores dilemma".

After cleaning up the mess we went for an early morning walk enjoying the half inch of fresh snow. Eddie had alot of bounce in his step. Niko ate some dried grass and then upchucked the rest of the mess onto the snow. We saw no tracks but did hear coyotes up the canyon on returning home. Eddie went right up onto the deck but came back off since Niko and I had not finished hanging out front. I think that Eddie is no longer terrified of the house... just a bit wary. I had coffee and bagel as Eddie sat in the driveway and Niko hung out on the gate threshold. I may be that Eddie's hesitancy stems more from concerned about being polite and not being too pushy in a "take over" sense. Quite a welcome shift to see.

After curling up by the veggie garden pots for about half an hour he came and settled by Niko on the deck. I went around and closed the gate and then opened the front door. Eddie came right in and went up to settle on Niko's bed while Niko remained on the deck. Npr was playing on the computer/stereo which did not seem to bother him. later when I came up and began typing this he got off and onto the bed a few times as if testing to see how I would react. He noticed strange voices coming from the speakers close to his bed and look quizzically around trying to figure it out. I turned off the audio-stream since they were talking about the stimulus package and it was mostly republican short sighted circularly reasoned crap. Eddie after being sprawled on the landing and has just now settled on Nikos bed probably sensing my peeking at him.

Eddie on Niko's bed

Niko outside on Deck resting on folded blue bed beside the Bean Bag Bed

Amazing and most Welcome

We all stepped into the moonlight night. No one very excited as I wondered how long it would take to get Eddie back inside. We headed down the road but Eddie held back and clearly wanted to return home. Niko and I turned around and Eddie headed back to the house as I waited for Niko on the road. As I approached Eddie came up to me and then headed back to the house and up onto the porch. Niko was hanging back so I waited resisting a temptation to close the gate on Eddie. He came back off the deck and all three of us hung out listening and watching for a while. Then Niko headed onto the deck with Eddie following easily. I followed and closed the gate. A good night indeed. On the deck Eddie and Niko waited by the door. I opened it and Eddie snuck past Niko and headed straight up to the loft. I think he is beginning to like the inside now. He is one great little dog, and I am going to be well rested tomorrow. HHHHHOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRAAAAAYYYYYY.

Three Dogs

Eddie Niko Osha on the hike yesterday

Nikos Bed

Earlier I had closed the gate to the deck after Eddie had settled on the bean Bag bed and Niko on the folded blue bed. I think Eddie has charmed the grouch Niko with his good heartedness and general politeness. It is clear that Eddie is really trying hard to be good and not cause any offense. I Think Niko has figured out that Eddie is a bit different. They had a dinner of bbq ground turkey and ground peanut butter mixed veggies and rice. I fed Eddie on the deck near the gate by hand after he would not eat from the T. Wik plate and looked really conflicted. He more or less finished the turkey chunks covered the veggie sauce. Niko finished off the rest allowing Eddie observe him eating off the terrifying plate. I'm trying to get Eddie to eat on the deck to avoid food smells in the snow that seem to be attracting the coyotes. We found some scat in the driveway within 12 feet of the house this morning.

Earlier the barbecue click starter got Eddies attention and he went inside up to the loft and settled with very little hesitation on Niko's bed. I'm very glad he is coming to regard the loft as a safe zone. Later after dinner they both came inside. Niko came and sat beside me and Eddie nosed and sniffed Niko's bed but would not get on. Niko had offered but finally took the bed himself after Eddie paced around a bit. He is back on the floor beside the bed now. Its hard not like such a peaceful good natured animal. Niko has really been cooperating nicely in Eddie's adjustment.

Eddie

Morning walk yesterday

Hard to believe but it's Day Twelve -12-

Eddie slept uneventfully up in the loft after coming inside with a little coaxing last night. My goal for the morning was to put Eddie on leash and make sure he is still nominally cool with it. As I started to make the fire the house began to fill up with smoke a sure sign that the screen at the top of the chimney was clogged. Niko came downstairs and was waiting by garage door to go out. I ignored him and proceeded with fire, coffee etc. I noticed Eddie peering out through the loft railing. The little fellow had taken the opportunity to try out Niko's Bed. It has a good vantage point for keeping an eye on the living room where I was still messing with the fire making and fruitless efforts to avoid having to climb up onto the roof and unclog the spark arrestor screen. I went up stairs and Eddie unhurriedly got off the bed.

