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The week will end, and it will begin
The week always ends, and it always starts over. I’d say traditionally it ends on Saturday and begins on Sunday. Some it ends on Monday and begins on Tuesday. For Lilly, her new life started once again. It has been a journey to get here. She’s lived more of a life in her first 1.5 years of being alive then some of us ever choose to live. She was born, homeless, and picked up and all set to be put to sleep. An employee saved her, brought her home. Was able to get a hold of a shelter. She then made the trip from this new home in Texas to making her way to St. Louis. She came from St. Louis to a decent size city to Belleville and is now with me.
She is learning what I need from her. I am learning what she needs from me. During the first week of her living here. She’s listening inside, and our bonding exercises are working. She’s walking great on a leash. Pretty much no issues unless there’s a bird hanging out. One thing that I started doing was I started to leave the area in the yard she was at and went inside. So, if she doesn’t respond I just walk away. It’s working.
I’m currently bonding very well with her. Actually, I’m super attached. She was a pleasant surprise. Where I was at the beginning of this week with her and where I am now being two different places. I was scared in the beginning that I couldn’t make it work. Or that it would be a bad fit. That’s just the new beginning talking. I am super happy now with her. She’s everything I wanted. I was a little unsure do to the energy level and trust. The trust is building day by day and I couldn’t be happier.
Trust is something that takes time. It is made by watching and learning from each other. It takes time and mutual respect. For me with miss Lilly, she’s shown me how confident and understanding a friend should be. It’s nice except for when she goes to the door just because she’s bored 😊.
She’s learning fast as a shepherd usually does. She’s picked up on sit, down, stay, walking on a lead, walking on a treadmill, and soon working with coming when called.
I think the real reward is bonding though. She’s been getting her walk and mental work out every day. Now in the evenings she’s a snuggler and we hit the bed time and fall asleep next to each other. I love these evenings when she is sleeping next to me. The feeling of resting and knowing she got to experience new things and get out of the house. I feel her trust in me is growing fast. You see when you take your dog to different places to walk and in the home, you’re marking behaviors you like seeing. The training on the treadmill is a testament to the trust we’ve built. You see it took less than ten minutes to get her going on there. That’s trust. The treadmill is hard if there’s no trust. Actually, everything is hard if the dog does not trust you. It may love you, but trust is where it’s at for them to really connect to you. See if a dog loves you then it will use its negative behaviors. If a dog trusts you then you can work through the negative behaviors so much easier. Giving your friend what it needs is crucial. They must get out of the home. They must have different experiences. More importantly, they need to be shown how to handle different environments. It’s our job to help them become successful in our world.
Thanks for reading!!
