Cisco has turned out to be THE MOST affectionate dog I have ever met…he has developed a habit (reinforced by me 
of coarse!) of snuggling his head into my chest…he reminds me of a little child who is asking for a big hug…and Hershey is less outwardly affectionate but is very slowley learning to ask for and love affection as well. I think the biggest change occurred when the weather was warm enough that they were able to go for substancial walks outside. They have become so much more confident since they have been able to do so.
We now go for at least one large walk a day and believe it or not Berdie just keeps right up with us. They love all the smells….They are also VERY good on their leads – Alfie walks just a bit ahead of me (and people often comment how well behaved he is to heel so well) and Berdie walks just a little behind. We stop, and they sniff and play – it makes me so happy to see them just loving life and getting so excited when it is time to go outside.
They are with my parents right now (I am in Europe for a week and a half) aparantly just loving the outside and the back yard. My mum gardens and is in and out of the house for most of the day…and they follow her where ever she goes…Even little Hershey aparantly gets snuggles from my dad now (which is big progress for her). Aparantly Cisco has also developed a habit of running all around the back yard at top speed playing with his bones that my mum makes for them (from the bison farmer…)…But they both comptletly ignore my parent’s dog oskar, which is a bit sad for him since he would really like to have new friends (he was so close with my other dog Harry)…on the odd occassion Berdie will play with oskar though.
One thing I forgot to mention about Berdie before is how healthy she is looking now…I particularly noticed it when I got back from Europe, not having seen her for two weeks. Her coat is so shiny now and her fur is beginning to grow back! She now has all the fur on the knuckles of her paws, her tail, and even her little back elbows (on her back legs) is now showing signs of growing (black dots of the hair follicles)… Also, on her legs – they are no longer bare and on her tummy she now has grown hair, which is white!
She is also doing really well with other people – she used to have a bit of a problem with new people, barking at them and going into a little fit when people came over but she seems to have gotten over that. I started shaking a little jar of change and she really responded well to that and has all but stopped that behaviour (we still have our moments though). I’m told she does suffer a bit from separation anxiety if we are out somewhere and I leave. I did see this once at my grandmother’s house – she must have thought I had left (but in fact i was sleeping on my grandma’s bed) and she was stressing out quite a bit. But I think as she goes for more and more walks and her routine is more ingrained (as that “dog whisperer” talks about) I think she will continue to increase her self esteem.
Alfie, on the other hand, has no problem even going for walks with other people! Both are really good on their leads and I don’t have any problem with two dogs. They walk single file – Alfie in the lead or more or less by my side and Berdie just to the rear or a little ahead of me. It really is quite amazing to see them – I am just so pleased!
