THREE E E is a Magic Number

There is a rule of thumb that I believe Patricia McConnell coined. The 3,3,3 rule. She had explained that some research done by the ASPCA on how adopted rescue dogs do in their transitions to new homes had shown that as a rule of thumb dogs going into foster homes or forever homes from shelters, or from foster homes to forever homes, anytime there is a significant change in a dog's life like changing address there are mileposts in that transition that seem to hold true in general. But what is the 3,3,3? The research found that 3 days, 3 weeks, and 3 months are these mileposts where there is a shift for the dog. The shift can be subtle or dramatic or a combination of the two but I can tell you that this rule of 3 really does seem to hold true in our household with our personal and our foster dogs. As a rule we don't have a foster dog for 3 months as they are usually adopted within a month or less but occasionally we do have a dog who is with us longer and it just so happens Timken and Sybil both have made it to the 3 month mark. I realized that as we approached the 3 month mark there are some significant shifts happening at this junction.

Sweet Timken in "his chair".

Let's start with Timken. He arrived in our home on Oct 12, 2013.

Here are few of the strides he has made and some of them very close to this 3 month milepost! There really was a definite shift in these 3 things and many more.

Squawk!!!--- What? Let me explain. Tim having a very shaky start to life would squawk multiple times a day for quite some time. Anytime we would reach for him, touch him, I would put his food bowl down, we touched his ears, we put him in his crate, picked him up, touched his sides, loud noises happened, we got our foot too close to him when walking through the house, quick movements etc... Tim would yelp out what sounded like a loud squawk or sometimes it sounded like a goose honk. It was startling to us and of course he had been startled too. We realized the other day that he will go days without squawking as he is feeling much more comfortable with his environment and us.

S/U--Submissive urination. Along with this squawking would many times be urination. And Tim would also submissive urinate when we would need to pick him up, even if we squatted down he would lose urine. He would sometimes lose it just because we walked up to him too quickly. This has been very minimal in the last couple of weeks leading up to the 3 month mark. The only time I can think he has done it recently is when we needed to clip his nails (there was some squawking and peeing with this but he recovered super quickly and was given lots of yummy treats for his efforts)

Harness---Getting Tim's harness on takes some time and patience. But I am happy to say he has come to me two days in a row and gotten up on the chair and let me put the harness on him. Such progress!

Adorable Sybil and Monkey relaxing together.

Sybil arrived in our home Oct 18, 2013

Here are three shifts she has made in the last week or two as we approach the three month mark that she has been in our home.

Whining and face licking---Sybil really has made huge improvements in these two areas. When we first got her she whined all the time and was very anxious about everything. She would even whine as she was taking a walk. She is also a face licker. Where that can be cute at times it really isn't cute because it can be a bad habit and also I think she does it when she is excited and anxious. Her whining has subsided greatly, she hardly does it at all except for when she is super excited like getting ready to go to get in the car, one of her favorite things, or when we have been out for a bit and she is super excited to see us. She also hardly licks our faces anymore and if we gently remind her to stop she does right away and will settle down. She still needs help with strangers though when it comes to licking faces, but she is so much more relaxed in the last couple of weeks than she had been previously.

S/U---Sybil also had some submissive urination stuff when we first got her but again this is an area she has made huge strides and her all together anxiousness is getting better and better with stability and patience.

Balking on walks---This is where I am soooo proud of her. I will do a blog post just on this balking while walking, but I am so happy to report that in the last week or two Sybil has made huge improvements in this area. A big part of this is my learning, by trial and error, how to help keep her moving forward and not get locked up when on a walk. She has really been amazing on her walks lately and that just makes it nice for everyone! Great job Sybil!!!!!

It is always important to remember that our furry friends are always changing, ebbing and flowing in their progress. I also have noticed that 6 months, 1 year, and 2 years seem to hold significant shifts for our adopted dogs too. Just like us humans our dogs are continually growing and blossoming. Patience is the magic word, and 3 can be a magic number.