Baby steps. Baby steps are often the way to go. There are times in life when you just have to take a huge leap but then there are times when baby steps are the best idea. We have taken baby steps for leaving Elsa alone since Luke's passing. As you all know I am a huge advocate of alone time with our dogs; both being taken out alone and most importantly being left alone. As the one left behind, our dogs must learn to deal with life on their own. When they have a canine life partner pass, they must deal with that absence.
We started leaving Elsa alone immediately. Just heading to the gym was the first time after Luke. This step was an easy one as it is something she is well accustom to. The steps became more frequent and she was left here and there for an hour or two. It is imperative that she be left at home sometimes. If we started to bring her everywhere, never being separated from us; we would in fact be creating an even bigger problem.
The next step was to be left for the day. I was not comfortable leaving her alone for the whole day so I had our sitter come and stay with her. With another step conquered, this past weekend we had another. An overnight without Mom and Dad, alone, without Luke. We had our sitter come and stay again and she did wonderful. Elsa adores her and it was fun for her to spend the day with someone other than me. This step produced some obvious behaviors. Once we got home Elsa would not leave my side. She is a following type girl but this was a notch up. She didn't take her eyes off of me.
Of course now that she has lost Luke there will be the worry of losing someone else in her life. Especially for a dog like Elsa. So we are doing baby steps to help her and it is working. This weekend was the biggest step, an overnight alone. Even though she was not alone she was in the sense that she did not have Luke. But she got through it and was very happy to see us when we got home.
Baby steps to success.
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