Charlotte makes friends
Charlotte (we named her that), an australian shepherd (we think) came to stay with us this past Saturday. She’s about 1 or 1.5 years old, they think and she’s due to deliver 4-5 pups in about 1-2 weeks.
For the first 10 minutes, she & Charlie barked & growled. But, we brought them both into the kitchen together, let them sniff at each other while we gave them treats. They’ve been fine since then.
And, besides the occasional urge to herd the cats, and only when they dart past her in a way that makes her instincts take over, she gets along well with them, too.
But, aside from all of that, she is the sweetest dog we’ve ever had. And, she needs a home in a few months 
The first night she was with us, we crated her in the kitchen at bedtime. She cried. And cried.
So, we let her out in the kitchen & closed the baby gate to keep her there. She cried. And cried.
Knowing that she was pretty well housebroken by then, we decided to let her have the run of the house for the night. She first followed Jim & I into our room & jumped up on the bed. Clearly, she’s lived with people before, people who loved her & let her sleep on the bed. We put her down & she found her way to Annie (who sleeps on a big cushion on the floor these days). She cozied up beside her & fell asleep until morning - even staying there on the cushion after Annie woke & came to our room in the night.
We knew we couldn’t let her have the run of the house all of the time, especially when we’re sleeping, because we don’t want puppies born on the carpet… So, the next night, I put her in the crate in the kitchen, but, first, put one of Annie’s blankets in there with her. She cried for a couple of seconds when I left the room, but settled down & slept quietly through the night. She does the same, now, too, when she’s sleeping during the day while we’re all out & Jim’s sleeping. In fact, last night, I just opened the crate at bedtime & she went right in to lay down on Annie’s blanket, staying in the crate without my even closing the door (although, I did close it when I went to bed, just in case).
We don’t know anything about her history, besides the fact that she came on a rescue transport from Georgia. She must have had people who loved her, though & who she loved in return. She is so friendly to people and so sad when left alone. She does cringe & cower when we say ‘No’ to her, as if ‘No’ was done harshly in her past, but maybe it’s just because she loves her people so & does not want to disappoint them.
She’s quiet, calm, just wants to hang out with the family. When we let her out with the other litter of puppies that we have, she playfully herds them for a bit, but I’m sure the pregnancy’s taken some of the ‘play’ out of her right now.
Spread the word - if you know anyone who’s looking for a sweet, loving, friendly dog sometime in January, let us know. They can come by & visit anytime.
And, we’ll let you know when the puppies come in the next few weeks, if you want to come by & see some brand new dogs.
