Thursday, February 23, 2012

Daily update

Natasha and Nora have been sending their daily updates and we have more great accomplishments to report. They had a visitor last night at Emily and Carol's, a neighbor who stopped over to say hello, and both girls were willing to approach the stranger. They were a little nervous but went all the way to him when he squated down. This is fantastic for them to be able to do this, and to WANT to approach new people! They both get their new collars on every morning and get them taken off at bedtime, and are getting more and more comfortable having that done. This morning Emily was sitting on the couch and Natasha jumped up right on her lap to take a nap while Emily pet her! She loves to have the underside of her neck massaged. The girls will be getting out for more car rides and socializing soon.

Meanwhile, the other two sisters continue to do well in their progress. I don't go in the pen unless I have my old jeans on because I can be sure I will come out with paw prints from both girls. Today we continued to work on the same skills. With Nina we practiced extensive body handling while being fed, and also petting without treats. Today for the first time when I massaged the side of her neck she looked like she enjoyed it and she stayed for more. Nevada accepted more petting on the top of her head and neck while being fed treats. While I worked with them I moved around, stood up, squated down, shifted my weight, etc. and they don't retreat at all anymore, not even a few steps. They seem comfortable being near me and know I'm not there to harm them. I remember the first week they were here if I stood up from across the pen they would all run into their dog house. It's hard to believe how far they have come.

No comments:

Post a Comment