November 12 2014
Milton and I have the best cuddles first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I come upstairs and let him out of his crate in the morning, and he stretches arms, legs... I go sit on the sofa and say "Streeetch! Stre-eeeech!" just to teach him words, then pat the sofa next to me and he jumps up and we cuddle. I caress his ears, his temples and cheeks, scratch his back, sometimes he flops over and shows his tummy and I rub it, he makes contented noises, sometimes I get little kisses, I whisper sweet nothings in his ears, for five or ten minutes... then I stand up and say "let's go pee on a bush!" and we go downstairs and out the door for a pee on the bush of his choice (George, Barbara, Jeb... hahaha).
Then we come back in and he bounds up the stairs, gets a toy, mom goes and makes coffee while Milton watches with his toy from just outside the kitchen. Mom fixes Milton's breakfast, tells him "stay", he does, mom says "OK!" in high happy voice and snaps fingers on both hands, Milton comes and eats breakfast, mom changes into walking clothes while he eats.
Last night was the first increase in Prozac dose and he needed a little encouragement to eat, but did, and ate all of it. We'll see how he does tomorrow. Our walk was uneventful - didn't encounter anyone.
When I came home for lunch, he was happy to see me and let me know that we'd gotten a package, but in a not frantic way like yesterday. He just went to the front door and reached up on it more eagerly than he usually does. We did a little training "sit" and "seek". Mommy made him sit and stay and then walked around dropping pieces of salmon treat around, then told him "seek!" He found some on his own "good seek!" and others I had to hint about. He seemed to enjoy this - I got a couple of kisses.
Tonight when I got home for the evening and let him out, he seemed happy to see me again, reached for me, I bent down and held and hugged him, I got a few kisses - this is really nice new behavior! After dinner I took him walkies, but only in the back yard - it is just too dark! I ordered a bright flashlight, reflective vests for both of us, a reflective leash, but until they arrive I'm only going to walk him around the back yard at night.
Bad neighbor woman was out on her deck yacking on the phone like she does almost 24/7, but the activity didn't distract Milton a bit. He did seem distracted by hearing distant doggies barking in the neighborhood. His head perked up and he looked in the direction of the barking, but no growling.
He just walked to the head of the stairs and made a little growl like maybe something was happening outside, but it was small and short, and then he went to get a drinky wa (drink of water). I'm always happy when he goes for water because it happens so infrequently.
Oh, forgot to mention that I also started practicing "look" - and he's really good at it like I thought he would be.
So all in all, today was a great day. Now it's time to read and cuddle before going to sleep. Ahhh! Life is good.