Day 32: Catching Up

Today is one month to the day I brought Miehiera home.

I almost forgot, and I can't believe it has been a month since she has come into my home and left her pawprints on my heart forever.

The first two weeks were not a fun time for Miehiera and I. She was undoubtedly scared and stressed, giving me some nasty bites. I got so worried that she was never going to bond to me. I called my breeder, Dave, and he offered to help work with her or take her back if she refused to calm down, as well as replace her or refund my money.

Though Dave's offer was nice, I opted to continue working with Miehiera. Shortly after I talked with Dave, and consulting about him with the idea of moving her outside, I moved Miehiera into a small outdoor enclosure on my back porch one night.

Her outdoor setup.

Miehiera's grumpy face.

She was still not happy with me, but was fascinated by my dogs, who she had only met Jack once, and promptly screamed at him. This time, she had a stare-down with my dog Jack. Every time I went to check on her that night, Jack and her were staring each other down, refusing to rip their eyes away. I was quite concerned that Jack was trying to dominate her, but allowed them to continue their antics.

The epic staring contest.

The next day, I allowed Jack and Miehiera to meet for the first time. I was genuinely scared that Miehiera and Jack would be aggressive and despise each other, but it turns out I've discovered a real life fox and the hound.

Swagger.

Getting a drink after lots of romping.

I have to say, my dog is a miracle worker. That, and moving her outside really helped. Miehiera was slowly becoming more friendly as a result of this. 

She was also becoming playful, playing with her toys, which I had ever seen her do before.

Playing with her wiffle ball.

She was also allowing me to hold her, at least for longer periods of time than before.

Now, every day, I take her out for daily romps in the backyard with her new brother Jack and her big sister Samantha.

As time has gone by, Miehiera has grown more attatched to me and more friendly. Though she is a tad food aggressive, sometimes plays too rough and doesn't like to be held (but will still let me), she has become affectionate. She licks my hands, and happily mouths me when I pet her. She loves to have her ears and nose scratched, and screams with joy and wags her tail when she sees me opening the doors of her cage.

Her litter training is coming along ok, I've found that the best thing to make her go is to keep her litter box as clean as humanly possible. 

I've started to bring her inside more often, though she still tends to go where I don't want her to!

She gets along great with my other dog Samantha. Miehiera is the only animal I've seen Samantha play with in a long time - Samantha hates puppies, love kittens but they don't love her back. A little fox kit seems to be the perfect playmate.

How she has grown as well. When I first got her, I could hold her in one hand extended away from my body. She weighed just a couple of pounds when I got her. Now, she's close to 10 lbs! She is getting too big for her small outdoor enclosure, so she will have to be moved into her large, permanent kennel soon. 

Miehiera also has gotten her first 7-way vaccine with the help of my Grandma, who was a nurse and gives her animals shots as well. She is due for her next one this Friday, and she will be able to go for walks in public September 9th once she gets her final shot at 14 weeks of age. Afterwards I plan on taking her to our vet and getting her a rabies shot, as well as figuring out when I can have her spayed.

Yes, in just one month, Miehiera has grown from a 6-week-old growling, gruffing, biting nemesis to sweet, 10-week-old lover, licking my hand, screaming and whining as I pet her and begging for attention, ear and nose scratches and belly rubs.