ION, Bartleby is crunched up behind me in a swivel office chair. He has 7/8 of the seat and I'm perched on the edge. And he's snoring like a buzzsaw. Do I indulge him? Uh. Yeah. (He has to ask permission first, so we've got that going for us.)

Heh.

Bonny, you'll appreciate this. Darby climbed her front legs onto the couch the other day begging for a piece of bread. (This was mid hunger strike.) Bad behavior from a normal dog, but so exciting for her! I couldn't get her to replicate it, of course. But still. You pretty much have to put treats directly into her mouth, or drop them and walk away for a while, before she'll trust that it's not some kind of trap or mindgame.

I've also caught her - twice - almost, almost picking up a toy. Of course, the moment I walked into the room she dropped them like they were on fire. But there was definite slobber on them so I know I'm not imagining it.

Go Darby with the budding confidence!

Not that you asked for advice, but to help make her to engage her 'dogness' and push past what is going on in her mind, up the ante where the treats are concerned. The smellier the better. If she doesn't go for what you have now, try chicken hot dogs (lower in sodium), salmon treats (fishy good!) or organ meat treats. Bartleby will tap dance for lamb lung.

Also, it may seem woowooie, but I recommend a technique developed by a fellow named Kevin Behan. It's called The Push. It might seem weird, but I have seen it work with extremely shy dogs. One was being fostered by a wonderful young couple who feared they would never rehome her because she feared everything. They were desperate, so we pulled out the odd guns. Two weeks later, she was adopted, totally out of her shell.

If you'd like a copy of my simplified handout...I cut out a lot of the background pseudo-zen...drop me an email. If you want the full story, look him up on google.

I remember you talking about that before. I'd love to see your handout.

She's so much better, honestly. It's so incredible to see the changes in her. But it's still baby steps, so anything I can do to boost her confidence and help her believe that this is all for reals (as opposed to generally waiting for the other shoe to drop) is welcome.

Discovered something new about her the other day. She gets her hackles up when she's excited - all the fur around her shoulders and neck goes up. But there's a dog who's been at the park lately who genuinely intimidates her. The other dog is big and plays aggressively, but that doesn't bother her with others, she dives right in. This dog - who is doing nothing wrong - has a different effect for some reason.

But anyway, turns out, when she's actually feeling really threatened, she has a stripe of hair along her spine that goes up like a ridgeback. All the way from neck to tail. So odd.

when she's actually feeling really threatened, she has a stripe of hair along her spine that goes up like a ridgeback. All the way from neck to tail.

My cat Leo does that when the UPS guy comes by. Don't know what he's got against UPS...

Huh. Maybe she has some Rhodey ancestors.

I'm glad you are paying attention to her particular quirks. So many people see a specific expression and assume it means something it does not. Hackles, tail wagging, loud barks, etc. often don't mean what we think they do.

As for the dog she doesn't like. He doesn't have to be doing anything wrong for her to simply not like him.

I get that question a lot from people who want to make their dogs get along with all dogs. "Why doesn't Foofy like Max?" The only thing I can say, besides Max is unaltered and smells funny, is "Do YOU like everybody? I don't!"

I'm glad to hear that she likes dogs at all. That bodes well for her growing confidence.

OMG I just had a fabulously delicious dinner with Nora and Tom. One of their gimmicks was housemade cotton candy served with dessert, and it was reaalllly good. I think they should do some infused flavored ones. I had seared duck breast with a delectable turnip purée (really) and goat cheese cake drizzles with Dr. Brobson Lutz's "honey from the hood."

Am now back at the condo waiting for B to get in.

I'm glad to hear that she likes dogs at all. That bodes well for her growing confidence.

There's a particular dog, Amber, a rambunctious golden who was the first one she really cliked with. She's still more aggressive [confident] with him than any other dogs, but he really was the one who, I don't know, reminded her? that running and playing with dogs is awesome.

(Amber has a history himself - someone left him locked in a car for nearly a week and by the time he was rescued he'd eaten half the back seat.)

But since he broke her cherry, so to speak, she loves roughhousing with other dogs. She'll play for a few minutes and then take a little time off to the side and then go back in. It's lovely. Amber's owner has commented a number of times how different she is - she said the first few times she saw her she assumed she was really old because she was so cautious and self-contained. Now the dog park is like one of her safe spaces, where she plays and explores and actually approaches people.

[Apologies to non-dog folks, but I don't have a lot of people to talk about this stuff with. And it's a huge part of my life, to be honest, monitoring and watching and gauging her growth.]

I don't have dogs now, but I used to, and I like them. I'm always interested in the doggie talk!

(Amber has a history himself - someone left him locked in a car for nearly a week and by the time he was rescued he'd eaten half the back seat.)

Ohmygod. Thank goodness he found a good home.

she assumed she was really old because she was so cautious and self-contained.

Aw. Nice to hear she has risen above this. Due, in huge measure to the attention you pay to her development.

I like the doggie talk, too. Unsurprisingly.