Puppy progress and puppy regression

While Caleb continues to get braver every day it seems that Lily took a slight backward turn. She's avoiding us and hiding in her kennel all of a sudden. It's not terrible but it's not her usual. And it's breaking my heart a little.

We can't figure out what would have scared her and made her regress. This just came out of the blue.

So, we think maybe she might have some problems with the stairs and or perhaps some arthritis. She hesitates to come up or down the stairs to our back door. And she hasnt' been able to jump up on her chair as of late. So maybe she doesn't feel very good.

The other thing that changed was that I washed her bed. So it wasn't down in it's usual spot for a while. That might have upset her. I put it back this morning when it was done drying and she seemed to be happy to have it back. But I can't tell if it was the only thing upsetting her.

I'll see how she is tonight when we get home. And over the weekend. If she continues to avoid the stairs and chair then we might bring her in to the vet. And daddy might need to build some risers for her so she can take smaller steps.

On the good side Sophie continues to bond with Caleb. They cuddle more and more. Last night I had them both on the couch with me and Caleb even let me pet him for a while. With Lily being more kennel bound he seems to follow her lead and hide a little more. But still, he's coming a long.

Caleb pounced at me

Yes, my little boy was pouncing really close to me because he wanted pets and playing.

Sophie and Lily were playing today. Chasing each other around the living room.

Lily really has no fear anymore toward me.

Every day, we get a little better.........

Recall and waggy tails

Great improvements in going outside and coming back in. The dogs don't seem to mind having to run past us anymore. We no longer need to either bring the kennel to the door or have the kennel waiting at the door to get them in or out. Now they come running when we call them to go outside and when we let them back in they anxiously run right inside. Even Caleb comes running to be back inside. It's such a good feeling to not have them cowering outside anymore. Too fearful to run by us.

We have also had some instances of Sophie and the pups cuddling together on the chair. They seem to be getting more and more comfortable with each other.

We have also had a few people over at the house and they are both more willing to at least come out of the kennel. Lily will even approach people to smell them. She won't really let a stranger pet her but at least she approaches them.

Lily has also become my little shadow. She follows me everywhere. Caleb often also will come to see what I am doing. She will also cuddle on the couch for a longer period of time now. And I can pick her up without her cringing.

We have yet to make such progress with Caleb but we know it will happen. We can't really make eye contact with him. He sees that as threatening. And we can't pick him up. But he does come for pets. And he does love to get treats from us. He seems to get a little bit braver every day.

Divebomb Lily

Time is short but I wanted to check in. The pups are doing great. This morning Lily dive bombed into my lap to get love. Of course she almost upended the cup of coffee I had been holding but hey, my little girl is really coming out of her shell.
Here are some photos.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/newtsmuse/

Progress continues

The big thing: Lily (Lila) is following me around a bit now. And she jumps up all on her own to sit with me on the couch. Or she will put her paws on my knee and jump just enough to let me know I should pick her up.

Caleb, our sweet little boy continues to make progress. We still can't really touch him beyond a little bit of petting but we'll get there.................We have noticed that he watches a lot and I think the more he sees the other dogs interact with us and trust us the braver he will get.

Aside from that we have started to scold them a little. Lily is a little to eager for treats and trys to steal them from the other animals. So we have been working on "Sit" and "wait" so she knows she can't just hog the attention and food. We have yet to get her to sit on command but a few treats and daily effort and she'll be listening better.

Over all I feel that they are progressing nicely. The house is definetly more hectic but that is partly due to the fact that we are all adapting and we are training. Last night was one of the first "peaceful" evenings. Both Caleb and Lily fell asleep on a chair together and they seemed content to just sleep. Normally they are up and down and exploring and since they still have accidents we follow them around. Which means we are all up and down instead of relaxing.

We have also slept through the night regularly now. They haven't gotten us up at 2 am for a few days.

In other words, the pups are making progress.

One week and 2 days later

The weekend was hectic because of the wedding but the pups still did quite well. I had Lila in my lap several times during the weekend. She willingly jumped up on the couch and laid down next to me. They continue to get better about going outside and coming back in without being afraid to go past us when we hold open the door. Their recall is even coming along quite well. The wind storms we had last week broke several of the stakes we had for the temporary fence so the dogs have been able to wander around the larger fenced area. They happily come running to the back door when we call them. Of course when they do come back to us we make a big deal about it and give them cookies. We want to make sure their confidence with us is pretty high before we brave taking them for a walk. I know the first time we do go out there into the big scary world I will have a whole bucket load of treats for them in order to encourage them to stick with us.

The hubster and I are really enjoying having them with us. The other dogs have adapted well and as long as everyone gets even amounts of love there is peace in the world.

We continue to let them out about every 1-2 hours. And only 1 accident this weekend that we know of. Yeah for the puppies!

The hubster wants to change Lila to Lily. We know her foster mom called her Lilliana at times so we think she will adapt to the change. Caleb will stay Caleb. We had name tags made for them to celebrate them being with us for a week. Lily gets a red heart and Caleb a blue bone.

