Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. This year we had two new members of the family, Shylo and Mandy. We were planning on 16 people for dinner and I was concerned about Shylo. I didn't want him traumatized with all of these people, many of whom he had never met before. I decided to gate him in my studio and explained to everyone that he was shy and would probably run away if approached. He complained a little as he heard more people coming in the door and the number of voices increased along with the volume. Christie went in and spent some time with him; he loves Christie because she spends so much time with him and calls him her little "buddy". Mandy managed to squeeze through the gate and spent a little time with him as well. (Mandy is a real extrovert, the more people the better and she loves them all!) My sister, Gloria, another dog lover went in and sat on the floor and just talked to Shylo. He got close enough to give her a few tentative licks.When we left him alone he did complain and I was starting to feel a little guilty about having such a crowd so soon after he came to us.
Once we got everyone seated around the table and the noise level went down a little, I told everyone I was going to let Shylo join us and for everyone to please ignore him, don't reach out to touch him or try to call him over. He came out of my studio and walked into the sun room (which doubles as a dining room on holidays). He never made a sound! No barking or running away! He just started making the rounds. He was under the table part of the time and came up to people to sniff. He actually approached some and got up on his hind legs to get a better look. What a shock! The rest of the day he was just one of the gang; all four dogs were on their best behavior, what a relief! He really seemed to enjoy his first Thanksgiving with a real family!Everyone agrees that he is a special little guy and we all love his blue eyes.
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| Christie & Shylo |
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