Applications :)

So, both of the boys have a homecheck to do. Alphie has one on Friday. I just hope his eyes clear up. He's over KC, but suddenly his eyes are really boogery/developing blue film ---he can still see, so we're good that way. He's got drops and polysporin for today and tomorrow, and a vet visit on Sunday if they don't clear up. If it isn't one thing its another...

Alvin has his homecheck this weekend too.

Fingers crossed boys! It's been almost a month, its time to transition to those new homes :) :) :)

Lemon is back to normal from her spay. She's back to being her spitfire self, wrestling Beckett and beating up on me when I let her. She's also made it her mission to teach Alvin how to play. Unfortunately, she's so impatient (much like me!) she just gets frustrated with his minimal learning skills, and starts mounting him. Beckett and Jerrad have patience out the ying-yang. Us girls not so much :P

Allie has made lots of progress. She is now hanging out in the common area, right in the middle, no worries if I'm 'close' to her. Open crate be darned, she wants to be in on the action! She's also started to solicit attention here and there. Only to scratch her nose or under her chin, but by golly, for the dog who ran at the slightest sign someone was going to pay her any attention, that's a big milestone. I can also take the leash on and off her now, though I put it on well before I need to use it. IE: I am making it a routine, but don't completely trust it yet. She needs to be okay with some approach before I make 'off-leash' permenant.

The only thing that is slightly worrying about Allie is that she has become 'my dog' -she doesn't trust Jerrad more than take her out for her pees and little walks and still grumbles at him from time to time. I'm sure she's capable of eventually trusting more than one person, but even if I make a lot of progress with her, she'll start from near-scratch when she moves to wherever it is that she'll eventually go. Soon she'll start daycare, so I'm hoping that'll slowly pull her out. I'm glad she's not fearful with people in her general area, but she'll eventually have to be handled. One step at a time though :)

I've also figured out what works with Helen. Verbal correction or physical correction even done softly have her going 'ooooooo, they don't love me anymore :( :(, tail tuck, ears slicked back. She showed me her belly when I poked her lightly. I don't want her to cower or be scared of asking for attention, I just don't want her to constantly paw at me (or my face!) to get attention. So, I've become a dog. I give her dog signals. I show my teeth, squint my eyes, do stare downs, growl at her. And I've snapped at her too. I'm most definitely not a dog, so the body signals aren't quite right, but she gets them. And she gets them without getting shut down. So I'll look stupid and act like a dog.

**ironically we use this approach at daycare too, but its usually with really rough dogs, not the soft ones.

Pictures soon. Without the fence completely finished, its hard to get anything that isn't a bunch of dogs trying to cuddle. We just have a gate though, and that should be accomplished over the weekend.

I must admit though, I like my little walks. Feels more like a pack :)

Emily Out