The Old Chelsea

Chelsea's rescue Mommy, Cynthia, was kind enough to share some photos with us of Chelsea at her house, where brings all the rescue dogs.   Those who don't have Facebook were unable to see them, so I figured I'd post them on here to share them:

Here is Chelsea in the background with her rescue buddies.

The adorable little wide-eyed guy in front is Boo who Cynthia says has found a home & is doing great!

This is Chelsea, following her best buddy the German Shepherd.  

What is weird is here eyes are glowing and she REALLY looks like Charlotte here!

And here she is, in her element! :)

Close Call

At the beginning of the month we got our community's monthly newsletter with a note that said:

I didn't think much of it because until then I hadn't seen the alligator in our lake and assumed it was just a one time sighting.  However, very quickly I began noticing him/her whenever I'd look over by the lake.

The first photo I caught of "Ali" was while standing on the pier overlooking the water.  The gator just swam up expecting me to feed it.  I took some photos and backed away slowly...

Now whenever I go near the lake I'm extra careful.  Especially now that I have Chelsea who walks with me near the lake.   So today, during the storm I knew Chelsea had to go out because she kept walking over to the gate by the stairs.  So I put the leash on her and picked her up knowing she wouldn't walk down the steps in the rain.  But since it was still raining heavy and there were still a few bolts of lightning in the distance I didn't want to leave the shelter of the building, so I figured I'd take her to the other side of our building, through the breezeway and take her to go on the grass by the stairs by the lake, which was sheltered from the rain a bit by our building.

As soon as I got to the first floor I put her down and walked to the lake area.  But as soon as I stepped out onto the grass I noticed not by 10 feet in front of me there were two eyes peering at me from the water's edge.  And to make it worse, the water had risen from all the rain so what used to be a little wall of land between the water and the grass was now non existent.   The owner of the 2 creepy eyes could have easily lunged out of the water and right onto the land to come after me.   

Without thinking twice I reached down and grabbed Chelsea in my arms (thank God she didn't run from me or freak out) and I took off running back to the other side of the building and up the stairs.  I decided to go to the other end of the breezeway once I got on the 2nd floor, just to look over the lake and see if the gator moved or came out after me.   

He was still there, watching.  So I snapped two photos, with Chelsea still in my arms, before running back to my door:

Here he is peering, you can just make out his eyes and nose.

 Sorry it's so blurry, between the rain and the iPhone zoom

And here is the photo from the top of the steps, so you can see how close he was!  

I was literally right on the grass there, under the steps when I first saw him.

I just feel bad for Chelsea since she has no idea why I'll be changing out walking path from now on...

"Good Girl Chelsea!"

I feel like I've been saying that a lot lately.  As we near the end of week 2 with Chel-Belle, she astounds us every day with her progress.

Yesterday she did great, as usual, on her walks.  In the morning I took her all around our complex and then down by the lake as usual.   In the afternoon I took her and Charlotte down to the mailbox and back to get Charlotte some exercise.  Then in the evening right, before Daddy came home, I walked her down around the complex and through the lake area.

The best part of walking with Chelsea is she gets so excited about walking that her tail wags a mile a minute as she trots down the street.

I wish I could get a good photo/video of her walking but we walk so fast it is hard to capture it.   And she is so attentive when we walk.  She watches everything and then looks up at me to see what I am doing.  She will stop and sniff, and then come back to me, stand beside me and look up as if to say "Ok, I'm ready, we can keep going".   But if anything scares her or she isn't sure about something, the first thing she does it look up at me.  It's really cute. 

We'll get to a certain point in our walk where if we cross the parking lot we can go over to a patch of grass by some water.  A lot of dogs go over there to use the bathroom, so she likes to go over there and "read her pee-mails" as I like to call it when dogs sniff each other's "messages".    But I only take her over there once a day.  So on each walk she'll stop at that point, look at me, and if I say "Ok, let's cross over" then we go.   But each time she anticipates it's. 

On the way to the lake someone in their car behind us, got out and slammed the door and Chelsea panicked and took off running.  Luckily we have the retractable leash so she only got so far before it caught and she was forced to stop.  I showed her I wasn't scared and it was okay and she came right back to me and resumed walking behind me.

