One word: Perfect

That's how Lily was the entire trip. She never had an accident in any ones house. She stuck by me when we were outside in the yard. She was an angel on the plane - both ways. And she was absolutely calm and carefree through both security checks.

She warmed up to my parents and even allowed them both to hold her. She took treats from dad. Carried his shoes around the house. And got up on his knees begging for egg.

At my Aunt and Uncles house she was a little timid but by the third day she was playing, taking food from them, and in general being a very good girl.

I couldn't believe how well she did on this trip. I was so proud of her. And when she came home she was happy as ever. She's been social and goofy.

How did Caleb do with Lily gone? Dad says he was quieter (in a good way). He didn't bark any where near as much. He only had one accident in the house. And he seemed to not be in any more distress with her gone. He went for a walk with the other dogs and though he had to be carried to the end of the block he eventually was willing to walk around the park a few times.

Unfortunately we didn't make any progress in his socialization like we had hoped. And he is still avoiding us. But he's exploring the house more every day. He comes upstairs now on a regular basis where before he would never venture up to the bedrooms. He takes his morning treat from dad very happily. And he plays ball with me when we wake up.

He will come around. We know he will. It will just take time.

Slowly but surely

I can't say we are making huge progress with Caleb in terms of getting more social. He still avoids us like the plague. But he likes to be in the room with us. He follows us around and his tail is always wagging. I think he feels like part of the family, he just doesn't trust our touch. But we have all the time in the world to get there with him. He's excited to see us and anxious to play which is a good thing. And I know in time the trust will come.

Lily is really turning into my other shadow. She follows me everywhere. We may have some issues with separation anxiety with her. The hubster says that she barks a lot when I leave the house. And he can't seem to quiet her down. But as soon as I am home she stops. I am sure that as she and hubster get closer that it will get better. But I think right now it's all about mom. I'm very glad that she follows me closely and is practically under my feet all the time. I will worry a little bit less about her when we go to California. I know for sure that both my parents and my Aunt have completely enclosed fences. Of course before I let her out at either home I will do a complete inspection just to be sure, but my folks are always checking their fence to keep the little critters out of the garden plus they have a little tiny dog and they don't want anything to get into the yard that might eat him. My aunt just had a brand new fence put up last summer so I know her yard is safe.

On top of being my little shadow Lily is also just getting braver. So hopefully after the initial fear of being in a strange place she will settle in and feel at home. I have a feeling she will spend a lot of time in her little kennel, but having another dog around will probably help her to be brave. We'll see.

Other than that the pups are progressing as we hoped. Sometimes I get a little sad that we can't cuddle with Caleb yet but he'll get there. I know he will. I see it in his eyes. He wants so much to be brave. Actually, speaking of eyes I know we are making progress with him because we can make eye contact with him and he has no issues. Before we couldn't even look directly at him without him panicking and running to hide.