I remember something a mother of a child with a very difficult case of ADD once said to me. She said that she tries to "bend" his will, not break it. Something about your story of Emma reminded me of that.

I worried about Emma getting run over the last time I saw her in Colorado. She ran all through everyone's yards and into the street repeatedly. She has such a wild and free, innocent spirit. She belongs in the country all the time, not in civilization.
martha | 03.29.04 - 11:33 pm | #

Yeah, that's what we we are trying to do, bend Emma but not break her. She came out of a litter of 12 puppies, born somewere in the second group of six. I don't know if being born out of the second group hurt her but I do know by being one of 12 her development was slowed down. Puppies learn a lot from their mothers in the first eight weeks of their lives and the more puppies there are the harder it is for the mother. Right now we think she is about 6 months behind where she should be, which would make her mentally still a puppy. Maybe her impulse control will get better or maybe she will always be a puppy in that area, we don't know. We do know we have to do what we need to do to make sure she is with us in a year.
la peregrina | Homepage | 03.30.04 - 2:11 pm | #