Then on our way back from the walk we saw Rob pull into the complex and I told her "Chelsea!  Look it's Daddy! Come on, let's go get him!"  So she trotted back with me towards the apartment and watched his car and then stopped when he parked.  She looked at me and then he got out and she waited.  He came over and pet her and we walked to the apartment together.


Today we got hit with a pretty bad storm so I took her out before the storm rolled in and we walked the long walk again.  The sky looked pitch black by the time we got back to the apartment so I was glad she did her "business" on this walk since I figured we wouldn't make it out for the afternoon walk with the storms going on all day.   When the bad part of the storm started there were talks of probable tornados in the area going right over us so I did my usual "drill" where I put a flashlight, blanket, water bottles, and food and water for the dogs in our guest bathroom since it's the only safe room in our house with no windows that in the interior of the building.   I put the dogs on their collars/leashes just in case.  My biggest fear was always that something would happen to the building during a bad storm and if Charlotte got lost she wouldn't be wearing her collar.  So I always do that when a bad storm comes in, just in case.

So the girls laid on the couch with me, Chelsea on the far side and Charlotte right under my arm.  As the storm got worse, Chelsea gradually moved closer toward me on the couch, until she was using Charlotte's backside as a pillow.

After the storm died down and I cleaned out the bathroom, I came back and fed the girls.  The other day Rob made some beef cubes we had frozen for a while.  He made risotto and asparagus to go with it.  I've been feeding it to the girls for the past few days.  Usually after our walk I'd make a tiny bit for Charlotte and Chelsea.  Today I made some for them, they ate it and then Chelsea (who usually runs away from me when she is on the floor) followed me into the kitchen to see if there was more.  Then she walked over to the gate by the steps and looked at me, which I assumed meant she wanted to go out.  So I got her leash out, expecting her to run from me when I came close, but she just sat and let me put the leash on and then we made our way down the steps.  But as soon as I opened the door I realized how bad it was raining and she wouldn't come out of the apartment.  She peeked around the corner from the stairs and laid down as if to say "No way! I'm staying here!".  So we went back upstairs and I took off her leash and she just sat there while I pet her (which she NEVER has done before).   So I gave her a treat for being such a good girl.   It was the first time ever that she let me reach out and pet her and didn't run while she was off leash and walking around.

Anyway, here are some photos from last night to close with:

See!  I caught her sleeping with her tongue out!  

She had JUST opened her eyes when I took the photo

Chelsea, half on my lap and half on the blanket.

I think she got too hot under the blanket.  But it looks like she is smiling. :)

Sad News

Yesterday, I got a call from my aunt Karen who told us some sad news.  Charlotte & Chelsea's kitty cousin, Holly, has cancer.  They found a lump under her jaw and noticed her drooling and when they took her to the vet the vet confirmed it was cancer and there wasn't anything they could really do about it.

They have given her anywhere from a week to a month to live and have told Karen & the family that if they notice she stops eating then to bring her in so they can put her to sleep so she won't suffer.

It breaks my heart because I know how old Charlotte is getting and I just pray every day that God will give us more time with her.

As a tribute to Holly, here are some photos my aunt Karen sent us.    Holly is the solid grey cat and her sister Missy (short for Mistletoe) is the multicolored cat.

We just pray she goes peacefully without any pain, and that my aunt, uncle & cousins get to enjoy their last days with her showing her lots of love and affection.

Our Future Pack :)

Just to get the "awww"s going...

Here are some photos of what Baby Charlotte & Chelsea may have looked like:

Down the road Rob and I have agreed that we'd like to get 2 more dogs.   A small one like the one above but a boy that we'd probably name Cyrus.  Then another girl, the same size as Charlotte & Chelsea, who we'd probably name Chloe, to go with Charlotte & Chelsea's names, who ironically we didn't name.   So, at some point we'll have a nice little pack of 4 dogs that look exactly the same.  

We always knew we wanted a house full of dogs.  We agreed a while back that our kids would each have a dog that we would get for them when they are young, so they can "grow up together" like I did with my old dog, Sandy:

Me & Sandy when we were babies.  

