Progress with the Dog!

I wanted to thank all of you for your suggestions about the new dog (her name is Ellie, by the way); I have been and will be implementing some of them!  Got her back from the vet yesterday-she went in to get spayed on Monday, but for a variety of reasons it didn't get done so we had to reschedule (and I am SO not happy about this, but that is the subject for an entirely different post.  Suffice it to say that if the previous owner was not paying for the procedure, I would NOT take her back to this particular vet).  She had been there for three days, and was actually rather excited to see me.  Well-as excited as she has gotten so far-she walked out to the car with me and I didn't have to drag her, which seems damn near exuberant for her.

And there has been progress on the home front as well.  She actually took some food out of Eli's hand last night, which is a first, and she would also occasionally peek her head out into the living room and lift her ears, looking at us inquisitively-another first.

I got smart; she hasn't been going potty in the living room anymore, but instead goes in the kitchen-which is SO much better because there is no carpet!  So last night before going to bed, I put a towel down in the middle of the floor and when I got up this morning, she had gone ON the towel.  Yay! 

However, the most signifigant progress came this morning, when I put her leash on to take her outisde; she willingly went out, not needing to be dragged or even spoken sternly to, and instead of immediately laying down and refusing to move, she meandered around the yard and went poop outside!  We strolled around for a bit, she had to stop and sniff the rabbit, visit with the kitties for a minute, and then almost-but-not-quite-jogged toward the house.

Does this seem small and pathetic, that I am writing about this stupid dog?  Probably.  Still, it has been and will continue to be a learning experience for all of us.  Yes, it is just a dog, but still, there are lessons to be learned for all of us in this.  One of the things the vet assistant told me, as did some of you guys, was that she needed her safe place where she isn't bothered-so when she gets to feeling afraid or upset, she can go there and recover; isn't that true for us humans, too?  I KNOW how stupid that sounds, but there it is.  I can sure get all new-agey and say that this is giving ME the opportunity to heal myself from damage done as a child by helping this dog heal as well.  and I am well aware how crazy and whoo-whoo that sounds, but there it is.  She is helping me teach the kids that love and compassion and good food and a safe place can make all the difference in the world to one person/thing.  That it can be healed.