Thursday 7.18.13

Well, well, well....someone is deciding to come out of her little shell today quite a BIT!!!!
She slept by herself downstairs again without a whimper.
When I got up, she got up off her bed and walked with me over to the back door to go out (progress again....I didn't have to lift her up to get her to go outside.)
She loves morning for playtime!

Progress with breakfast, too! I did the same thing as yesterday - put her food down and refused to leave the kitchen. She needs to get used to me being in there while she is eating. Today it took MUCH LESS time for her to come in and eat. She ate it ALL in one standing AND she didn't scurry away when I raised my coffee cup to take a sip. Yesterday any movement at all from me had her scurrying back to her bed. I also made sure to move my legs around a bit...nothing crazy, just small movement...and she stayed! WOW!

Then....I went upstairs.

Guess.

What.

Happened!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yep! This is UPSTARIS!!!!!!!!!! This is taken with me sitting at my computer in the office. She seemed quite comfy walking around and exploring - much more comfortable than I would have expected for her first time up. She peeked in every room and even walked into the bedroom. I think she was confused seeing her same bed up there "Wait...wait....how did THAT get up here?!!!"

Little stinker snatched one of the stuffed animals off the bench so fast I barely saw it coming. She got a 'NO" and she trotted downstairs, only to come back up 2 minutes later! 


My husband is going to put up shelves for the stuffed animals. We are giving in because we can't have her doing that to any of them. Perhaps it is possible to train her to stay away from them, but after seeing how FAST she snagged the animal off the bench, it might be in the stuffies' best interests to get them up high.
MAYBE I will buy her something stuffed to play with....maybe.
I am torn on that still (I know it is very stubborn of me....)
One of the things we mentioned when we adopted her was that we would like a dog that was not interested in stuffed animals. I know some don't care for them.
Grace does, and that is ok. We just have to figure out how to make her happy while keeping our stuffies safe.
YES, they are THAT important to us.

After that, I tried to spend time IGNORING her again...as much as I want to spend time with her, I know I need to ignore her and let her come out of her shell at her own pace. An hour on the treadmill in the garage, shower, then 2.5 hours treating myself to lunch and walking around the outdoor shops. She was fine when I got home...still laying on her safe bed. Sometimes I wish I had a camera on her to see if she explores when I leave!

We did have Monster Leaves and Scary Yard Noises therapy again...

Apparently this was a comfy spot for her for a bit while dealing with all the scary noises. Weirdo.

BUT....in all this madness with the noises....we DID have a little breakthrough as far as me petting her!
I was sitting there, avoiding eye contact. I decided to put my arm out every time she passed and just lightly brush her side with my hand as she passed. Well, three times she STOPPED and let me keep petting her back and side. As much as I wanted to look at her, I kept my eyes averted. Praise praise praise...treats treats treats....
One time when she passed me she even licked the back of my arm! Hey, I'll take it!

Before I went to bed, I was able to coax her off her safe bed by throwing some treats near me, getting closer and closer each time. 

Baby steps I tell ya...baby steps!