She grew up with me until at the age of 13 

they found a tumor on her spine and 

she was sent to live at the "Rainbow Bridge".  :(

Rob and I also said that should our finances allow it, later in life we'd like to open up a rescue and foster dogs who need homes.   That is all down the line after our kids are born and older.  But it still is a dream of ours.  So... someday... :)

The Solomon Sisters :)

Cynthia, Chelsea's rescue mommy, calls Charlotte & Chelsea the "Solomon Sisters".  I think it's too cute, so I used it for the title of today's entry since it fits perfectly with the photos for today. :)

Last night we took Charlotte & Chelsea for an evening walk.   Whenever I take Chelsea out for a walk she and I go the "long way", which is down to the mailbox, out over by the lake, around past the pool and other buildings and back onto the sidewalk where we eventually come back to the mailboxes and head home.  She is SO happy to be outside on a walk.  Her tail wags and she sniffs everything in sight.  She also has no problem going to the bathroom while on walks.  She hasn't had an inside accident in a few days now so I'm VERY proud of her for that.

So last night we took a shorter walk since Charlotte was with us and she can't walk for that long.  Chelsea loved having Charlotte on the walk.  She followed her and whatever Charlotte sniffed, she sniffed.  When Charlotte peed, she peed.  It was cute.   By the time we came back Chelsea was able to go up the steps on her own, and today she went down them on her own.  Before that, I'd have to carry her because she was scared.  Now that she knows how much fun it is to go on walks, she doesn't mind the steps.  (Side note: we are on the 3rd floor and our outside steps have no backs to them, so you can see through to the ground as you climb up.  Our inside steps are carpeted and she has no problem with those, it's just the ones outside where she can see the ground below her that scare her).

So last night Chelsea was sleeping above my pillow again, and Charlotte was curled up next to me when we fell asleep.   A little after we all fell asleep I heard a bark and I jumped up.  I saw Chelsea standing by the food bowl staring at the floor mirror in the bedroom.  When I got out of bed to check her, it startled her and she ran and jumped back onto the bed.    I am convinced she saw her reflection and the movement of it and she thought it was another dog intruding and barked at it.  She has this strange thing about reflections.  Like with the car bumper the other day.  It's so funny!

Needless to say it was the first time I heard her bark and she even sounds like Charlotte! :)

So, I turned around to come back to bed and saw this....


I'm not sure where Charlotte ends and Chelsea begins, but apparently Chelsea was scared and thought to cuddle with Charlotte, or maybe she thought she was protecting her?  Who knows what was going through her mind.  But Charlotte seemed completely unfazed by the entire thing and continued to snore away like an old lady.

I went into the bathroom and came back out and found this...

Even cuter.  Rob and I exchanged some "awwww"s and then turned off the light and climbed back into bed where there was very little room for us, but it was okay because as long as the girls were bonding.

This morning, though Charlotte got up and did her own thing and Chelsea and I went out for a long walk, by the time we all settled down and I started writing this, the girls had made their way onto the couch together and were sleeping in their matching blankets:

Moments like these, with the Solomon Sisters, are priceless!

Chel-Belle & Char-Monkey

Of course, everyone who knows us knows Charlotte responds to more than just "Charlotte" or "CharChar".  She also goes by "Monkey" or "Munks" as some of us call her for short.  This is because when we adopted her 5 years ago, she was only 6lbs and a tiny little girl with phenomena and a 50/50 shot at recovering.  After only a few months with us she not only recovered but gained back all of the weight she lost, and then some.   After doubling her weight Rob and I started calling her "Chunky Monkey", like the ice cream.   For some reason the Chunky Monkey turned into Charlotte Monkey when we noticed how much energy she had and how she'd climb on everything!  So after a while we dropped the Charlotte part and called her Monkey.  It caught on with family and friends and before we knew it we'd call out "Monkey" or "Munks" and she'd come running.   

One Halloween I thought it would be funny to get her a monkey costume, so when someone called "Monkey" she'd come out wearing it.  It was all too adorable, even though she hated the thing. :)

Here she is in her costume, looking very unhappy with me.

