3 weeks and counting...

... Okay so maybe the last 2 weeks I've only done 1 post per week... I'm so sorry, we've had busy life schedules, and I was pretty sick this past weekend. Anyways, I've started to notice some decent changes in Rhiya's behavior, and I wanted to be sure to note them here so we could share with anyone who is following us on this journey. Over the past week, slight changes in Rhiya's behavior have become more apparent... to me at least. And it was further confirmed by my parents who have had the joy of watching their Grand-Dogs yesterday and today, and when we visited them on Saturday as well. Rhiya goes nuts for Grandma, and i mean she LOVES her grandma!! So on Saturday when i took them up there, and Rhiya didn't fully bombard my mom with love, hugs, and kisses, we were all a bit shocked... but in a good way. Grandma did get her doggy kisses, but didn't have to deal with an 80 ld shepherd crawling on her like a jungle gym toy.

Same thing happened when i dropped Rhiya and Dallas off yesterday morning and today to stay with my parents for the days while i was at work (Ben is taking care of his niece and nephew this week so he isn't home during the days like normal) The thing that really touched me was how my dad, we'll call him "grandpa", reacted to Rhiya. He has always been put off a bit when Rhiya would try to jump all over him to show her love for him, which is understandable. So when she just whined and licked his arms while wiggling her butt, he was optimistic that we were headed on the right track as well. It was cute to see him give her more love, praise, and attention when she didn't try to maul him ha ha!

Another note worthy moment happened this morning before we left our house to head to the "grandparents' "... Rhiya didn't eat breakfast or dinner yesterday, and i was trying to get her to eat her breakfast this morning before we left. So i got down on the floor with her and was petting her and talking to her lovingly. She usually gets all excited to be loved, and before when i would stop petting her she would get up and climb all over me for more love. BUT this morning she just continued to lay there and be content.... She never did eat breakfast, so we packed it up with her bowl and headed out to the grandparents' house. if she doesn't eat by tomorrow i will call the vet. one of the side effects of Fluoxetine is reduced appetite, so hopefully she will eat at my parents' today, and then we'll play ball when I get off work and she should eat after a good ball session.

I think we're on the right track. over this next week we are SLOWLY going to venture out and see if we can pin point a distance in which she remains under threshold when seeing another dog. If that doesn't make sense i'll try to explain it more in the next post... which hopefully wont be a full week from now ha ha. Or you can read up on the CARE protocol by clicking the link on the right hand side of this page.