Wednesday 7.17.13

When I came downstairs this morning, she got up off the bed while I was in the room, which was a huge deal again. I didn't have to pick her up! Praise praise praise! We went outside and she enjoyed playing with her ball and bone again....funny how differently she acts in the yard when there's no wind and the big bad monster leaves are sleeping.

Relaxing, playing, and having FUN!

Don't tell anyone, but I acted like a dog today out in the yard. Seriously, my neighbors that can see into our yard must think I am NUTSO(about 7 houses can because our yard is backed up against the back neighbors.)  I got down on all fours and did downward dog (playbow) to her like this:    Of course, I couldn't wag my tail, but I wish I could. The great thing is.....she did it back! We were face to face doing it.....TWICE! It was seriously so cute that it made me not care what the neighbors were thinking!

**NEWSFLASH! STOP THE PRESSES!**
I started writing this post while sitting on the ground outside while Grace was playing with the balls...then we both came inside when she was done and I ignored her and went straight upstairs. Guess who stood at the bottom of the stairs instead of going straight to her safe spot bed which she ALWAYS makes a beeline for after coming inside! AND.....guess who walked up the first set of stairs AND turned the corner to peek up the next part??? Whooooooo hoooooooo! Go Grace! Go Grace! Get yer stairs on! Go Grace! I tried not to make any sudden movements, just a few gentle rounds of  "Good girl" She then proceeded back downstairs. That's ok....PROGRESS!!!!!

We also had progress with breakfast. She does not like to go near her food bowl if I am in the same room. I set her bowl down and stood at the kitchen counter with my ipad. I kept my head down, no eye contact, no talking. She crept close, then scurried back to her bed....crept again...scurried back. No food, just creepin' and scurrying. I stood my ground and stayed put. Sorry, kiddo...ya want to eat? You gotta feel comfy with ME there. So, I kept reading facebook and she slowly came in...gobbled a few bites, scurried back...gobbled a few bites...scurried back...you get the picture. If I even moved my leg or anything she would scurry back. That's ok, I've got all day, kiddo... After about 6 trips back and forth for gobbling, she finished breakfast. Progress once again.

Today's focuses were:

1. Spending time with those big bad leaves again when the breeze blows this afternoon

2. Hoping for an upstairs visit 

3. Working on being able to eat meals with me in the kitchen, especially if I decide to move a muscle!

4. Walking on a leash. 

We are still working on:

getting spooked by children and teenagers - she freaks out when she sees or hears kids

sudden movements 

random noises that freak her out

people walking towards her

staying on the sidewalk

not flipping around to try to go the other way when she gets scared

She is really good at: not pulling, passing barking dogs, passing dogs on the sidewalk - I try to concentrate on the good stuff as much as possible.

5. Getting up off of bed for walk without me having to pick her up.  Praise, praise, praise...praise for standing up, praise for taking one step off of safe bed, praise for two feet off, praise for all the way off...lather, rinse, repeat.)

6. Continued comfort level with us as far as petting. She has been coming up to me more and more outside for pets. She even KISSED ME on the face and licked my head this morning....I got all misty! Inside, she is VERY VERY skittish around us....doesn't come up to us, runs to safe bed if we are upstairs and then come downstairs, just basically will not come to us for pets inside.

7. Not being afraid to come back inside from the back yard if I am in the kitchen. She just will not pass me yet. 

8. . More, but I can't overwhelm her too much!

A few people on the message boards suggested getting her a stuffed animal to play with, but I am hesitant to buy her stuffies as a toy because we do not want her to touch ours. We have a bench of childhood stuffies (ok, ok, some from adulthood too!) in our bedroom which includes our two favorites from childhood that are always on our bed. I have been told that I can train her to distinguish between HER stuffy toys and OUR off-limits stuffies, but that is not a chance I am willing to take. Not to sound like a weirdo, but I would be quite horrified seeing a stuffie of ours torn apart.
Hoping in time that she feels more comfortable...
We shall see about breaking down to get her a stuffie toy.

Out in the yard we had to move a small palm of ours to the corner where the big monster leaves are, so that threw her for a loop this afternoon during Big Bad Leaves therapy. Plus, now have an umbrella opened at our table (which is closer to the house.) Both of those yard changes had her confused, so she decided to play the "I'm gonna stay far away from mommy and daddy" game. That's fine, kiddo...I need to ignore you anyway, so there!

In wanting to get away from us, look where she decided to hang out:

Under the monster

Yep. Behind the palm right under the big monster leaves blowing in the wind. Hopefully she got used to the monsters today after hanging out by them in trying to avoid me...
Face yo fears, girl!

Tonight my husband and I went out for 3 hours to go to a Shakespeare play at the park. I was a NERVOUS WRECK at first, but relaxed luckily once the show started. We had an extra tall baby gate at top of stairs to keep Béla up (full run of upstairs) and then Gracie was muzzled with full run of downstairs.

We came home to both animals intact, no pee, no poop, no destruction...and as far as I can tell from neighbors, no barking. I PRAY this continues.