Friday 7.19.13

Oh, the progress!
She is definitely letting me pet her more and more...especially outside. Avoiding eye contact seems to be the key in helping her feel more comfortable with my touch.
Last night I was able to get her off her bed by coaxing her with some treats. Whatever it takes! Sometimes I faked her out by having my hand out with no treat and I just pet her. She accepted scratches behind her ear (is this what I see people referring to as "ear scritches?") without scurrying away. More progress!

She LOVED the Love Glove on her back outside this morning. Of course I let her get used to seeing first it on my hand for a bit then I let her sniff it so she wasn't freaked out by it.

This morning, breakfast went even better than yesterday! She came right over when I put her bowl down (last night I hand-fed her) AND she stayed there while I did my thing in the kitchen - opening the refrigerator, pouring coffee, walking.....things that would have made her scurry away any other day! WOOO!!!

Then...like yesterday....look who followed me upstairs.....

Is that MY BED in there????

Looks like a good place for a snooze!!!!

She definitely is staying up here longer!
We went downstairs for a bathroom break, then she came back up again.
I've been a bit nervous if her muzzle isn't on. Aaaah!
The whole cat/dog thing will have me nervous for awhile, even though Gracie shows no interest. My fear is that since she is coming out of her shell for other things, will she come out of her shell with Bela too and try to get her?
I can't trust yet.
Muzzle = back on.

She finally found her bed in our room, too. It's about time!

Ok, I took people's advice...got a stuffie. I coudn't bring myself to get her anything that had a face (yeah, I'm weird like that) so I found a stuffed bone.
She hasn't thrown it around (yet!!) but....look how adorable.....

SHE brought this into her bed. How precious!

 Today I made sure I left again. This time for about 3 hours. I set up my ipad to record her, but it only did it for 50 minutes. The whole time she was asleep. Go figure!
Big Bad Leaves therapy went well....she seemed a little more comfortable in the yard in the afternoon. All I do during that time is sit out there with her and try to ignore her....expose her and get her used to all the sounds...talk to her in a calm voice when I see her getting stressed or panting over a rustling leaf. We will get there. I just know it!

Today we also took a car ride! Joyce said she was good about getting into her van, so I wanted to make sure I practiced with my civic. At first she was hesitant, but then I said "UP!" and tugged a bit on her leash and up she went!!! Looked like a poor, little, terrified soul at first, but she relaxed after a bit. We just sat in the driveway first with treats and calm voices...then we drove around the neighborhood for about 10 minutes. Nothing crazy yet.

Oh no! What's going on?!!?

She perked up when she recognized we were home....

This looks like HOME!

Ever since we lived in our apartment in Hermosa Beach I have DREAMED of walking MY dog on what is known as the Greenbelt.  I am hoping to drive her there one day to try. We could walk there, but it would be a very long walk for her right now, especially since I actually want to walk on the Greenbelt for awhile. I will be like an excited little kid if she is brave enough to handle that one day!

Hermosa Beach Greenbelt

Like teaching first graders, sometimes you can't go by what your lesson plan book says  you are going focus on for a particular day. Sometimes you have to stray from your plans to take advantage of "teachable moments." Today's teachable moments revolved around Béla. Gracie decided to follow me upstairs and explore my bedroom. Béla happened to be in there on our bed so I grabbed the treats (luckily I have them everywhere) and tried to coax Gracie a bit closer to Béla, knowing a muzzle was in the picture. Gracie got about 2 feet away from the bed and then Béla let out a small hiss . Grace seemed unphased. She was more interested in just snooping around the room. Hoping this is a good sign!

I give you stink eye. Oh, and see these claws?

Usually, this is what I see when Bela tries to instigate and go near Grace's space...

Grace = not interested.

Bela will stare for a bit and get close, then Gracie will look at her then look away and not even pick up her head. Once again, hoping these are all good signs that there was a reason Gracie never started in a real race. 

Someone on the greyhound message boards said that maybe one day I'll be one of the people who posts a pic of their cat and dog snuggling. Trust me, that has been our DREAM since before we adopted Gracie! I'd be shocked if it ever happened, but then again....Béla's behavior so far is shocking me!

Another day with lots of progress....I am SO PROUD of BOTH of my little munchkins!