The Solomon Sisters: Major Improvements

I had a nice chat with Cynthia last night. She is the wonderful woman who runs Save A Life rescue, the rescue group who saved Chelsea. She told us that Chelsea is making great progress and she is amazed at how well she is taking to us. I'm pretty proud of her for being such a good girl and doing so well so soon. I've heard it can take up to a year, or even longer, for dogs like Chelsea to rebuild their trust in humans. We're prepared to work with her however long it takes, but the reality of it is that in the end, Chelsea will have worked up a very special bond with us and it may be hard for both of us (our family and Chelsea) to break that bond so she may just end up with us forever.

When Rob came home last night, Chelsea must have forgotten about him because she was terrified of him again. So he pet her and held her and she warmed up again.

I've started picking her up and holding her for a while. Yesterday I held her and then sat down and she cuddled into me and fell asleep for a few minutes before my phone rang and I had to get up.

Then a little later when Rob came home I picked her up and held her and walked around with her. She spent most of the time with her head on my shoulder like a baby sleeping, but every once in a while she'd lift her head to sniff my face, or like when I took her out on the balcony she wanted to sniff the curtains that were hanging there.

She really can be a love/cuddle bug, but it's once she gets on the floor that she takes off running in fear. So I've begun feeding her treats by laying on the floor so I am eye level to her. She'll come close enough to take them from me, and then runs behind me and sniffs my feet/legs. I think she feels a lot less threatened by me being on the floor too.

After doing that twice yesterday, Rob came home and Chels was running around hiding from him. One thing I noticed, she came right to me. She got closer to me than she ever has (while I was standing up). I was in the kitchen doorway talk to Rob about not making eye contact with her, she ran away from him and right up to me and stood in front of me, sniffed my leg, looked up at me, and then back at him. I saw this out of the corner of my eye because I didn't want to make eye contact with her.

Then, when I walked away, she followed me and stood right behind me sniffing my leg again. So I definitely think she is bonding with me because I'm home with her.

Last night it was sweet, Rob and Charlotte were cuddled up on one couch, and Chels and I were sitting on the other. She fell asleep starting at me. I watched her close her eyes and then open them to see if I was still there. Any movement I made, her eyes would shoot open. Poor thing can't seem to relax.

At night, we put her back in the bedroom and she stayed all night like a good girl. A few times Charlotte woke up and either climbed on the bed or tried to wake me up to take her potty. Chelsea just watched Charlotte and didn't move at all. This morning, Rob and I both pet her and she did very well, but then while I was taking all the bedding and food/water bowls into the kitchen/living room area, a big gust of wind came through the place and the bedroom door slammed shut. I was in the living room and Chelsea was alone in the bedroom. I knew instantly she'd be freaking out and ran for the bedroom, opened the door and saw her on the couch looking terrified. She was so scared she didn't want me to even pet her so I got some cheese and fed it to her and that helped warm her up, and then when I went to pick her up she took off running for the living room. I laid on the floor again and let her sniff me and watch me and Charlotte play a little, and then she finally climbed onto the couch where he blanket is, and she is still sleeping.

I am hoping this weekend when Rob is home we can get Chelsea on her harness and take her and Char for a walk around our complex. Chelsea is not leash/collar trained at all, so she has no clue what to do when you put a collar and leash on her. I'm hoping when she sees Charlotte walk with us, she'll learn.

Anyway, as always here are some photos of the girls...