A successful night out!

Last night was Eva's first night out. I took her to the house of my dear friends, along with one of my other dogs. I thought Eva would be nervous and scared, but I was wrong. She did great! She greated their chocolate lab, explored the house, went potty outside, then lay down for a nap. I wouldn't say she eagerly approached my friends, but she didn't run from them either. She allowed them to pet her, which set off just a few trembles. I was really impressed. She is growing into a confident little girl!

Here she is outside in the snow. It's been really cold, so outside time is limited. She, like the rest of us, will be happier when it warms up!

Stairs

One thing common to puppy mill dogs is their difficulty with stairs. Having spent their entire lives in cages, they haven't had the opportunity to learn such a basic skill. Once they are free of the mill and living in a home with stairs, some of them learn quite quickly how to go up and down, while others need work.

Eva needs work. She can go up 5 steps from the fenced yard into the house - I think cold, snowy weather is what motivates her to do this. However, she won't go down at all - although I can't blame her. It's freezing out there!!

So we are going to work on stairs...placing her on the bottom step and practicing getting off that one, repeat until comfortable, then place her on the step above, etc. Fortunately, we can do this inside! Of course, there is a possibility she may never do stairs comfortably. Good thing she's little and can be easily carried!

Hurdles

Day 4 with Eva, who is an absolute delight. One of the hurdles: fear of going into the fenced yard without me. She is pretty attached to one of my other Chin who always goes with her, but even so, she doesn't want to go outside to potty without me. One problem is having to go down 5 stairs. Even though she can climb up them, she still can't go down. Another problem is she hates to be picked up - her body stiffens, she arches her back and thrashes a bit. Once we get out the door, down the steps and into the yard, she is fine. She goes potty and wags her tail. She is always happiest when we all come back inside.

I look forward to the day when she can go outside to do her business with the other dogs, while I watch from inside, where it's warm!!