Lily continues to collect shoes during the day. The hubster came walking in to the kitchen at one point with only one shoe on. He said, so, I found this one in Lily’s bed, do you know where it originated so I can find the other one? I laughed so hard at him. He always gets up after me so when he came down in the morning and asked how things have been going so far I say “Good, so far we have added a sneaker, a running shoe, a boot, a sandal, a sock, a washcloth, and a towel.” He then asks Lily all about her little “babies” that she collected. If you could only see what my living room floor looks like.

Caleb continues to be more timid but it’s been only a week. He really “wants” to be brave and cuddly but I think anxiety overcomes him. He can push his way frantically in the fur pile to get love. But other times he scampers into his kennel and hides. I just enjoy every time he puts his front paws up on my knee and asks for some love. He’ll get there, we know he will.

Baby's getting brave

We are just shy of our one week anniversary with the pups. They are doing better than I expected. They are willing to be out of their kennel more. Lila is quite the little collector. She LOVES to take shoes she finds around the house and gather them on her bed. Tonight she is trying out each piece of furniture in the living room to see which one is the best to lay on.

Caleb continues to make progress, but far more slowly. He was the first to come out to say hello but he's the slower in terms of trusting us. He spends more time in his kennel. I feel that it is too early to try to keep them away from their safety place. I don't want to rush them.

We have continued to make progress in terms of getting them to go outside and then come back in. They sometimes get very fearful and either hide and won't go out, or when they are out get very scared and won't come back in. They don't go anywhere, they just sort of freeze up. We have made progress in that if Lila is outside and freezes up and doesn't want to come in she will let me approach her, pick her up, and bring her in. Before she would dart away from me.

We do have to continue with the trips outside on an almost hourly basis. But that is okay. I don't mind.

Last night was the first time they slept through the night. Either that or I was so exhausted from this first week with them that I didn't hear them get up at their usual 2 am. In fact this morning they got up when the alarm went off. I took them outside but they didn't go potty. Then about an hour later when Max got up they went outside again with him and this time we had success! Is it sad that I get so excited when my puppies go potty?

Anyway, they are a joy to have. I can't believe how happy it makes me just to be able to pet them. And to get little Lila kisses.

I look forward to the days ahead when maybe Caleb won't cringe before he gets petted. I dont think he was ever hit when he was at the puppy mill. I think human contact was nill and that is why he is so fearful. I know he had a great relationship with his foster mom C so I know he will get there.

More to come.................

She licks, she begs, she barks, she's Lila

Yesterday was the first day that the pups were in their kennel while we were at work. They seemed to do quite well. Their foster mom said they kennel well. They ran right outside when we let them out. And came back in without issue.

They are a little nervous with us standing at the door so they sometimes hesitate to come in. It’s a 50/50 shot whether or not they will brave running past us. It helps if they are part of a fur frenzy with Max and Sophie.

Hubster had to go to the hardware store so for a while it was just me and the pups. I blocked them off from the rest of the house and just let them play in the living room. They begged for scratches and kisses. It’s a challenge to have two hands and four eager heads to pet. Little Lila LOVES to give tiny puppy kisses. Foster mom “C” warned me that she tends to give nose licks (in your nose that is). I just couldn’t get enough. Caleb is equally eager to be petted but he’s a little less aggressive in his pursuit of head scratches. I think he also gets intimidated by the other dogs.

While I was eating dinner I looked down and a tiny little Lila head was looking up at me with her little paws on my dinner plate anxious to have a nibble. She’s quite the beggar. And both are very motivated to be friendly in the presence of food.

We had R& Boy J stop by last night. As expected they hid under their chair. Hubster gave both R and Boy J ham slices in which to bribe some love out of the kids. Boy J did have a little bit of success with Caleb. But once the ham was gone Caleb hid under his chair and quietly growled at Boy J. It was pretty funny actually. He doesn’t visibly growl, no snarling, or angry look. So you have the sweet innocent puppy face with a deep rumbley growl coming out. It’s too funny.

After R and Boy J left the pups came out again to wrestle around and play with their toys. For the most part they were good about going outside and coming back in.

I let them out at 2:30 this morning. They went in and out without a fuss. Then I let them out again this morning. They were happy, waggy tails and went out without a fuss. They also came back in without issue. They played with toys and explored their house some more.

Yesterday there were no accidents (as far as we could tell). So that is a good thing. Every day we can go without an accident is a good day. We know it’s going to take time. It took Sophie 6 months to stop having accidents. We expect it to actually take longer with these two just because of how long they were out at that puppy mill.

This morning they were happy and outgoing. Again, at their happiest when food was involved. Michael said they were fine this morning after I left for work. Hopefully I will get out of work a little early today so I can spend some quality time with the pups.

One weekend down.......

Both pups progressively got braver and braver over the weekend. Caleb would want us to pet him so he would put his front paws up on the arms of the chair. Then Lila would quickly follow and try to squeeze into the petting “area”.

While I was gone the hubster even had a pup get up on the couch to say hello.

We had a few accidents. All of them on newspaper or bare floor thankfully.

We try to get them outside about every two hours.