So, I assumed Chelsea would have a cute nickname like that too.   We're still in the market for an animal nick name for her.   I was thinking Chelsea Cheetah since she runs so fast!   Though I find myself calling her Chel-Belle a lot, just because she is such a pretty girl.  :)

Anyway, back to the normal day-to-day stuff.  Chelsea has been doing good on her walks.  A few times she got skittish, but has still been very good.  I rarely have to pull on the leash, and only do it when I notice she is too focused on something like a squirrel, and want to break her concentration so she doesn't chase after it.  

Last night she slept on the couch all by herself and this morning when Rob got up to go pet her she ran and jumped on the bed (and definitely stepped on poor Charlotte who was sleeping under the blankets) and laid right by me.  It's strange how when he approaches her she runs to me and when I approach her she runs to him.  It's not like she is scared of either of us more, it's just like whoever is not approaching her is her best bet for safety.

Last night I was hand feeding her and she was literally eating out of the plate I put on the ground in front of me.  But Rob made a move on the couch and she stopped and ran over to see what he was doing and if he was coming over there.  She is SO skittish about that stuff.  But at one point she panicked and didn't know where to go so for the first time she came into the kitchen where I had been cleaning up.

Chel looking pretty and hanging out in the kitchen while I do the dishes.

Now she has spent pretty much the entire day sleeping in there on the red dog bed.  After our walk this morning she went in there following me thinking I had food for her, and she laid there watching me unload the dishwasher and put away all the clean dishes.  She just watched my every move.   

I'm trying very hard to "force" her to face her fears.  Like today, after we came home from our walk I made sure to come very close to her and pet her.  Normally she'd run, but coming straight from our walk she was used to being near me, and I think the harness being on helped her to remember that I was in control.  She just sat and watched me approach her and I pet her and she didn't move, which was the first time she has ever done that while not laying on a bed, couch, or anything else.  When she is standing on the floor she always takes off running, but not this time.

By the way, this was Charlotte Monkey and Chel-Belle this morning in bed.   Yet another sweet moment between the two girls. :)

And here are the girls again, sharing the couch.  They are definitely warming up to each other.

At one point yesterday, Chelsea was scared and hid behind Charlotte. :)

I'll leave you with a cute story from my walk with Chelsea yesterday.   I took her down to the mailbox to get the mail and when we came back she was sniffing some of the parked cars.  One of them, a VW, had a silver bumper.  She sniffed it and I noticed she jumped back a little, looked up and me, and back at the bumper and started to sniff again, and jump again.  I couldn't figure out why she was afraid of a car that wasn't even moving, but then I realized she saw her reflection in the bumper and it must have startled her every time she moved and it moved too.   She was too funny!

1 Week Down = 1 Completely Different Dog!

Today marks 1 week that Chelsea has been with us.  It seems like the longest week ever because she has made so much progress!   

Yesterday we went on 2 leash walks and she LOVED it.  She turns into a totally different dog when walking on the leash.  She explores, sniffs,  pays attention to our commands.  You can tell she trusts us and is looking to us to guide her when we walk.  She never walks in front of us and always watches to see where we go.  She's peed 3 times now on our walks which is great because I was worried to see if she'd pick up on the fact that going for a walk means trying to get her to go potty, but she did.   

We're working on a routine now.  I take her out when Rob leaves for work and go for a nice long walk.  Then I take her in the afternoon to get the mail, and go the "long way" home.   Then when Rob comes home we have dinner and take her for a walk around sunset.   We are going to try to get her to pee on the potty patch during the night if she has to go because we don't want to take her out when it is dark since we have coyotes very close by and the alligators too.    It may sound silly but it is pitch black over by our apartment.  The closest streetlight doesn't spare us any light so it's pretty dangerous for us to be out there at night.

The only problem we are having now is boredom.  Even though she is getting exercise on her walks, she is still just laying around the house when we get home.  She chewed through her harness, and then last night I looked over and noticed she was chewing through Rob's iPod headphones!   

