Willow Update and Photos

I figured I'd start a new thread to give Willow a fresh start. She's doing really well. Her tummy was a bit upset yesterday, but today she seems to be doing better. She eats like a little piggy; she'll gain weight in no time! She's also getting along pretty well with Cedar. Each day they seem to be more relaxed with each other.

We are visiting my family for the 4th. We were concerned that it would be too stressful for Willow, but she's been doing really, really well. Right now, she's zonked out on my dad's lap. She is getting lots of extra love and attention. She's not shy with people at all, so she'll go from person to person to find someone who will pick her up and cuddle her. Often, she has a pick of people trying to coax her over to them! It's helping her learn her new name, that's for sure!

Here are some shots we managed to capture:

Just a great model shot:


Playing with Grandpa & Cedar:




Getting comfy with Cedar:


Reminiscent of her "butt buddies" photo with sister Amy! Cedar will get closer eventually :wink:

Oh how cute !!!! My boys lie butt to butt on the sofa too :lol: With cats when they show you their butt it's a sign of affection :lol:

I'm sure Cedar will soon be devoted to Willow

Great pictures! They look like they're getting along really well. That's great that she's not hand shy, as most mill rescues are, she sounds very brave and more than ready to get her share of love!! :lol:

Cedar's ears are so pretty. Abbey's ears are taking a beating with a puppy around! Gus always seems to have big chunks of hair hanging out of his mouth at any given time! :lol:

She sure looks happy and like she's having no problems fitting in. Cedar looks pretty accepting too! :rah:

That is the face of one HAPPY GIRL!!!!!

Dear little Willow looks like she is settling in well. Gotta love having two cavaliers
Julie and the girls

Glad she is settling in - both seem to have Grampa under their paw.... :lol:

I'm so glad you were able to collect Willow so soon. She is a lovely little girl and I know Cedar will enjoy having a playmate. I can't remember, how old is she and what is her story? She is so lucky to have found you! Love on her for us. :flwr:

JaneB

JaneB said:

I'm so glad you were able to collect Willow so soon. She is a lovely little girl and I know Cedar will enjoy having a playmate. I can't remember, how old is she and what is her story? She is so lucky to have found you! Love on her for us. :flwr:

JaneB

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Willow is about 15 months old, so she's just a few months older than Cedar. Most people who look at her think she's older than that, but I think her face and eyes just show the hard life she's lived. She's a mill rescue. Lucky Star rescued her and her sister, Amy. Willow (then Torie) and her sister were kept together, so they were very close and dependent on each other. So not only is Willow adjusting to a new home and people, she's learning to live without her sister, too. That seems to bother her mostly at night, when she is now sleeping alone. Hopefully, someday Cedar will be comfortable with sleeping with Willow, but we arent at that point yet. I'm not going to push it, as it is good, if hard, for Willow to learn to be comfortable in her own crate. Instead of sharing a crate, at night I put their crates next to each other. They can still see each other, but Cedar still has her own space.

Willow is also easily startled by loud noises and sudden movements. Over the 4th, she did extremely well with all the fireworks. She stayed inside most of the time, but when we went out she would startle with the first pops and then she seemed to be okay with them. So once she realizes she's okay, she is fine.

She has not shown any aggression whatsoever, well, aside from stealing Cedar's toys :roll: . She's very friendly with people, even strangers, and loves cuddles and attention. She's bonded with me very quickly, which is great, though I'm trying to avoid the development of separation anxiety. She gets upset if I leave the room already, and she's only known me since Sunday! I wish Cedar could just tell her, "hey! It's okay! She'll be back; I promise!" We'll work on it and work on her bonding a bit more with my husband, too.

Aside from her skittish nature, most of the other signs of her previous life are physical. She's probably had a few litters, but now her incision from her spay is healing. Her ears are noticeably cropped, and her fur is short and rough. Her coat will improve over time, though her ears will always be short.

I'll be sure to keep everyone informed of her progress. It is easy to get spoiled having just one dog who is well trained! Cedar's so obedient we have to adjust to Willow not understanding basic commands. We are working on learning her name and sitting, so hopefully she'll catch up soon!

Her ears are cropped?? It looks like just the hair is short, not the actual ear. They should grow just as the rest of her hair will, and it will be shiny and silky in no time--a good diet will take care of that. She's adorable!

Jen said:

Her ears are cropped?? It looks like just the hair is short, not the actual ear. They should grow just as the rest of her hair will, and it will be shiny and silky in no time--a good diet will take care of that. She's adorable!

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That'd be great if they did. Sandy, the foster mom, said that they were probably cropped. The "meat" of the ear is shorter than Cedar's. Maybe she just has short ears? We'll see what happens with them as she adjusts to her healthier life. If they never grow, she'll just keep looking like a pup the rest of her life. If I could do that by cropping my own ears, I might be tempted

Moviedust said:

Jen said:

Her ears are cropped?? It looks like just the hair is short, not the actual ear. They should grow just as the rest of her hair will, and it will be shiny and silky in no time--a good diet will take care of that. She's adorable!