I donned suitable clothing and the dogs and I went out onto the deck after sitting... Eddie didn't but Niko was very good. As Niko Eddie and I stood by the gate contemplating the other-side I began to pet Eddie which he didn't seem to mind. After touching his collar a few times I brought out the leash letting him sniff it. After tieing it onto his collar we proceeded out. I removed the leash at the end of the driveway and discovered that it is not all that tight afterall. As he and Niko began to scout for coyote sign I got the ladder out and rigged up the rope to climb up and clear the chimney screen. The extension ladder made a hug clanking and I spied Eddie watching the situation from a distance as Niko was still off into woods somewhere.

After out foxing gravity and steep roof pitch and with a clear chimney screen we all went for a short walk down the road. Snow is expected tonight. Mary from GoodDogRanch next door called from town and arranged to pick some much needed groceries from the local Organic food store in town. The morning was proceeding nicely aside from the technical glitches. I cleaned the back of the truck and dried things out a bit waiting for Mary and the expected groceries, which arrived in short order. Eddie came up and greeted Tilla and a good deal of happy milling about was had by all.

With more horrible clanking and generally very strange behavior I put way the ladder and ropes with Eddie watching from woods about 100 feet away. I suppose he was trying to convince himself that his new human buddy had not lost his marbles, or gone over to the Darkside. Anyway after having a bit of lunch which Eddie ate from his ruffled T. Wik plate with less trepidation than ever before. He sat down about 10 feet from his plate having left about 6 kibbles for his buddy Niko as a good will gesture. I have been feeding then the Origen Fish Kibble with plenty of water which readily slurps up. He is starting to get much more comfortable with the plate.
After lunch we walked over to the GoodDogRanch and returned the now empty cloth grocery bag and picked up Tilla who was very please to accompany us on the rest of our post morning trauma pack bonding walk. After a few rain drops I headed inside and Niko settled onto his spot on the deck with Eddie settled in by the base of a large tree up on the road about 100 feet way, where he has been for the hour it has taken me to tpe this. It will be interesting to see how he behaves as the wind and snow/rain develops into the afternoon.

Day 6 morning walk 1/30/1009

Day 6 morning walk 1/30/2009

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Eddie on fifth day contemplating the gate after finishing his bone before Niko

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Big walk with freinds on seventh day featuring Eddie, Nikopotomus and Penny

Eddie is becoming more relaxed especially inside. I got up while still dark and almost stepped on Eddie on the carpet by the bed. He stirred but didn't startle too much. When I came back up he had moved over by Niko. It will interesting to see how long it take him to get onto Niko's Bed.
Eddie is doing much better everyday. I gave Him a big bone today which he finished well before Niko. He was thinking about crossing between Niko and the gate, a distance of 12 feet. I reccomended agianst it and remembered the spare buffalo bone, which I brought out. He finished that one which did not have much meat, while Niko is still munching. When I offered the Bone to Eddie he backed off from 12 to a distance of 20 feet. He had not had food on the east side of the house before. I think he must be conditioned the people that must have come offering treats to rescue him. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for that to go away. I still have not been able to remove his collar after five days. It is kind of tight and is bugging him. Its buging me too. not to mention that big clanky humane society dog tag. Yes Eddie is becoming a Dog.

Some shots of the big walk one week to the hour after Eddie's arrival to new home.
Picasa Web album

Wow this great. I opened the door to let Niko In and Eddie Followed him right in after about 10 seconds and its only 10 pm. I'd come in about 1/2 an hour earlier from sitting on the deck with them. Eddie was for the first time sitting right beside me in the Bean Bag bed. I think I'm having to shift my whole thought paradigm about Eddie's behavior around me and the house.
I'd had a stress full day dealing with the Hughes net tech support folks in New Dehli India... I get very stressed out and frustrated dealing with them and wondering why it is taking so long to upload videos of Eddie. Niko I was stressed even though I was trying to hide it. Eddie either picked it up from Niko or directly. that didn't stop Eddie from sitting on the garage door stair and watch me have a snack. The days bone had been small. I went over to open the door and invite him but he skedaddled. I brought out some lamb and peanut butter veggies which he ate about half of from his plate. I think the newness of the lamb combined with lingering unease about the plate combined and kept him from eating as much as the night before. He certainly devoured the remains after I dumped them on the snow.

