Baby Steps Add Up to Big Change

For those of you who have been following Chima's journey she hit a big milestone the other day. We've been practicing touch for months - first using a long handled artist's paintbrush for a few seconds at a time and moving up to me doing some T-Touches on her using my hands.

Recently she decided that lying beside me on the couch when I'm working on my laptop wasn't so bad and occasionally she'd choose that spot when her sister Salinas hadn't claimed it first (which Salinas usually does since she CRAVES touch.)

Chima lap time

Well the other night she chose to lay on my lap for about five minutes. The rest of the couch was taken up by dogs so I tried to squish in to the side to make room. She's a big girl though and I guess the little spot to sit wasn't comfortable enough so she walked onto my lap and laid down. I was ecstatic and tried not to scare her off with all the photos I snapped with my phone to document the moment that she first laid on my lap.

Wondering why I have the phone waving around

She was quite awkward about it - this hanging out with humans is all new to her - but she stuck with it for almost 5 minutes before she chose to go find a dog bed instead. I can't say it was comfortable for me either having 25 pounds of dog occasionally standing up on my legs and then resettling. And then her big old head and even bigger ears were right in front of my computer screen so all work came to a halt. Regardless of any discomfort though, I was in heaven and we awkwardly sat together for 5 minutes - me grinning and her taking in the experience.

Wondering when I'll calm down and let her relax

What is most touching about the experience is early on with Chima I let go of any expectations of her being the typical Rat Terrier and wanting to snuggle or be physically close to humans. Setting up expectations like that can really force you to push the process and will backfire. Instead I chose to just watch her grow and to help her where she was at - no end goal of where I wanted her to get but instead focused on where she was on a particular day and how to best work with her that day. By doing this she actually has moved faster and further than I ever expected because I think she sensed that she always had choices. If she sat across the room from me in a dog bed, she was a good girl. If she sat on the end of the couch with me, she was an equally good girl.

Settling in

I had said to a close friend who writes another rescued Rat Terrier blog a few months ago that Chima was never going to be a dog who snuggled with her person on the couch. While I wouldn't call her a snuggly, touchy-feely kind of girl I now realize that with time and patience Chima can be any kind of gi she chooses.

finding a way to avoid the phone camera

Good dog, Chima!