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That'd be great if they did. Sandy, the foster mom, said that they were probably cropped. The "meat" of the ear is shorter than Cedar's. Maybe she just has short ears? We'll see what happens with them as she adjusts to her healthier life. If they never grow, she'll just keep looking like a pup the rest of her life. If I could do that by cropping my own ears, I might be tempted

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That's so sad, I've never heard of that--with other breeds, but not with a Cavalier. I hate cropping and docking. Gus is a Min. Schnauzer and his ears were left natural, but his tail was cropped. He was a rescue as well, but if we would have had a say in it, it wouldn't have happened.:x

I think that Willow is beautiful! I believe that her ears are just short. Puzzles my female cavalier I swear has the same facial features, marking and nose as Willow.... even the ears... They could pass for sisters! I wonder if they are related??? :shock:
She is very beautiful and I love the name Willow... fits her perfectly :flwr:

She's really lovely. She almost looks as if she could be drop eared papillon (phalene) but is definitely cavalier -- or could even come from a cavalier crossed with a papillon at some point -- if they were trying to create smaller cavaliers. Papillons have the same colours as a blenheim and drop eared dogs would have a smaller ear leather; they have that pointier face and papillons are part of that whole group of small spaniels that are probably related to cavaliers, along with chins for example. She has that longish body that you see in papillons too, and is quite small for a cavalier. It is always very hard to tell with puppy mill dogs, often they will have some other breed mixed in from some point, sometimes a few generations back. I know people who have been to puppy farms in Ireland and seen various breeds all mixing around in an exercise yard with females in heat!! :shock: :shock:

You can see some similarities to cavaliers in some of these pics. Some say that papillons were used to help recreate the cavalier breed in the 20s and 30s:

http://www.crisanda.com/index2.html?/phalene.htm&main

http://www.showpaps.com/Phaleneinfo.htm

The initial neediness is very common in rescues of any type or really, any dog going to a new home. Moy mom's dog from Laura Lang was the same -- dad deliberately took her for lots of her walks and so on so that she wouldn't be quite so glued to my mom! :lol:

There are some good pages of tips for settling in with a rescue here, that might help:

http://www.cavaliertalk.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1705

I bet she and Cedar will be good friends before long, given that Cedar is already generally accepting of her. They make a pretty set!

karlin said:

She's really lovely. She almost looks as if she could be drop eared papillon (phalene) but is definitely cavalier -- or could even come from a cavalier crossed with a papillon at some point -- if they were trying to create smaller cavaliers. Papillons have the same colours as a blenheim and drop eared dogs would have a smaller ear leather; they have that pointier face and papillons are part of that whole group of small spaniels that are probably related to cavaliers, along with chins for example.

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It's interesting that you mention the Phalene papillon, Karlin. I looked into them a while back when considering a second dog! Unfortunately, they are even more rare around here than cavaliers! (I must have exotic tastes.)

Thanks for the link on homing rescues; I'll be sure to read everything. We are doing pretty good so far. Cedar and Willow are getting more used to each other, so I'm sure they'll be great friends soon.

I considered papillons and phalenes too, as did my mom! They are nice little dogs, much more delicate than cavaliers though. Supposed to be very catlike in behaviour. Now that would confuse Quincy!

I was just talking to MOm and she says Lucy is so much better now about when she leaves and so on -- or when Mom goes to bed before my dad. Lucy used to scratch at the door but now she just stays sitting with dad. Same when mom leaves the house; Lucy used to bark but doesn't any more. That's taken about 2 months to resolve. Eeven with a happy new home and coming from a happy home, it can be very stressful for a dog to have to adjust to a stange new place and people, though on the surface we don't see it.

karlin said:

Eeven with a happy new home and coming from a happy home, it can be very stressful for a dog to have to adjust to a stange new place and people, though on the surface we don't see it.

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Good to hear that Lucy is doing better. Havent seen pictures of her lately. icon_whistling

Willow's tummy is doing a bit better. I did notice her biting her legs a couple of times over the last few days. I think it's just a stress behavior. Sandy says she didnt do it before. I'll keep an eye on it. I know she's definately under stress and adjusting, but in all honesty it's going better than I thought. She's such a pleasant little dog, even with her nervousness and lack of training.

Right now, she and Cedar are having an attempt at playing. Right now, that means Cedar getting a toy and playing. Then Willow stealing the toy and playing. Meanwhile, Cedar finds a new one and plays. Then Willow steals that one, and so on. Cedar takes it all in stride. I keep waiting for her to get fed up and take it back or let Willow know to back off. But nope. I guess Cedar knows there are plenty of toys!