anyway we were all a bit tense and so after about an hour on the deck with the gate closed because coyotes we went for a walk, which greatly eased tensions. we heard some nearby coyotes and a neighbor calling his dog so after listening to the threats for a while the pack unified behind wariness and the common safety and headed home. I had Niko on the lease of course and Eddie does not chase after coyotes. anyway after our walk I sat on the deck with Niko still on the leash. He settled in front of me near the railing to keep an eye out and I sat beside bean bag chair. after a while Eddie came up onto the deck and with a bit of praise came and stood my the bena bag bed. Niko and I both ignored him. after a while he stepped onto it and sat down. I tried to relax and realized just tensie I was. I realsed and after about a minute Eddie circle padded a few times and settled in and curled up. I was really happy and relaxed more. I realized now that Eddie was being polite to me. a few minutes later the chair creaked. Eddie jumed up and after a bit of praise settled back in. a few minutes later the chair creaked again and Eddie started up but then settled down. a few minutes later the chair creaked again and Eddie did not move but his breathing halted its deep steady rhythm as when intently listening. A few minutes later the chair creaked again and Eddie didn't budge.
By getting up and leaving whenever I appeared he was showing respect to Niko and letting him know that he new his place in the pack. Perhaps it is more important to show more respect around the den than it is out on walks. On walks he comes much closer. the other factor to consider is Niko's dominant streak. Also for the first time things were relaxed enough that I made both Niko and Eddie sit and stay while I opened the gate, which they both did.
Anyway Is doing great and his cooperation is going to make my life easier which should reduce overall pack stress and wellness.
For the first time ever he has come in at night and hung out in the loft with Niko and me as I type this. I know that Niko likes him but I'm not sure he Understands about Eddies eyesight. after Eddie reacted fearfully when Niko wanted to play with him I made a point of playing with Niko in front on Eddie so that he might understand that even though Niko sounds as he is tearing me apart we are just playing. I was trying to do slow motion play with Niko. Twice Eddie came up behind me and pawed my leg as Niko I started going faster, we stopped and had treats. and did that several times. I have seen Eddie play with other dogs at the pound who sere his size or smaller. Niko can be a bit rough. I hope he appreciates Eddies visual situation in his little doggy brain. do dogs have a concept of blindness?
I will say that I have never noticed how much my computer chair creaks as when is watching. He is still reacting to every sound, but generally just points his head instead of jumping up. same thing with this chair. I think his classification of sound is really coming along. here is a picture of the budge-less Eddie.

I think wellgot some sleep last night. Eddie came right in and we were all alseep by 11 at least Niko and I were. I woke a bit later to find Eddie sitting at the top of the stairs looking at the windows across teh space ofthe vaulted ceiling. It is clear that he is not a republican at heart since he gathers information from many different perspectives before making up his mind.

When I woke well after dawn Eddie was sleeping peacefully and twitching from a dream curled up with back against Niko's bed. As I wathced for about half an hour I saw him gradually move a bit closer to Nio and increase is contact with the edge of the bed. I'm guessing that sometime soon I will find them both sleeping on Nikos bed together.

I realized watching Eddie that he really looks up to Niko and is bonding to him. Recalling his days at the pound he always seemed most drawn toward be tough dogs. Given His near blindness I'm guessing that he has had to forge aliances with such dogs for security adn protection. This was probalby esspecially important in his situation at Gabbs. He trully is the little diplomat, if for no other reason than for survival. Instead of relying on physical attributes such as size, or speed, Eddie has had to rely on his mind to survive.

I noticed a streak of blood/goop running from the middle of his ear, I suppose as a result the bone incident from yesterday. Otherwise he appears physically unharmed which is amazing given what the scene looked like. Given speed with which dogs move and the apparent caos of such encounters teh surgical precision with which dogs wield their their teeth is impressive. After I witnessing the scene yesterday the first though I had was that Eddie might be shredded and how in the world can we treat him given that he isnot nearly as cooperative about such things as most civilized dogs.

On rousing ourselves I let them out whereupon they sniffed around the house intently. I think we may have had some visitors from the nation of coyote last night. after a few minutes Tilla appeared coming up from the creek. Eddie did not see or hear her until the last second just before Tilla came up and tried to lick his nose. He seemed a bit suprprised and went back to sniffing around his den presumably for traces of last nights visitors. It seems that his vision fluctuates.