We are now just into the third week of Lizzie being part of our pack, and she has come a long way from the shy, timid, and fearful dog that I had to manually extract from her crate to take out back to do her business.
She has completely warmed to me, and she is warming to Barbara, albeit slowly. We know that this is a process, and that she has to make her own progress at her level of comfort.
That said, until Wednesday last week, she pretty much wouldn’t go out back when the sun was up. From talking to the folks who originally rescued her, the Ka’uai Humane Society team (they are really cool, and their page on facebook is full of people with experiences with these wonderful hounds,) the hesitancy to venturing outdoors during daylight hours is not uncommon, and they do come around.
Last week, as I mentioned in this post there were a couple of breakthroughs, and the playtime was good for both Lizzoe and the Greys. However, in the afternoon, Lizzie ventured out on her own. Yes, outdoors, without being forced, and running back through the doggie doors as quickly as possible. Not only that, she went out at least 4 times that I counted, including to pee and poo. Truly astounding, but that was only one day. The girls had been a positive influence on Lizzie.
However, since then, in the late afternoon, near dinner time (a solid 5:00PM serving bell) she would also go out and eliminate.
It is impossible to mention how huge this is, and how a day visit by the amazing Falcon and Clara were the impetus.
Not long before Falcon and Clara went to their new home, there was a zoomies session in the back yard, with Falcon and Lizzie sprinting around and around (for the record, Falcon was a good sport, and ‘let’ Lizzie win.)
Next up is more comfort around Barbara, and walking on a leash.