Realised that we haven't given you all an update on Lizzie for ages
part of the reason behind this was that my camera was playing up so no pics to show you and partly due to the busy Christmas period. I will rectify this now
Lizzie has been going from strength to strength and has totally found her place on the sofa - normally snuggled next to me with her head jammed in whatever gap my positioning has created ;D ;D ;D
Off-lead she is an absolute poppet... although she doesn't always respond immeadiately we have learnt that she does listen, and as long as we carry on she will catch up - even when this means her leaving her play mates
After seeking advice from SLR peeps (Thank-you everyone who commented) we have managed to bring Lizzie more under control when we meet other dogs on our walks
a mixture of ensuring a gentle approach and putting Lizzie on-lead if we suspect there may be an issue has worked wonders... we have started to use a treat to follow/a ball to play with rather than the lead to encourage a gentle approach, so far so good
I think that Lizzie is also starting to "read" other dogs much better and will give a sniff but walk straight by those dogs that obviously don't want to play and will go bounding towards any dog that looks like play and recently she has been right every time ;D ;D ;D
The only time we have an issue off-lead is when we go further afield via the car
..... she remains within sight & earshot the whole time but does love to find - roll in & eat anything smelly
as you can imagine the car journey home has windows wide open (despite cold and rain) and on returning Lizzie goes for a shower (which she has now got used to and no longer showers us at the same time)
On-lead she has also excelled and the majority of the time she walks to heel, very rarely pulling, even when Isaac is in control of the lead
Isaac and Lizzies bond has continued as it started
Lizzie loves to snuggle with him on the sofa, has started to play with her toys with him (still not sure about playing with toys and us adults yet - we obviously don't get it!!) and she even decided that she will get on his bed to listen to his bed time story - his high cabin bed ;D ;D ;D
When Lizzie first came she was rarely vocal, although she remains to be quiet most of the time she has found her ROOROO bark when playing
We have left Lizzie home alone a few times, we did go through a spate of coming home to chaos as Lizzie ransacked the place
but we have learnt to ensure all remenants of food are fully away and a short walk before we leave has helped - as has hiding a few treats amongst her beds and toys for her to find whilst we are out - now we return to signs of counter-surfing (and jumping onto the table) but everything intact
The Christmas period was great fun
Lizzie went with Matt to his parents for Christmas dinner and Boxing day, she behaved herself impecably.... almost, there was one incident - Matt's dad got the Chicken out of the fridge to finish carving, got distracted and left Lizzie and the chicken alone....
I don't need to finish the story now do I....
On the Bank holiday Monday we went to my Mum's. Last time we went up my mum's dog (a grumpy 12yr old Westie that hasn't been socialised much the past 5yrs) growled and was not overly happy to have Lizzie in the living room
we decided to take them both for a long walk to tire them out and see if they settled, if not the Fodon would go upstairs to bed with Isaac. To our surprise it worked... we had a lovely evening play games, one dog one end of the table asleep and the other the same the other end
Fodon was not too happy the following morning though when Lizzie was still in HIS house and near HIS sofa - we left him to his spot and went home!!!
In the run up to Christmas we stayed with my Grandma in Weymouth, Lizzie managed to Wow everyone (including my Grandma who isn't dog friendly often). Lizzie loved running along the beach chasing the ravens... they teased her well, flying at nose height maintaining a foot in front and flying up as soon as she got too close ;D ;D ;D it was a brilliant sight to watch
The past couple of months have been fun packed and we have loved getting to know Lizzie and see her come out of her shell more and more - the past week she has even started to Roach, she'd only do it before when asking for tummy rubs ;D ;D ;D
We cannot wait to see what else Lizzie will show/teach us in the next few months
(photos will be added once my computer will allow me to use photobucket!!)