Catching up on progress

With daily progress being slow and tiny victories I think I often forget to post those little breakthroughs no matter how small they may be.

So: what's been happening:
First walk - October 29th:
Sunday was a nice day. We took the pups for a walk. Well, we took three pups for a walk and one pup for a carry. Caleb was terrified to be outside. He walked a little but kept wanting to walk toward the main busy road by us. I carried him all the way down the alley and then we put him down when we got to the sidewalk and lawns. He seemed to like that more. And he walked pretty well back to our house. But heÂ’s frightened by being outside as well as by us still so he spent a lot of time cowering. Lily did better. We put Caleb in the house and then continued our walk with the other dogs. Lily walked several blocks with us and around the park. She seemed pretty happy and she was very curious about everything she saw. She did very very well. Fortunately despite how traumatized Caleb appeared to be he bounced back pretty quick and was happy and playful when we got back home.

From Nov. 6th:
Lastly, Lily got her first bath and she looks super cute all white and puffy.She is also booked on a flight with me to San Diego to see my family next month.We'll see how that goes. I am assuming she will make enough progress over the next month to go with me to see family. And I think Caleb is becoming so attached to Sophie that he will do okay with Lily gone for a few days. My Aunt would really like to see Sophie too but she is too big to go as carry on and I would hate to put her in thebaggagee compartment. So, it will be Lily this trip. My Aunt and Uncle are SO excited that I am bringing her. My aunt had a sheltie when she was growing up so she just loves that I have sheltie mixes.

Oh, and the other big puppy progress, Caleb jumped up and sat down right next to me on the couch and let me pet him for most of a show we were watching. This was the longest session with him yet............

November 7th: Puppy Pounce:
This morning while sitting in my favorite chair drinking coffee and reading my book Lily charged across the living room and dove into my chest. I saw her coming so I was able to keep the coffee in the mug. But while moving the mug out of the way I got drenched by a big wet slobbery dog lick across my face. Good thing she's only 9 pounds.

And as of tonight, November 9th:

Yesterday morning I gave Sophie, Caleb, and Lily each a greenie. They happily munched them. (Max was upstairs still in bed with dad)

Every morning it has become part of our routine for Caleb and I to play ball. I gather all of his fluffy soccer balls and then toss them across the living room. He happily crashes into and through the dining room set to retrieve them. We have so much fun in the morning. It's our special time. Lily gather's "babies" and piles them on her chair. Sophie eats breakfast and Caleb and I play. (Max sleeps late with dad)

I got a couple of dollar toys from Target last night. Caleb loves them. They are little squeeky reindeer heads with rope knots on each side. I wasn't sure how much he would like them since they aren't ball shaped but they are always somewhere on the floor rather than in the toy box so that has to be a good sign. And hey, you get two for a dollar so how can you go wrong????

We still don't get to touch Caleb a whole lot. Petting is always on his terms but I think he's getting far more comfortable in our home. And his tail is always wagging.

Both Lily and Caleb have become very attached to Sophie. They really look up to her and like to be with her.

Max is doing fine also. Because of his herding urges he can't go outside with the pups if they are in a playing mood. He wants them to gather and behave. So while they are outside tearing up the yard he gets to be inside with us playing tug of war. His absolute favorite. We have found a good balance to keep all the animals happy and feeling loved.

Though we have a few lingering issues, such as Lily having "accidents", and Caleb howling at every thing that startles him. And then that causing Lily and Sophie to bark insanely, overall we have peace and harmony. That has been the best part of this whole adventure. The fact that everyone gets along. That the cats don't mind the new puppies. And the dogs we had have accepted their new brother and sister with wagging tails.

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