Doggiversary!

One year ago today we brought you angels home.

And every day since then has been filled with joy and laughter. With progress and landmark moments.

You came to us as two puppies that wouldn't leave the safety of your kennel. You wouldn't let us touch you or come near you.

Now you leap into our laps. You paw at us for pets. You nudge us with your noses.

When we come home you are a fury of furry dancing paws, panting happy faces, and a frantic need to be touched and loved.

When we leave you sit at the door and wait for us to return.

You are our babies, you are our happiness.

Long Overdue

It's been a while since I talked about how the dogs are doing. I guess they are almost so normal for us now that I forget that I should be keeping track.

Caleb and Lily are wonderful. We are just a month and a few days shy of a year with them.

We have come so far with those pups.

Caleb is braver and happier than ever. Last night in fact when I got home from work he let me give him lots of love with both hands. He didn't shy away when he saw that I was using two hands as he has for so very long.

He scrambles over his brother and sisters to demand love from me. And every night he sticks his head closer to me so that I can give him good night pets in the kennel. He doesn't hide at the very back any more. He sits closer to the front so that he can get his goodnight love.

Lily is simply my baby girl. She is happy and crazy around me and hubster.

We have a ways to go with guests. They still do a lot of fear barking. But after my folks stayed at the house for two weeks the dogs were adjusted to them at almost the same level of comfort as they have with the me and the hubster.

Overall, they are doing fabulous!

And Caleb is coming along

After spending two weeks with my parents staying in the house it seems like Caleb has made some positive progress. He seemed to have plateaued in his progress and wasn't getting any more social. But having two strangers living in the house forced him to come out of his shell a little bit. Add to that the fact that I pick him up just about every night and have him cuddle with me and we have a pup that has no choice but to get better.

He's more curious, he wants to be more a part of the family and he is far more aggressive in getting his share of love and pets. He doesn't let the other dogs push him out of the way as much as he used to.

Lily is just fantabulous. I took her with us to Doc's when we got our tattoo's and she proved to be quite the mommies girl. She knew exactly where mom was and wanted to be as close to me as she could. Even when the hubster took her for a walk around the neighborhood she knew exactly which house was Doc's and wanted very badly to come back and see me. She had never been in his neighborhood before but she sure knew where mom was. We found that particularly promising since one of our fears was that she would run and never come back. Now it would appear all she wants to do is run to mom. Yippee. That is SOOOOO good.

I also took her to my friend Girl J's house. She lives out in a small town in Wisconsin just over the MN border. She was all about mom. And just like Sophie she walked always looking up at me. When Lil Al tried to walk her she pulled to be up closer to me. So again Yay!

I am a little less afraid that if she got loose she would run.

So over all the dogs are doing better. We still have a long ways to go with Caleb but it seems like every day that goes by I feel better and better about his progress. And I probably don't give him enough credit in knowing who his mom and dad are and feeling safe with us. I am starting to believe that if it came down to it he would come back to us. We aren't in an ideal place yet and I still loose sleep over the thought of him getting loose. But we keep working at it, we keep doing everything we can to make him feel safer and we know we will get there.

Springtime for puppies

The puppies are doing well. Lily is crazy. She's a silly little girl that loves to turn in circles when she is excited. We play a little game in the morning when we first get up and go outside. She loves for me to pick her up and toss her into the grass. Then she charges back to me and flips around in her circles. She will do this for hours if I am willing. And by toss, please know that I mean she gets picked up about 6 inches from the ground and plopped about a foot and a half from me. And she just loves it.

Caleb is making progress. Bless his little heart. He's coming around bit by bit. Over the weekend he was curled up on the middle cushion on the couch. Up until now he would always shy away, jump down and get away from us if we sat down on the couch. Sometimes if he was at the far end of the couch we might be able to sit down at the other far end but it was not a sure thing that he would stay. This weekend though he stayed even though I sat down right next to him. I couldn't believe it. And to top it off, I gave him a few seconds to adjust to me being near him and then I scratched his back near his tail. And he let me. And didn't jump down and go away. It was awesome. And a HUGE step forward for him.

He has also gotten far braver when it comes to coming back in the house. He used to be the last one in and we had to stand far away from the door. Now, he charges right in with the rest of the dogs no matter where we are standing. Again, this is huge progress for him. He is the love of our lives. And we will do what ever it takes to make him feel safe and loved.

The hubster and I got them an even bigger kennel over the weekend. Lily likes to really spread out when she sleeps so it didn't leave much room for Caleb. Now, they have a kennel big enough for a 200 lb. dog. They more than fit with lots of room to spare. So Lily can spread out all she wants and Caleb still has room to stretch. There new kennel is so big I had to make them new beds to fit. I think they like them. And Lily looks adorable snuggling inside. The bed is super cushy so she almost disappears in it when she cuddles up.

