When I came downstairs this morning I saw this.

Lucy

Lucy was in the dining room on top of the buffet.

Then she saw Greg and did this

Greg and Lucy

Bess did notice Lucy when she was cuddling with Greg and of course did the bouncy bark thing but with several “leave it’s” and the shake of the treat bag Bess obeyed and went outside for a bit.

We are definitely making headway!

So this morning as I was getting ready to leave for work I hear a faint meow that seemed to come from outside. No, wait could it possibly be coming from the basement?  I went to look and there at the bottom of the basement stairs was our Lucy Kitty.  As I knelt down and called to her, she quickly came up the stairs and into my arms where I snuggled her for several minutes while she told me all about the past few days.

In an effort to help Lucy become used to being with us and out of the basement I closed the basement door so she couldn’t go back down while we were at work.  She had access to the front room that is separated from the living room by a child gate and the upstairs door was open and blocked by a child gate as well.  Which means for her purposes when the pups are in the house those are pup free zones so in time Lucy will realize she has places that she can feel safe in.

When Greg came home from work he cuddled and petted Lucy for about 30 minutes before bringing the pups in from their pup pen.  When I came home I went out to the front room to pet her and say hi.  She seemed relaxed and calm.

After supper I went back out to the front room and gently wrapped Lucy in a towel, and while cradling her in my arms walked closer to the front room door where she could see the pups, the pups could see her but not get to her.  The entire time I was petting her and talking quietly to her  Greg was telling Bouncy Bess to “leave it” when she really, really wanted to greet Lucy. After a few minutes I put Lucy down and she retreated to the far end of the front room to the top of the futon.    I went into the living room and congratulated Bess for being a very good girl.

About 15 minutes later I went back out to Lucy, wrapped her up again and brought her into the living room where both Lucy and Bess did well.  You’ll have to use your imagination as I was too busy to take pictures but Bess really wanted to play with Lucy, but she obeyed and although she kept asking Greg “if he was sure she couldn’t play with Lucy, even if she sat?” Bess obeyed which is awesome!   Lucy purred and stayed pretty relaxed which was also awesome.    I moved from place to place in the living room with Lucy eventually taking her back out to the front room.  Once again I told both Lucy and Bess they did well and were good girls.

Tomorrow night we’ll try again and who knows Lucy and I might even get to sit down.

Nothing exciting has been happening lately, just a lot of day to day normalness.

Bess continues to mature into her 1 year old self and next month marks the one year anniversary that this bouncy loveable pup joined our family.   She has proved to be just as good as her sisters when it comes to making her people feel better when they are sick.

Dr. Bess

Bess

Bonnie and Belle are enjoying the fact that it’s still dark when we wake up now and push the envelope when it comes to “please, can we sleep just a little longer?”    They often will go outside then come back in for an early morning snooze before starting the day!

Belle

Bonnie

Linus is doing better about sitting in my lap without chewing on my clothes or blanket. I am learning how he likes to be petted so he doesn’t think I’m playing and start the play biting.

Linus

And Lucy? Well we’re still trying to convince her that staying in the basement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.  Over the past couple of months the combination of having weekend company,  Greg and I being gone for a weekend, Bouncy Bess wanting to play and just changes in Lucy’s routine make the basement seem really good to her.    Occasionally she makes an appearance and when she does we welcome her with open arms and forehead bumps, in a quiet understated way of course.   We are working on soothing her fears and Bess is doing pretty good “leaving it” when she would rather “play with it”

Lucy and Linus

That’s it for now.  Have a good day everyone!