Five and a half weeks, and what a transformation in the lil’ Lizzie. Shy, timid, retiring when we first picked her up, she had to be carried outside for her eliminations, and cowering in her crate otherwise. It was a huge deal when she first ate in the kitchen, when she went outside by herself to do her duty, when she started playing, when she finally went out on her own during daylight hours, when she first let Barbara pet her out of her crate or den.
Remarkable progress, progress that I thought would take months happening so quickly that my head is almost spinning.
This weekend we will have another challenge, my brother and sister in-law will be visiting and bringing their two maltipoos. From the dogpark last weekend, I know Lizzie will be fine with the smaller pooches, but this will be foreign people, and they will be spending the night here.
But, I am happy to report, that this morning, Lizzie looked interested in the front yard, so I got out here new freedom no pull harness and we went out. First, she bee-lined straight to the car. My last attempt at a front yard excursion was that, and then a quick “let’s go back home”. This time, we walked around the car. Then we started smelling the shrubbery (ok, Lizzie did the sniffing), and then we went across the street, explored the neighbors yard, returned, and did some more sniffing.
After a few minutes we went back, and she got some high value treats for her adventurousness. I am going to continue to work on increasing her comfort, as I know she will be a great companion on my longer fitness walks. She has tons of energy to work off, and I look forward to her gaining trust to walk outside, in the scary wide world.
Baby steps.