It's been a week since we brought Nova Lee home and she's settling in quite nicely. She and Bozley spend the day playing and napping. I think having a playmate his size to run around and wrestle with is just what Bozley needed. They play hard and then they nap for awhile...then up and at it again. He's a lot more active now with her here and he seems less anxious. He still barks at noises but a lot of the quieter noises don't seem to bother him as much. And I think all the playing around makes him relax more and sleep better without waking up to every single noise. Nova follows me everywhere even more than Bozley does. She's SO sweet. Sometimes she'll nap sprawled out on the couch or the floor, but she seems to really like cuddling up next to me. She'll lay her head in my lap while I'm working on the computer. She's really mellow except when wrestling with Bozley. ;)
Nova Lee is doing SO good here at home with us. When she got here, we realized that she had quite a few hot spots from biting/scratching...because of her food allergy. I don't think her previous owners realized that there was still chicken (the biggest food allergy, especially in Goldens) in the Purina Pro Plan Lamb and Rice puppy food and, unfortunately, continued feeding it to her. We realized with Bozley that you really have to check the ingredients so there's no chicken organs, chicken meal...nothing. We're very careful about making sure that all the food and treats that we give have NO type of chicken in them...because SO MUCH of it has chicken even if it isn't the main ingredient (it's a cheap option for dog product manufacturers). But we have switched her to the Purina Pro Plan Sensitive Skin and Stomach which has no chicken and she seems to be doing better. She is still scratching a bit but her coat is already feeling softer and I haven't seen any new spots since switching her food. We did add pumpkin this week since she had kinda loose stools and they've firmed up now. She eats great...which is nice since we're still trying to find a food that picky Bozley will just eat. :P
Last night was a big night! Nova Lee had been sleeping in the kennel at night but Johnny felt that since she is potty trained, she should be in the bedroom with us (like Bozley) because it isn't fair for her to be the only one in the kennel. ;) So last night we let her in our room. She immediately jumped up on the bed and stayed there all night. Bozley will sometimes get up on the bed while we're watching TV or something but then he prefers to sleep in his bed on the floor at the end of our bed. So we had Nova in bed with us, Bozley sleeping in his bed, and Milo actually got up on the bed and slept in his spot!
I'd been holding off on letting Nova in the bedroom because Milo sleeps in the bed with us and he'd just been hiding under the bed those first few days she was here. Angel also hid under the bed...and because she doesn't jump up as high as the other two cats (which is needed to get downstairs while avoiding the living room), I actually pulled the mattresses up to get her out from under the bed and took her downstairs in the carrier where her food, water, and litterbox are...and she hasn't come upstairs since. Angel and Leo have just stayed downstairs for the most part, but Milo has gotten comfortable with going from our room to the basement as long as the gates at the hallway and stairs are closed. There is a "window" in the hallway that is over the bottom of the stairs, so the cats will jump up and go through there, walk along the half-wall and then down to the top steps and go downstairs that way to avoid the dogs. When I painted, I actually hadn't put the gate on the stairs back up because Bozley is scared to go down them...but as soon as Nova Lee arrived she ran right down the stairs to explore...so I put the other gate back up. ;) That way the cats are able to have a safe space away from the big, rowdy puppies. ANYWAY...after I turned off the TV last night and Nova settled down to sleep, Milo actually jumped up on the bed and slept on his pillow that's above my head. And Nova Lee didn't even get excited about Milo or anything...she just cuddled up next to us and slept. So that's progress! :)
Nova has been really excited to meet new people. She met Aubry and my mom shortly after we brought her home. Then my step-daughter and her four kids came over for a little while yesterday and Bozley and Nova both were really good with the kids. Bozley is fine meeting new people, but sometimes he's scared of men. So far Nova Lee hasn't actually met any new men aside from Johnny, but hopefully she won't respond in fear like Bozley...and hopefully Bozley will see that it's okay. :) Boz really is doing a lot better though. And walks with the two of them have been great! Bozley seems to have a lot less anxiety when he's with Nova. I know I've said that multiple times, but we're just so happy to have two happy puppies. :)