I didn't mind it actually since he is always walking around listening to his music and never hears a word I say to him, so I looked at it as Chelsea doing me a favor. :)  

He wasn't too happy, but definitely wasn't as mad as I thought he'd be.  We just took them away from her and told her "No".  It really was his fault since he left them sitting right there next to her.  Needless to say, he'll be extra careful next time. 

Last night, we were ready for bed, both dogs on the couch all settled in.  We decided not to let the dogs sleep on the bed because Chelsea has been outside on her walks and we didn't want any dirt to get on the bed.  Yeah... that didn't last long.

A few hours after we all fell asleep, I woke up to find Charlotte cuddled in between me and Rob and Chelsea sitting at the end of the bed looking at us.  I got up to use the bathroom, too tired to bring them both back to the couch, and when I got back Chelsea had made a little bed for herself between the headboard and my pillow.   So I climbed into bed and spent the rest of the night sharing my pillow with Charlotte and Chelsea.   At one point, Charlotte realized how close Chelsea was (they were almost sleeping nose-to-nose at one point).  But Charlotte seemed way to comfortable to move, so she just put her nose under the pillow as if to say "if I can't smell her, she isn't here".

Then, I realized why they had climbed into bed.  There was a thunderstorm outside and it was getting much louder.  Chelsea jumped a few times at the really loud thunder, and I pet her to let her and told her it was okay.  She actually fell asleep with her head on my hand after that.

So when we all woke up, I had to take a photo of them.  It was just too cute. 

Lazy Sunday

This morning Rob and I went to church then stopped over at Walmart to do some food shopping for the week, and when we came back we decided to take Chelsea for a walk.  She did exceptionally well!  

She actually showed interest in a man walking by.  I figured she'd run and hide behind us, but instead as soon as he walked by she followed him a little and sniffed him.  I was surprised she even showed interest in him.  

So we walked her down to the mailboxes, back, and then back to the mailboxes again and decided to walk down along the edge of the lake from the pool area back to our building.  She enjoyed the long walk and barely stopped except to sniff and PEE!  She peed on our walk and we were SO proud of her for doing that.   It sounds weird saying that, but she has never walked on a leash before Saturday, let alone know to go potty on our walks.   

At one point a lady with a little fluff ball dog (sort of reminded me of a brown Toto from the Wizard of Oz) came over and Chelsea watched the dog, waiting for him to come over and say Hi.  But the dog had other plans and growled at her and lunged at her face.  Chelsea fought back and went to bit his face as he came at her.  It's the first display of any aggression I've seen from her and I was very proud of her for defending herself.  We pulled the two apart before it could escalate and continued our walk.  Chelsea was completely unfazed by the entire ordeal and continued to trot along on the walk with us.  

Then we came home and made lunch, hung out for a bit and Rob and I headed over to the pool for a little while and came home to find that Chelsea had peed on the balcony on the mat again!  She is getting closer to the "potty patch" we put out on the balcony, so hopefully she'll start using that when we aren't home (since we leave the balcony door open for them to go in and out all day).

So we waited until after dinner to take Chelsea back out for her second walk of the day.  This time we just walked down to the mailboxes and back and a little bit over by the lake in the parking lot area.  She peed again and didn't stop once to sit or lay down.  She is so good on the leash.  In fact, when we walked her we kept the leash loose in our hands so it felt like she was barely on it and she followed right behind us and  stopped when she was interested in sniffing something or peeing.   She would stop every once in a while, sniff something, and then look at us to see what we were doing.  It was like a little game she'd play.  She'd stop, and we'd turn around, and she start walking again.  Just like she was checking to see if we were even paying attention.  

I also noticed she won't walk ahead of me or Rob.  At one point she got excited about something and started to pass us a little and then stopped and ran behind us with her head down and followed us again, as if to be like "sorry mommy & daddy, it won't happen again!"  She definitely knows her place in the pack. :)

Anyway, without further adieu, here are today's photos...

Interested in something.

Watching the squirrels

Charlotte on the balcony waiting for us to return from our walk.

Chelsea exhausted from her long walk & by the looks of her face, she is mad at me for taking a photo.

