One more Snowflake story. Progress and then regression . . .
Last edited Tue Oct 12, 2021, 03:34 PM - Edit history (3)
One step forward, one step back. When I got back Sunday (I had left enough food to last over the weekend) I visited with Snowflake and fed her again. When I called she literally came bounding to greet me and Jack. Ignored the food until we exchanged affection all around. As we left she actually frolicked! Dashed across the street and did the 'pounce and run' thing. I guess when you eat regularly you have the to expend energy on such things as play. I made the decision to try again moving her.
Monday morning Jack and I walked back to visit but didn't bring food. Instead I had set out a large bowl of food and one of water next to the shelter I made and left the gate to the yard open. The first time she was pretty docile and only needed a bit of encouragement to walk with me almost to the yard. This time she was having no part of walking toward my place. We did get it done but it was walk 6' (the length of the leash), take a knee and wait for her to come to me. We did that for the entire ¼ mile. Getting her past the guard dogs that live next door was an event in itself but we finally made it to my driveway. When she saw the open gate in the chain link fence it was all I could do to keep up! She clearly feels safe behind a fence she can see through.
Jack and I spent the entire day in the yard with her. I was taking down the decrepit 6' privacy fence on the west side of the yard—it was in the process of falling down anyway. Behind it is another chain link fence so Snowflake will have open views to the east and west. All day she and the guard dogs had at it through the fence. Such ferocity! However she learned quite quickly to cease and desist to the command “Snow, enough!'” There was much affection given and taken all day. She managed to pee in every corner and lots of places throughout the yard and scratched a bed into the ground under my 4x8' utility trailer. Man, I'm thinkin' this is it, she's accepted the place. Ate all the food and drank all the water—I guess peeing is thirsty work . . .
Then I went into the garage and left the gate open and unattended for less than a half minute—she was gone. I went to the street and she was only 50' away so I took a knee and called to her. She recognized the call and acknowledged me then turned and headed back to the vacant trailer. I tried to entice her back but she refused to come out from under the trailer.
That was yesterday. Today I took Jack for a walk and stopped at the trailer and called. She came trotting out and shared affection for about 10 minutes before I continued my walk. She stood and watched me go without running back to the shelter of under the house. On the way back I called and she acknowledged it but stayed at a distance. If I'm walking to the west, away from my house, she's friendly but if I'm walking to the east, toward my house, she's standing off.
My next approach is to stop and greet her, give her a treat but not feed her. She's gained a lot of weight over the last few weeks so she's satiated and can afford to ignore me. She has also had Capstar and a monthly flea topical as well as being wormed. I'll give it a few days w/o food and see if her attitude changes. I'll then take a small container of food and give her an ounce or two, teasing her back. No more meals at the old place, only at mine. She learns incredibly fast and has an abundance of raw intelligence. I'm not giving up but she's got to make a move in my direction before her belly gets full again. I'll give status reports as things change. As it is now we're in a stand off when it comes to moving her.
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I hope that you can see past all this to the inevitable success that's coming.
When the next-door dogs barked at her, she was really traumatized, and it will take time to get over that.
Good thing you're patient!
To add insult to injury the guard dogs were nowhere to be seen as she left past their yard 
And a solid plan! Ty for this update.
