The dog I adopted was so cute, but was very sad and frightened of everything. She literally spent her days on her sanctuary (my couch). I took her to obedience level one and she had a rough time but did pretty well considering. She still spent lots of time on the couch and wouldn't play even when I (how embarrassing) actually carried a ball around in my mouth showing her how to play. She was just too afraid to even try to venture off the couch. She did instantly love my grandchildren, and really loved having them around. That meant there were more people to pet her....she still didn't really get off the couch. She cowered away from my hands and reacted to my feet if they moved around by her. That just broke my heart.

Over 3 months have passed and Kelly has come a long way. This is what her day is like:

=After sleeping with me all night on a comfortable bed, she awakes like this: she sort of leaps or prances to the door to be let out often picking up a toy in anticipation of taking it outside with her. Of course, I don't let that go outside because when she did it once she left it out there. Duh!

=She is then fed meal number 1 which consists of premium dog food with sweet potato and/or some left over lean meat moistened with water or low-salt chicken broth. After that is downed she waits patiently for her dessert which is a piece of an oat/peanut butter based treat that she absolutely loves. She has another of the same meal later in the day. I do not feed her from the table or my hand nor give her lots of things she shouldn't have. I taught her the command "couch" which means go get on the couch. It works good for leaving people alone when they are eating or cooking.

=She then talks to me (amounts to low growling and quiet whining) while I try to have some coffee and read emails and such. Her efforts for attention finally wear me down and we begin to play. That amounts to playing tug of war and chase with one of her many stuffed animals. She will fetch them (leaps and prances to get there) if I throw them and she loves to take them out of my hands as I run to the bedroom. I then go after her to pretend to take them back. She is so happy to play. She also like to just play chase around the house with me.

=Today was warm enough so we did 2 walks around the neighborhood where she was in seventh heaven smelling all the deposits by other dogs as well as her previous markings. She loves to go outside for walks but her paws cannot take the bitter cold. I suspect they were frozen at some point in her former life.

=A large part of her day consists of being pet and/or scratched and loved on. She gets a lot of attention, probably too much but since I am retired she has me to herself a lot.

She has gone from a dog that never made a sound or left the couch to a dog that sometimes actually gets on my nerves because she expects to play with me all the time. It is however, a nice problem to have.

She barks if she thinks someone is around outside who shouldn't be and is just the most delightful animal I could ever imagine. My thanks to anyone and everyone who protected her and got her to the point that she could become my companion.

Now, if I could only get her to take less of the bed.....sigh........!