Day 8 ... Monumental Progress!

Oh My Lord Love a Duck! The excitement in our house today! First we took a ride into town to pick up the mail ... Amazon Delivery!! New cones and a very cheap raised bed to try out. I have to explain it's not that I am cheap but I have learned not to buy the all singing, all dancing $$$$$ stuff only to sell it on for less than I paid for it a few months later because The Boy simply cannot find the courage to even use/play with/ go near it! Most new things that enter the house are met with great suspicion and given a very wide berth for weeks and sometimes indefinitely.

So I spent a few minutes putting the thing together, actually super easy to do! I put it in one of his favored spots, on the rug in the sun room. Then I sat next to it treats in hand. He looked suspiciously at the bed and a little voice in my head said, "here we go, this is going to take some time." I gave him a treat just for looking, acknowledging even that there was indeed a new 'something' on the radar. Next thing I know he has a paw on the bed and looks at me as much to say, "am I allowed on here?" So I stood up holding a treat in my left hand ... he stepped up onto the bed and sat down! I gave him a whole handful of treats I was so pleased. Normally at this point with something new he would jump off immediately having received his reward relieved that he had faced his demon to please me and could now get away from it. Instead he laid down and looked at me. Totally on a roll now and keen to prove to myself this wasn't a fluke I dropped some kibble on the floor away from the bed. Still he looked at me. I gave him the cue to get off and eat the kibble, which he did quite calmly, and got more treats at the ready. He got back on the bed!!!

Well! After that we had a bit of a party. At least I had a bit of a party, Lucky looked on bemused as if I had completely lost the plot.