All in the Eyes

I stand up from my computer, step over to Ellie Mae, and while putting my hand gently on her head, I say quietly, “Stay.” I then go over to the kitchen door, step outside into the cool night air, and go flip a valve. Ellie Mae never moves. Altogether, there are twelve of these valves, each one controlling a set of emitters that provide water for my ornamental flowers.

Here on farm, we use timers for almost everything, but I water the ornamentals “by hand” because they do not always require the same amount of water. I am up in the wee hours anyway, and this is the time it works best for me. When I get up, Ellie Mae does too, to a certain extent. She’s nowhere near done sleeping, but she wants to sleep where I am. 

That I am able to go about this business without my eager sidekick dogging my footsteps, is a credit to Ellie Mae and the training we absorbed last January. This was about seven weeks after she joined us from the Inland Mendocino County Humane Society, and the experience has been invaluable.

When she first adopted us, Ellie Mae was pretty hyper; were I to go outside and leave her behind, she would get herself pretty wound up. Whereas there was usually little reason why she could not accompany me most anywhere, there were times when she simply had to stay behind. 

According to Gluten-Free Mama, things could get a little dicey, as Ellie would go from the front door to the back door, to the side window and up on the white couch, to see out the window, and then repeat the cycle. Round and round she'd go until I returned. So we actually began to work on this issue, methodically scheduling little excursions outside, while Ellie was asked to remain inside.

Miss Laid-Back at her obedience classes...

Once we started the obedience classes, we had a designated spot, we had a routine and Ellie Mae began to experience some success. We knew from the start that the process of acclimating a rescue dog to a new home, is a lengthy one, and that at least six months to a year was what most dogs required to get fully settled.

Of the twelve times I have to go in and out the kitchen door, while watering, twice I have to be outside for longer than just two minutes or so. On these occasions I invite Ellie Mae to accompany me so that she does not feel completely left out. I make sure that the first one is my initial trip outside, to allow her to circulate while I attend to logistics, and the second one is near the end. Each time I tell her to stay, I pat her on the head and tell her she is the best dog on the block, because she is.

The “manual” says Ellie Mae needs at least two acres of play space, which she has, because black mouth curs are apt to sprint from point A to Point B, and all points in-between. When we first brought Ellie Mae home, all she wanted to do was escape the compound every time I got caught up in my work and ignored her.

That is no longer an issue. When she came to us it was November, so for the next several months she spent most of her time indoors. Now that we are in the peak of summer, she goes where I go. If I spend two hours in the orchard, working with my tomatoes, she is always in the immediate vicinity, most likely trying to ferret out gophers. 

If I am moving firewood on the side of the house, stacking and organizing, Ellie Mae is right there with me. Always. She has become the penultimate companion, and I no longer have to keep track of her. 

She travels well in the car, too, unlike Dozer the bulldog, who hated it. In the beginning Ellie used to get so excited, she inevitably lost her breakfast somewhere along the way, but that stopped once she realized that we weren’t “taking her back.”

When I reflect back on some of her shenanigans in the beginning, I shake my head in wonder, but I also know one thing for sure: If you like your canine buddy, she can do just about anything, and get away with it. If you do not like your dog, then the slightest thing drives you nuts.

Whether or not Ellie Mae remembers her former life, I can’t say for sure, but I think not. It’s all in the eyes. I have already taken countless photos of Ellie Mae, and the eyes don’t lie. They speak of contentment, gratitude and appreciation; they speak of love.

The tension that accompanied her when she first arrived, has exited the building, which is why Ellie Mae no longer has to be with me every time I walk outside the door. Besides, a girl does need her beauty sleep, and Ellie Mae in no exception. Just because I am up at all hours, does not mean Ellie Mae has to be up too. 

A rescue dog who is worried about her beauty sleep, has left all memories of her former life behind.