Lollie Continues to Improve

Ippa and Lollie posing for a picture.  I love how they both look like Scottish superheros!

Lollie has been in our house since October and has officially been ours since December.  I am amazed at how much she has continued to improve. 

Every night, Lollie and Cody are invited on our bed.  While Cody sleeps at our feet, Lollie generally chooses to snuggle up right next to me.  If she's particularly cold, she'll squeeze between Hans and me for added warmth.  When she first arrived, she could not even look at us without shaking.

Most mornings, Hans and I are greeted by two happy dogs.  Generally, Cody will crawl up to our heads (and I do mean crawl) and give us kisses.  As soon as Lollie sees this, she gets really excited.  Her tail wags, she kisses Cody, and she gives us love nibbles. 

Lollie has had three vet visits since she first came here.  At the first, she shook before we even got in the door.  She wouldn't look at anyone or anything, and it left her shaken for days.  At the second, she went in fairly confident, and took treats at first, but by the time we made it back to an exam room, she was shaking again.  At third, she clearly wasn't thrilled to be there, but there wasn't any shaking.  Plus, she allowed people to pet her, and even that didn't elicit tremors.  She's so brave!

Lollie is one of the few dogs in my house that I haven't had to work on much with training.  She knows a sit and a down, but she hasn't needed much past that.  Unless she has to potty, she will generally stay near me or Cody on a walk, and her off-leash control is really improving.  I'm now willing to drop her leash when we're on a walk and I'll let her run a little ahead.  As soon as I say her name, she turns around and comes back (save for one time at the river when drinking water was more important).  Of course, this is great because it means she gets to play with the other dogs when we're hiking!

Lollie, Cody, Ollie, and Ippa romping through a field.

Oh, and lastly, her separation anxiety is improving.  She still hates being left alone, and we're still crating her, but as time goes on she's eliminating and drooling less and less.

Of course, she still has an occasional bad day, and her bad allergies definitely affect her.  Ear infections leave her very cranky, so we are constantly cleaning her ears.  Lollie doesn't like the cold, so we invested in a wonderful coat.  She even has doggy acne, so we have to regularly clean and check her face.  Still, will all these things affecting her, her good days are outweighing the bad.

I really do love watching her become a normal dog!