Sarah as of January 15, 2008

My girl Sarah is doing wonderfully for the short time she has been here. She is still very unsure of everything, but she is venturing out and about in the house and showing a general interest in things. Today she actually ran around the yard and played with my bichon mix Bama. She even walked upright around the house and yard. Before today she always did that cowering type of walk where she was not standing up straight but kind of like a whipped dog. I think the other dogs have helped her to come around quickly. She seems to really love them. She takes her cues from them and when they come up to get petted and loved on she comes with them. She now seems to trust us also, and does not run in terror whenever we move. She still high tails it if you move too quickly but if you move slowly she will stay and she even comes to me when I call her. I have not crated Sarah to help in her housebreaking at all. She is in the kitchen with her toddler bed and there is a dog gate so she can not leave the kitchen at night when we go to bed. I made the decision not to crate her right now until she gets the hang of housebreaking. I know in most cases crating helps in housebreaking, but I figured with her it may not help. She has been raised to go to the bathroom in a crate so I figured crating may add to her confusion because that is where she thinks she should go to the bathroom. I also thought it would be easier to clean the tile in the kitchen than to clean crate and give her a bath every day should she not be able to hold it. She did not pee in the house at all last night, but she did poop. Not bad, we will take things day by day. Any progress is like a great step. It thrills me to watch her blossom. She deserves her chance in life to run and play and be loved.