Tail White’s blog

The mercury dipped to -25 this morning and I looked out at Reilly, and she has her hair all puffed out to give her that extra insulation against this cold, but you look at her face and she looks more like a big ole teddy bear, because the hair being puffed out on her face like that, makes her face look much more round then the narrow face I am used to seeing. I took this picture of her looking in the window this morning. Unfortunately there is a little reflection from the window.

Reilly-1 20090102

I would just like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a wonderfully Happy new year.

My wife and I have been paying a lot of attention to Reilly. We have been opening the door and talking to her and throwing Grapes out to her from the second floor sliding glass doors. She is learing that and even comes running when we open the door and call out to her. I have been going out and spending time with her also. She is gettin used to me being around a little now. I am getting pretty close to her but she still does not want me too close. I am hoping that I can get close enough to start hand feeding. Right now I will throw grapes to her and she will step forward to get then so she is starting to realize that I bring good things. So for her only being her 2 weeks I think she has made good progress. At this rate I have high hopes for her. Right now I wish she would let me feel her belly. I like to know if she is pregnant. I know its to early but If I could check her out then I could look for changes. Anyway. things are going good with Reilly.

Reilly has picked a spot to lay. It turns out to be on the carpet we have outside our door. So the question is this. Does she lay there because it is the door she sees us through and that we go in and out of, or is it just the carpet that she likes. I can't read her mind so I will never know for sure. But I like to think it is because she knows that is where we are. But again she is still afraid of us so maybe that is not it. Anyway She seems very curious about us and likes to watch us through the windows. But she still gets spooked when we go into her area. But again on the positive side I went out and cleaned out the wild deer feeder and she didn't move until I was coming back in the house. She doesn't get up everytime we go out the garage either.

Last night she was so cute she slept there out side the door all curled up in a nice little ball, right there with her butt up against the back door.

Reilly_20091209

Reilly has been curious as to what is inside. We see her looking in the windows a lot now. Even if we are in there, then she is not so scared of us. We are only a few feet apart with just a little glass between us. She is ok with that. but if I go out into the yard she has to run to the other end of the yard. We can see a big improvement as she is a lot calmer then she was a couple days ago. Earlier to day Deb saw Reilly playing out in the yard. It was a lot of fun for her to watch. I wish I could have seen it. That does show she is more comfortable being here.

Tonight Reilly was not so quick to move. It was unfortunate but our dog got out when the boys were taking the trash out. Now Nami (A white German Shepherd) is used to living with deer. But Reilly is not used to living with dogs. Anyway Nami went in back to see Reilly and Reilly stood her ground and scared Nami away. Not quite the reaction we expected to see in a shy and scared deer. Ok so she is not so shy or scared. But really now Reilly has made a lot of progress. She is not so scared and she is not running away any more, she starts out just looking when I start coming out then she backs up and if I contine she will turn and walk away then stop and look at me. So she is making progress and she is getting used to us. Not to bad for 4 days. Here is a picture of Reilly laying in the snow.

Reilly_20091208

Reilly's instincts are still very much in control. It is going to take some time to gain her trust. I had to fill her water dish tonight and it is located at the far end of her kennel. So when I went out she kept her distance. When I went to the far end she came up to the house. When I came back to the house she ran to the far end. I went out and just stood in the yard with her for about a half hour again a little later and she paces back and forth and keeps her tail up but I can see a slight change each time I go out. She doesn't like me being there but it is a little less each time. That could be just wishfull thinking on my part but I do think she is slowly getting used to me. It will get a lot easier once I can get close enough give her some treats. Once she sees that I come bearing gifts, she will come to expect that and actually come running to me with great expectations. ( well that is what I hope) and that is how it was with our others. So we are still building that basic trust.

Well Reilly has been here 1 day now. While her panicing has subsided she is still very weary. I keep going out and just standing so she gets used to me being around. She won't come up to me yet but she is not paniced either. She stands and stares at me or walks around a liitle but won't get too close. When I am not out in the yard she has been coming up to the house and peering in the windows. That is just incredibly adorable and I will see if I can get some pictures of her doing that. She didn't sleep in the tent last night but out in the yard like she is used to. It takes them awhile to get comfortable with the tent but then they realize its better then out in the wind and rain and snow. Right now we can see Reilly is coming around to us, and it won't be long before she is coming in the house too.

I almost forgot the point of my title. Reilly was watching something out in the field last night we just kind of kept an eye on her and she was staring out in the field. The we started to see them first the was a couple does coming up the fence to greet Reilly. Then a few more and then a few more before we knew it there were 8 deer out around her kennel. We even got to watch two of them fighting. It was interesting as the 2 fighting looked like bucks fighting . There heads were low and against each other and they kept moving back and forth like in a fight with heads locked together but we could not see any antlers. Maybe they were just young bucks. The deer hung around awhile and Reilly was really checking them out, and it was a lot of fun for us to watch too.

We backed the trailer up to the kennel and opened the door Reilly came out and ran into the fince a couple times, Not real hard but she was trying to push her way out. The truck pulled away and we closed the fence. Reilly pushed along the fence trying to find an opening. After about an our she settled down and was just walking around. I threw some apples out to her while she as at the far end of the kennel. It was only about 30 minutes before she found them and had some. She has come back a few times and eats a few pieces then walks away. I went into the kennel and stood still with some grapes in my hand. She didn't get very close but she was not real scared either. I stood out there for a while slowly moving out into the kennel. She would walk up a little and look at me then go back. She knew I was there and she didn't like it but she was not panicing. It will take a little while to get her used to us but it is a labor of love. I am sure we will have her eating out of our hands in a few days.

Here she is!