On Sunday they traded in the safety of the kennel for the area under one of the chairs. In fact they got to liking the area so much that it became a challenge to get them in a kennel.

Sunday evening Sophie and Lila had a fabulously entertaining burst of playful energy. Chasing each other all around the coffee table. The hubster and I just laughed and laughed at the sheer joy on their faces.

Sunday night I was afraid we had a setback when I got up with them at 2 in the morning. They were determined to not go back in their kennel after being outside. For the most part we have been successful with “kennel up” but this was not to be the case. So, I scooped up Lila and got her in the kennel without incident. But when I tried to do the same with Caleb he scrambled away and snapped at me. His snap was as gentle as possible and there was no meanness, only fear. And he did go into the kennel. But I was afraid that maybe that would set his progress back.

This morning though he was the same cautiously happy pup he was previously. He came up to see me and asked for pets. And he willingly “kenneled up” when it was time to go to work.

We are very concerned that the dogs will get loose and not come back. What we have noticed is that they wait anxiously at the back door to come back inside. This is not to say that given the chance they won’t bolt, but it’s promising to see them on that back stoop anticipating getting back inside. We have two layers of fencing right now just because we want them to have pretty good recall before we open up to the normal fence range. And under regular circumstances there is no way for them to escape. However weird things could happen and we felt more comfortable with the second smaller enclosure, at least for a month or so.

We also have found interesting uses for large packing boxes. We bought a piece of furniture that came in a very long and narrow box. This makes a perfect “baby gate” across the divide between the living room and the dining room. The dogs have less area to roam in which for now is what we want. That same box can also be resituated to block them from the stairs and office but allows them to move from the living room to the kitchen and back. This way, as one of us cooks dinner they can visit us both.

So, we have had the new beasties about 72 hours now. And I think we are progressing faster than I had hoped. We were especially delighted to see Lila and Sophie playing yesterday.

Baby steps……………..we know progress comes in baby steps……….and that’s just fine……..

The First 24

Well, Caleb and Lila have been home for 24 hours now. They spend most of their time in the kennel, but they come out once in a while when they are feeling brave. Or, when dad has egg to share. Caleb seems to be the braver of the two which was a surprise for both their foster mom "C" and myself. We thought Lila would be the first to venture.

They slept through the night. We brought their kennel up to our room so that they would be with the family.

As I type Caleb is coming out for another stretch and a visit.

This morning the hubster and I had to work in the garage to make way for our cars for winter. All the pups played outside in their fenced area. Caleb and Lila came out several times to sniff around and get some fresh air.

I made some promising progress with Caleb. He came up to see me and let me pet him. With these guys the littlest progress is thrilling.

We are confident that they will come around relatively quickly. They were very good with their foster mom. They followed her around and listened to her. She did a great job with them in starting to develop their trust in humans.

I talked with foster mom "C" today and she said that poor little Becca is a little lonely. Poor "C" spent part of the night on the floor with her. The dogs are so close to one another that I'm sure she felt a little abandoned. I think both "C" and I were so concerned about the trauma that Caleb and Lila would go through that we forgot about the one being left behind. But, she will always have "C" and several other puppies to play with. Once Caleb and Lila are stronger and braver we plan to let them get together for puppy play dates. I think it will be good for all of them to at least get to see each other once in a while.

So far so good. We don't expect miracles over night and we know that we have to take this slow and easy. But we are happy to have them here and it's a positive and educational focus for the hubster and I.

Puppy's Progress - Introduction

Their Story:

Lila and Caleb were rescued from a puppy mill in rural Wisconsin. The property was raided several times and in each instance between 20 and 40 dogs were removed. Tragically the first group of rescued dogs were destroyed. I do not know why. The following raid on the property put "Leah" into the shelter system. "Leah" was quickly adopted by a family but returned 6 months later because she never "warmed up" to the family. Shortly after going back into the foster system "Leah" came home with my husband and I. She became Sophie and is the best thing he and I have ever done for ourselves since we got married.
"Leah" - 18lb's. Malnourished, thin fur, tail between her legs, had to be leashed in order to get her out from under furniture.










Sophie: 25 lb's. The vet has assured us she is at ideal weight. Her hair filled out, thickened and became very fluffy. She is outgoing, happy, and confident.





At the time that Sophie was taken away from the puppy mill three dogs were left in the man's care. Lila, Becca, and a fourth dog.

A year later the man's property was again raided and 26 more dogs were taken from him. This time Lila, Becca, Caleb, and other's were removed from the property.

Lila was adopted late last fall. Only to escape from her new mom three days after she had brought her home. For two weeks Lila was on the run. She found safety with a pack of feral cats out in the Wisconsin countryside. A family living in the area agreed to try to live trap her. Eventually they were able to get her and she went back to the shelter to live with a foster parent. The foster mom was also taking care of Caleb. The two dogs found comfort and safety in each other's company.

It's been about a year now since Lila and Caleb were first removed from the puppy mill. They are very timid, not completely house trained, and totally fearful of people.

This blog is about their home coming, their progress, and the things we will learn along the way.