Charlotte, apparently exhausted from just imagining the walk we went on.

Hanging out with Daddy.

Spooooooiled baby. :)

She was sleeping & dreaming & her tongue was sticking out again! 

Sorry the photo is so grainy but it was hard to get a photo without waking her.

How A Trip To PetSmart Sealed The Deal...

Sorry for the lack of photos on this one.  We were so busy tending to the dogs that we didn't get to snap many.

Today was Chelsea's first trip to PetSmart.   We planned to go tomorrow but have so much to do tomorrow that we decided to get it out of the way tonight, when hopefully it wouldn't be so busy since Sundays are probably a nightmare at stores like that.  We wanted to go when it was quieter so it was less stress on both dogs.

We got both dogs in the car.  Rob sat in the back with Chel, and Char sat in the passenger seat while I drove.  Chel just laid in the dog bed we leave in the car for Char, which was on the floor between the two seats.  Both girls were so good in the car.  Even when Rob got out to get a lottery ticket on our way home, Chelsea barely even looked up when he opened the door.  I think she'll be a great car traveler like Charlotte is, which is great since we will definitely be taking car trips with them both.

Charlotte needed her nails trimmed and sanded down.  So I took her in to the grooming section while Rob and Chelsea went to look at leashes/collars.   Rob came back with Chelsea and her stuff with a big smile on his face.  He said Chelsea was so good and walked with him and whenever she got scared she'd hide between his legs.   People walked by and she sniffed them and she even sniffed another dog, but she seemed too scared of everything else to be very interested in him.  I think it was good for her to see Charlotte on a leash too, and the other dogs.  A few times she wanted to be picked up and I did, only to speed the process along since it was taking forever to get everything we needed.

Charlotte was terrified of the nail trimming/sanding, like she always is, but she was a GOOD girl and even though she had to be muzzled as usual, she didn't nip or anything.  She barely moved around.  I think she was more nervous of the other dogs whining and crying.

When she was done, Rob took Charlotte since she was pretty mad at me for bringing her into the grooming place, and I took Chelsea who seemed to be picking up on Charlotte's nervousness and wouldn't walk.  

Chelsea is SO adorable when you hold her.  She latches onto you like a baby.  She puts her paws on either side of your neck and puts her head down on your shoulder and watches everything going on behind you.   I try to hold her like Charlotte or any other way, but she finds her way back to that position.  Can't imagine how comfortable it is for her but it's the only way she likes to be held.

Chelsea and Charlotte got new food/water dishes.  Chelsea got a new harness and leash, and both girls got pretty gold dog tags with their names, our address, and our phone number.

While I was entering the information into the machine to make their tags, Chelsea laid down behind Rob and Charlotte, nervous about the other dogs around, went and sat next to Chelsea.  She actually was touching Chelsea.  We were completely shocked because it was the closest Charlotte has ever gotten to another dog, intentionally.  In the photo below she had just begun to back up, but then she sniffed Chelsea and sat down right in the little spot between the wall and where Chelsea's paw is sticking out.  

At that moment, Rob and I looked at each other, so proud of them both, and I said "Chelsea, I'm going to go on the record saying this... you've definitely found your forever home." 

On the way home, we broke Chelsea in on our tradition.  Whenever we take Char to get her nails done or go to the vet, we stop at McDonalds and get her chicken nuggets since it's her favorite.  It's our way of praising her for dealing so well with such a "traumatic" experience.   So Chelsea got 2 nuggets and Charlotte got 2 nuggets.  Now they are both completely knocked out from the exhaustion of their ordeal today.  :)

Chelsea's First Walk

This afternoon we took Chelsea on her first leash walk.  We were able to get the harness on her this morning and will probably leave it on her for a while.   We tried to get her to walk in the house with it but she was totally unresponsive.  So since we had to go get the mail, I decided to take her along.  

We brought her outside, put her down and she wouldn't move except to pull back towards the apartment.  So I picked her up and carried her down to the mail box where she wasn't able to see the apartment anymore, and then she began to smell around and explore a little.  A group of 5 or 6 people walked by and she didn't cower or hide.  She just watched them and looked back at us.  I was expecting her to run away or at least put her ears back in fear, but she acted totally normal.  The little kid in the group wanted to pet her but I didn't think she was ready and told her that Chelsea was afraid of people and maybe next time.

