Puppies Progress

Doggiversary!

2007-10-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-29T13:59:00.000-07:00

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

2007-07-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

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

2007-04-09T10:20:00.000-07:00

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

2007-03-13T10:17:00.000-07:00

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

2007-02-28T15:08:00.001-08:00

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

2007-02-11T09:10:00.000-08:00

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

2007-02-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-30T17:02:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-19T10:39:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-02T10:06:00.000-08:00

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.

2006-12-20T10:32:00.000-08:00

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

2006-12-03T15:00:00.000-08:00

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.

almost sleeping

2006-11-30T19:27:00.000-08:00

I almost had Lily sleeping in my lap tonight. She cuddled with me for a long while. She curled up in my lap and snuggled. It was awesome.

Caleb is sleeping next to Sophie. He really likes her.

They are doing well.

The Prince and the Pea

2006-11-28T05:40:00.000-08:00

Progress has come in many forms.

Caleb, though still not social does allow for things that previously would completely freak him out. He doesn't want to be near which causes quiet a problem when the ground is wet because when he comes in he has to get wiped off. He hates that and in anticipation of it tries to hide in the yard. But last night he let me pick him up and bring him in the house. And we have figured out that it is easier to block them all in the kitchen and wipe all the pups off than it is to bring them in one by one. If we bring them in one by one then Caleb KNOWS what is coming so he hides. So we have done the kitchen block off routine twice now and it seems to work a little better.

Caleb also is more willing to at least come out when strangers are over. And his tail wags more.

Lily follows me around a lot more. She's really becoming my little shadow. It especially makes me happy when we are outside and she follows me everywhere. It makes me a little more confident that if she got loose she wouldn't bolt.

I also took her to the vet for a health certificate so we could fly to Ca. She didn't want the vet to touch her so she came to me and hid her head in my arms. The vet said what she did was good because it shows she feels at least safer with me. And that I should take that as positive progress. He also suggested that we keep a diary of everything that goes on in the day so we can keep track of her accidents and if their is causality to them. Such as change in routine, a fight between Hubster and me, loud noises, excessive pestering from one of the other animals, etc......he pointed out that what doesn't seem like much to a human can be a lot more upsetting to an animal because they don't understand what it means. Such as watching a football game and screaming at the t.v. We take that for what it is but to a dog it's far more traumatic and they don't understand why everyone is yelling. And it scares them.

We continue to struggle with Lily and house breaking but we know we will make progress. And we remind ourselves that though it wasn't nearly as bad, Sophie took 6 months to stop having accidents. Bad weather and wet ground are our enemies in progress. And oh, goodie for us, winter is fast approaching. And then spring showers. It's going to be quite the uphill battle. Oh well. She's totally worth it. And there are always puppy diapers :-)

Overall we are having fun with the pups. It's a great joy in my day to play ball with them in the morning. And then again when we come home. It's good exercise for them and they love it.

Silly puppies

2006-11-21T07:55:00.000-08:00

Lily is such a crazy little puppy. She's full of energy. She is obsessed with collecting. And she loves to be naughty. She is ten pounds of terror. And we wouldn't change a thing. She's a joy. She's affectionate. She loves to give kisses. She steals bones and toys. I repeat, she is a terror.

Caleb is the quiet one. He watches. He gives you the puppy eyes and you melt. He loves to play ball. He loves to be a seal and get the ball on the tip of his nose and then push it up the couch. He loves to get pets - on his terms. He loves to get treats. We can see it in his face that he wants to be brave. He wants to trust. He observes the other dogs. He sees they have no fear. But he just can't quite take that leap of faith. We know some day he will. Until then we take what he is willing to give. He is the good child, the angel.

All is going well.

Puppy Love

2006-11-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

Caleb is doing quite well. He is coming around more to be petted. He also is shying away less and less from me when we play ball. And the big moment came this morning when I was not only able to get the balls from him so I could throw them but I was also able to give him a pet on the head. And he stayed right in the same spot, no flinching, no ducking, no jumping off the couch. I was ecstatic!

My little Lily is doing equally as well. She really comes at me for love and to play. She is fearless when it comes to getting attention. And we have such a wonderful time together. She is also progressing really well with Daddy. She is always front and center when he gets down on the floor to give out love. And last night she curled up next to him on the couch and she went to sleep.

Better and better

2006-11-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

The pups are doing marvelous right now. Caleb is getting more comfortable with us. We had our morning session of playing ball and today when I went to gather up all his little stuffed toys for another round of toss he didn’t shy away from me. Normally when I gather balls he scoots far away from me if one of the balls is close by. But this morning he allowed me to pick them up and he didn’t move away. That’s HUGE.

Lily loves to be on the couch with me. She is huge into what we have coined “Schnuffeling” in which she wriggles around burying her little nose in the couch cushions, under our arm, under our leg. And while she is doing that her whole body contorts and wiggles. It’s too cute. If Sophie is up with me (which she usually is) then she schnuffels all over and around and under her too.

And as for getting pets I think Caleb comes to me a little bit more every day to get love. And Lily has reached the point where she begs me to pick her up and give her loves.

Baby got back!

2006-11-13T20:14:00.000-08:00

Caleb and I have a routine every morning. We play ball. He has three stuffed soccer balls that I toss around the room to him and he chases them. It's tons of fun.

But Monday morning he really didn't want to play. And then he really didn't want to go outside. And then he really didn't want to come in. And then just before we leave we send the pups out one last time. He hid. I had to take his kennel to the door. Something we haven't had to do in weeks. It broke my heart.

But when we got home he was back to my Caleb. And we played ball. And he wanted pets. And he went out and came back in without a problem.

I dont know what set him back a little in the morning but he was my happy little man by the time we got home.

Lily continues to be a crazy little happy peanut. She's doing really well. And as long as we are diligent in watching her she doesn't have too many accidents and she doesn't get into the cat box.

All in all, things are going well.

Catching up on progress

2006-11-09T18:23:00.000-08:00

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 heÂs 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..........

Puppy progress and puppy regression

2006-10-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-22T12:02:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-16T10:05:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-12T17:45:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-10T09:41:00.000-07:00

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.......

2006-10-09T10:47:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-07T11:28:00.000-07:00

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

2006-10-02T13:42:00.000-07:00

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.