Celebrating #NationalMuttDay with McKenzie Rae

It’s the perfect time to give you all some updates on McKenzie Rae, as it’s National Mutt Day!  McKenzie truly is a mutt.  I’m going to be testing her DNA with the Wisdom Panel Canine DNA test kit, but until then I’m still guessing she part deer, kangaroo and coyote 😉

In just one short week, McKenzie Rae is a new dog.  I can’t believe the progress she has made!  She has adjusted to living in a house very well.  I think McKenzie knows she’s surrounded by love.  So what’s new with her?

• McKenzie now follows us around the house.  Actually, she mostly follows Matt.  I don’t know what it is with Matt but dogs are always drawn to him.  It must be a good, positive energy!
• She will go off on her own to play or go outside.  Although she won’t use the dog door with the flap down, McKenzie will go through it if we keep the flap up, so that’s what we’ve been doing.  We’re taking training slowly due to her fear.

• McKenzie no longer runs away if we walk toward her.  She would hide and run away if we turned toward her too quickly or walked in her direction.  Now she just moves out of the way instead of escaping!
• She’s eating dog food.  I’ve never had a dog that wasn’t crazy for food.  Well, McKenzie is crazy for food…human food.  She loves sausage and turkey but put the dog food away because she’s too good for it!  Now she’s coming around. I’ve been jazzing up her dry food with fresh meats or Pro Plan additions, and then she will eat it. We haven’t gotten McKenzie on an eating schedule like Khloee and Wyn yet because she was so used to eating when/what she could as a stray.  Another work in progress.

• McKenzie is playing with toys – on her own!  Since day one, she’s been curious about toys.  We could tell she loved the squeaker.  At first she’d just follow Khloee or Wyn when we’d play together, but now she will go after the toy and sometimes grab it.  But last night, she actually took a toy and was playing with it on her own! Matt and I even went upstairs and we could hear McKenzie squeaking away with the toy downstairs.  It is undeniably precious.

I’m so happy that McKenzie Rae is progressing the way she is.  We have a lot to work on but with how fearful she was the day we brought her home, I thought that it’d take much longer than a week for her to start coming around.  I can’t wait to find out what breeds she is in the meantime.  It sure will be interesting!

Happy National Mutt Day!  Do you have any mutts at home?