Then we made our way back to the apartment.   A few times she stopped and laid down or sat down, as if to say "I can't go on...".  But I just picked her up to stand her up and continued to walk.  She followed after a minute.   We even took her over to an area where most of the dogs use the potty, and she sniffed a lot and seemed to warm up more when she smelled the other dogs scents.  

Here is a video of her on her walk...

A little after the video was taken, she did this... 

But I picked her up and she continued.

Toward the end of the walk she sorta gave up and tried to jump into my arms.  So I picked her up and carried her the last few steps before getting to the stairs.  

I plan to take her with me to the mailbox every day.  Not only will it help her get some exercise, but it will help us form a bond and will help her get used to leash walking.  It is also helping her learn the meaning of "come here".

Now she is sleeping like a baby.  Too much excitement for one day! 

Tomorrow is a big day too.  Charlotte is going to get her nails clipped at PetsMart and since Chelsea did so well on her walk we are going to bring her along so she can see the other dogs and hopefully socialize a little.

Curious Chelsea

Last night was a good night.  Chelsea came to me twice when I called her name and said "Come here".   She spent a lot more time yesterday exploring outside on the balcony, and even peed out there on the mat (not quite on the potty patch but close enough!).  I was happy about that because the mat I can just throw in the washing machine, as opposed to the carpet in the house.

A few times during the day yesterday, she got up on her own, hopped off the couch and walked around sniffing at things inside and outside.  I was glad she was showing interest on her own.

Then she'd go back to sleeping for a bit, but was so cute when she woke p because her "hair" on the side of her neck was sticking up and she had her paws crossed and looked too sweet.  So I snapped a photo.

Even though Chelsea ran when we tried to pick her up for most of the night, by the end of the night she let me pick her up and bring her to bed where she stayed at the end of the bed during the night.  I noticed in the middle of the night she got up and went over to the couch.  She was standing on the couch, stretched up looking out the open window at around 4am.  I couldn't figure out why she was so interested in the outside all of a sudden, but today we heard sirens from a cop car that went down the street behind our complex and all of a sudden a bunch of coyotes began barking and howling.  There must be a big pack behind our building in the wooded area, so I'm wondering if she heard/smelled them at night.

 Today, we got her harness on her and I called Charlotte to come to me so I could get her to use the potty patch and Chelsea came over immediately and sat on it.  She is definitely listening more and responding to more commands.

Then, we tried to get her to walk a bit on the leash but she didn't want to.  We let her watch Charlotte do it, but Charlotte got tired out and bored of the whole thin quickly, so it didn't really help Chelsea. 

At one point Chels got frustrated and tried to chew through the leash so we put the thicker one on her and decided we'll keep the harness on her and sometimes the leash and that way she can't run away.  She has a much different attitude with the harness/leash on.  A lot less "wild" and "independent".

Anyway, after all of that, I was exhausted from all the waking up last night, so I decided to take a nap and brought Chelsea with me.  She laid next to me and even put her paw out and touched my hand on her own.  Usually she flinches when we touch her but this time she voluntarily touched me.  When I woke up a few hours later (definitely overslept!) she was still there next to me but had moved around a little.   So I laid there and pet her belly for a bit and she fell back asleep. 

She'll come up to me while I'm not looking and I've started carrying a mirror so I can see her while still keeping my back to her.  She always gets behind me.  She'll run past me and then go behind me and follow me.  It's weird but I'm thinking maybe it's a respect thing?  Or maybe she is trying to see where I go?   She was curious enough yesterday to jump off the couch on her own and come find me... twice.  Once I was taking Charlotte potty and the second time I purposely hid in the guest room to see if she'd do it and she did almost immediately.  So she definitely is becoming more curious.  :)

Scaredy Cats Turn Into Cuddle Bugs

By the time "Daddy" came home last night, Chelsea let him hold her for a little bit, which was good since I wasn't able to pick her up all day until at least 5pm. 