The other two dogs do very well with Lily and Caleb. Everyone gets along just wonderfully. Sophie and Caleb are often snuggled in a little puppy pile. We couldn't ask for a better house full of furry. And Socs our kitty is very much in love with Caleb. And Caleb with him. They love to snuggle. Caleb always loves to get Soc's to give him a bath. It's very cute.

Quick update

Just want to let you know that the puppies are doing well. Caleb continues to struggle with trust and bravery but he gets incredibly happy when he sees me so I will take that as a good sign. I get leaps and flips and dances from him. Lily too. The little peanut spins in circles when she sees me either when I get up in the morning or when I come home from work. All in all, they are doing just fabulous.

All's well

All has been well. No major changes with the dogs.

Caleb has roundworm but it is being treated. And the good thing was the trip to the vet didn't traumatize him or set our progress back. He did wonderfully.

So, basically, they are doing fine.

No major forward progress. But we haven't taken any steps back either.

They are still the greatest joy.

5 months of puppy love

Caleb has been slowly but surely getting more insistent on getting attention. He now will nose me and but my hand in his mouth to get me to pet him. He really only does this when other puppies are involved. And it is still entirely on his terms. But a very exciting thing has been when he comes in and has to get wiped off. He now “sits pretty” and waits anxiously to get his paws wiped. His tail thumps against the counters the entire time. Considering he would hid outside or if he came in, cower in a corner we consider this HUGE.

He still has issues if we try to bring the dogs inside one by one. He tends to get scared and will hide outside. His confidence is very much tied in to the number of dogs with him. As long as he has his brother and sisters he’s a very brave little guy.

We still can’t approach him. But we are at least getting a little bit closer to him before he flees to his kennel.

Lily is just crazy. She has had a few accidents in the past week but nothing too bad. A few nights ago Lily was being unusually hyper and she barked a lot. We couldn’t figure out what her problem was or why she was so agitated. The hubster finally figured it out late in the night. We had a sleety snow storm and the ice was hitting the windows, he noticed after hearing the ice hit louder that that coincided with a rise in Lily’s agitation level. So storms bother her. Oh goodie. We can’t wait for Thunder Storm season. It should be interesting.

Fabulous puppies

The kids are doing great. We are 1,000 times better on the house training. The only problem we have now is someones penchant for peeing on the rug upstairs. But for the most part they are locked off from the upstairs so it's no big deal. We are just thankful that they have stopped having accidents on the furniture. And are now letting us know when they need to go outside. It's a wonderful thing.

Caleb continues to make slow and steady progress. He comes more and more to me for pets. And he's willing to be closer to me in general. We still can't approach him. Not even remotely. But considering how far he has come we know he'll get there. He's such a joy. He's very intelligent. He knows how to get wiped off after being outside. He lifts each paw up for us to wipe off. Only two of our dogs even understand that concept. Both happen to be our boys. The girls won't sit still long enough for it. But Caleb deals well with it now. No more cowering in the corner over it. Yay for Caleb!

Lily is great. She's very sociable and cuddly. She's hyper. She has a lot of nervous energy. But she's very very happy. And when we look at her she sets that tail of hers a thumping.
She's a ton of fun. Despite the fact that she's a little 10 pound terror.

All is well and progressing nicely. It probably seems like not much is happening but every day gets a little better. A little easier.

The best sign of progress lately has been that we can leave them unattended for more than 30 seconds and they do okay. They happily amuse themselves. This is a huge relief. We no longer have to kennel them just to go into the kitchen to get another cup of coffee, or to use the restroom or to answer the phone. We can trust them now on a level that makes life far easier for us. Yay for my puppies!

Big Brown Eyes

Last night I was laying on the couch and someone pounced on my hip. Expecting to look up and see Sophie I was stunned and happily amazed to see Caleb. He let me scratch his head and then because Lily then pounced on me to get love he fled the scene. I was still in happy awe. A little later, Lily was sound asleep in the crook of my knees, Sophie was snoring on my hip, and because he wanted some love too Caleb puppy commando crawled across the back of the couch to get head scratches.

This was simply thrilling.................

progress progress progress

Caleb is doing pretty great. He's approaching us more and more every day for pets. He stays longer and wants to get scratched over more of his body. We had to start with barely touching an ear and one side of his head. Then we got to go from ear to ear. Then it was a little of his neck. But now he pretty much likes to get all over pets. And that is HUGE. He'll also sit much closer to us when we do this. Every day seems to be progress with him.

