Work has been busy the last couple of weeks (even with the Independence day holiday this week) so I haven’t had time to jot down any notes on Lizzie.
We have been working on getting her more comfortable with other people, and other situations. We know that one day, we will have to take her to that dreaded place, the Vet, and are confident that will be traumatic.
However, Barbara had a conversation with the trainer at the local “Unleashed by Petco” store, and the recommendation was to bring her in for short meets, give her a treat, then leave.
The first one was fairly traumatic, literally, scared the poop out of Lizzie. However, once back in the car, she was back to her old self.
We have been doing this more and more, and yesterday, about 12:30 she was bugging us. We knew we needed to do something, so I start the excitement train, until she is amped, and ready to get in her harness. Off to Unleashed, and the store was pretty quiet. The person on Duty (I think her name is Meryl) was in full cooperation mode, standing still, and Lizzie almost took a treat from her.
Huge breakthrough.
Also, I got her to – willingly – step on the scale. Holy chubsters batman, she is 51.8 pounds! No wonder why she has so much inertia when she launches herself at the couch from across the room.
Slow, measured steps. She is becoming more comfortable visiting the shop, and we will continue to drive her over. Fingers crossed that Lizzie is on her way to conquering the stranger danger.
Another note: She weathered the 4th of July fireworks. She retreated to her crate, but unlike poor Garrett, she wasn’t a shivering wreck. She took it totally in stride. At least that is one less issue to deal with.
Odds and Ends
I know that Lizzie has a fan club, folks from her original home in Kauai, who are rooting for her to be a well adjusted “normal” companion. Thank you for your kind words, Lizzie thanks you for your continued well wishing.
Lizzie is likely to be the most photographed hound I have ever had. I have a shared Lightroom album that you can browse at any time. Lizzie is a star.