After that, she ran around for a bit.  She'll run, but we've noticed she isn't really running AWAY from us.  It's more like running past us, and then she'll stop and look at us, and then come back past us.  Almost like a game she is playing.  Not sure what it means but we just ignore her and before we know it she is right behind me sniffing me or following me.  

So dinner time came and of course Charlotte was circling the dinner table like a shark, whining for handouts and sniffing for food that she hoped may have miraculously jumped off of our plates.  Chelsea stood about 5 feet from the dining room watching the whole process.   

I had made some extra chicken for the girls, so after we were done eating I took a piece and gave it to Charlotte.   Chelsea perked up and watched like a hawk.   After a few attempts to get her to come to us to take the food, we began throwing her little pieces.  I figured once she knew how good the food tasted she'd wise up and come get more.  Worked like a charm.  After throwing her a few pieces she joined us in the dining room and was licking Rob's plate clean while Charlotte "cleaned" mine. 

After that, I washed dishes while Chelsea stood in the kitchen doorway watching my every move, and Charlotte went to lay out with Daddy for a bit since he was exhausted from work.   After I finished dishes, I picked Chelsea up from the couch she had jumped up on, and took her to the bedroom and put her on the bed with Rob and me and Charlotte.  She settled into "my" spot on the bed and seemed to enjoy it there.

Then, Rob and I decided to watch a movie so we moved the whole gang into the living room.  Chelsea ended up on one side of the couch, next to Rob, and Charlotte on the other, next to me.  And we stayed there for the rest of the evening until bedtime.

Chelsea and Charlotte

Charlotte cuddling with mommy.

Looking up at me probably thinking "when will that other dog go away mommy?"

Chelsea cuddled up behind daddy.

You can barely see Rob's arm but she was sandwiched between him and the blanket.  I put my hand in front of her to see if she'd react.  She just sniffed and fell back asleep.  Awesome improvement!

This is the 4 of us.  Charlotte completely sprawled out on top of me (that is her tail circling my arm), and Chelsea knocked out over on daddy's side (her tail is laying across his lap).

Here is Chelsea, sleeping. :)

Half awake.

Getting pets from mommy.

And a kiss from Daddy. :)

So after all that excitement, it was time for bed.  But one problem, since Chelsea had been put in the bed before, she thought she was sleeping there.  So when everyone was making their way into the bedroom, she climbed up on my side of the bed.  So we caved in, in the hopes that it would help her adjust to us, and Charlotte too.  So last night, Chelsea slept by Rob's feet, and Charlotte slept cuddled next to him.  This morning, when we all woke up, Chelsea was startled by Rob's movement and came over to my side and cuddled right next to my face on the pillow.  For a while we looked like an Oreo; Chels on one side of me and Charlotte on the other.  And Charlotte stayed completely knocked out cold until I went to get up and Chelsea jumped up and went to cuddled with the only one left on the bed, Charlotte.   Char was NOT interested in cuddling with Chelsea so she darted off to the side of the bed.  That was when I snapped this photo...

Think it's time to get a king sized bed. :)

So after getting both dogs off the bed, Charlotte went out to pee on the Potty Patch we put on the balcony, and Chelsea followed soon behind.  She didn't pee on the patch, but she did watch every move we both made.  I ignored her of course, but the fact that instead of running away to hide or laying down, she was showing interest in where we went and what we were doing, which is a great sign.

Chelsea watching us on the balcony 

(excuse the mess of dog toys, stack of mail on the floor & garbage ready to go out in the background).

When Rob left for work a few minutes ago, he gave me a kiss, then Charlotte a kiss and a pet,  and then Chelsea one too.  She didn't even flinch when he pet her or leaned down to kiss her on her head.  She has also been letting me kiss her on her head and her cheek, so she is definitely getting used to our affection.  Such a good girl and I'm more and more proud of her every day!

Now I'm sitting on the couch writing this while Charlotte sleeps cuddled into in a blanket on my left and Chelsea sleeps cuddled into a blanket on my right.  My two scaredy cats are really turning into cuddle bugs! :)