Lily is pretty much assimilated into the family. She's very attached to both of us. She loves to be snuggled by both the hubster and me. She just loves to be with us. She's still very frightful of visitors but we know in time she'll be fine.

It just takes time......................

The smiley one and the ankle biter

Caleb has added huge smiles to his progress. He has the happiest face I have ever seen on a puppy. He smiles so much after we come home. I am still trying to figure out a way to capture it on film. It really is just the cutest.

We are making huge progress with him. He comes up to us so much more now for attention. We still have issues with approaching him and he won't come for pets when called, but on his terms he is quite anxious for love. He gave me a huge treat last night when he sat down right next to me on the couch and nudged me for love.

He really is doing astoundingly well. We are so very proud of him.

Now, as for our little peanut. Lily is fabulous with the hubster and I. She is all about the love. She comes when we call her. She will sit in our laps and hang out. She's pretty much assimilated herself into our lives completely. The only thing we have to figure out how to deal with is her extreme hyperness. She bounces off the walls. We have been exercising her but she is still almost always wound up.

The other day a friend of mine came over. When she was walking out of the living room Lily charged out of the kennel and grabbed the back of her pants trying to bite her. As my friend put it, a mosquito would do more damage, but that's not the point. And as she and I further talked the damage could be far greater with a child. The second time she went at her my friend turned and looked at Lily and told her no. Lily backed off immediately.

My friend hadn't see the dogs since the week we brought them home. Her impression was that Caleb has made the most progress. She said he is fearful but curious. Where as Lily is just fearful and that her way of dealing with the stress is aggression. And she's right. We haven't had many people over since we got the dogs. But what we have seen is Caleb who avoids them but his tail is wagging and he's content. He'll go up to them for food but otherwise is just simply a little cautious around them. Lily on the other hand will sit in her kennel and growl at them the entire time they are at the house. And apparently, if given the opportunity will charge them. The hubster said she had done it before I was just off somewhere else so I didn't see it.

But, as in the case of my friend, as soon as she let Lily know her behavior was unacceptable Lily did back off. So she can learn. And she does listen.

It's just a matter of patience. And things will be just fine. They have come so far in so little time. We know what we need to work on and we are aware of the issues. We aren't in denial. We have more company coming on Wednesday. So it will be interesting to see how it goes. They know what to expect and the problems we currently have so they are prepared to help us along.

Anyway, I look forward every night to going home to my puppies. Our house is just so full of happiness. And I wouldn't change a thing.

Head scratchings and snuggle bugs

The exciting news is Caleb has been far more tolerant and anxious for head scratches. We have even had some full body petting and scratching. Usually he lets us pet him from quite a distance. We have to stretch our hand out and we can barely scratch his muzzle and ears. But this weekend he has been more anxious for love. And he's not only stayed close for scratching but he has put his whole body under my hand. He's done it with dad as well. We are so excited.

Lily fell asleep twice in my lap Sunday. She was snoring like a freight train. It does my heart good to know that she feels safe enough to go to sleep with me.

She's really becoming quite the little sweetheart. She's still a pistol and a half but along with her high energy and puppy like enthusiasm a sweet and affectionate dog is surfacing. I knew she had it in her. It was just a matter of a little time and love. She's been affectionate for a while now but there is a new level of sweetness to it.

I can't express how thrilled I am at their progress. We still have a long way to go with Caleb but we made some promising progress.

He was also surprisingly social when our friends were over Saturday night. He didn't just hide in his kennel. He was out, his tail was wagging. And he took food from both our guests.

Exciting and promising all around.

Patience and time, it just takes patience and time. As well as a whole lot of love.

Goofy puppies

We took Caleb and Lily for a walk during the holidays and discovered that Caleb hates water so much he preferrs laying in a puddle over walking through it. How odd is that?

But both dogs, once we got them on dryer ground walked quite well with us. It takes a while to get Caleb going strong but after a while he gives in and walks with the family.

He is still fearful of us but we see little glimmers of progress. For instance when we herd them into the kitchen to wipe off their paws he wags his tail more and is more anxious to get cleaned off. He doesn't cower any where near as much as he used to.

He also seems to come close for pets more often now. This morning he stepped over Lily to get me to give him love. It doesn't last for long but every time he does it he is braver and stays a little bit longer.

He even got up on the couch with me yesterday. He curled up on the other end of course, but hey, it's progress.

Lily is pretty much fine. She's very attached to us or at least seems to be.

We still have to work on the potty training with her when it comes to rainy days. Dad even built her a covered potty shelter to try to help encourage her to go outside.

Thankfully she isn't phased by snow. She's more than willing to go potty out when it's snowing.

That is a blessing.