Burrito Wrangling #5

Burrito Wrangling Update # 5: I'm very excited to report that we have made some exceptional progress with the Burritos. Murph appears to be adjusting to his elevated Prozac levels so that now when on a walk, he's able to think rationally during most "scary" events and even ignore the crazy barking of some dogs. We've been walking them both together at least twice a day, and they will walk side by side, occasionally touching without any signs of trouble. In the evenings, we have them out (leashed) sitting on separate couches and Murph is free to leave if he gets too overwhelmed. He has been putting himself into his crate at night when he no longer wants to be around Mila. She has also learned to give him much more space and is becoming responsive when I tell her to stop if she's approaching him too quickly.

The most exciting thing that we've been doing, as suggested by the brilliant life-saving Kara (Train Without Pain), is to give Murph some tripe whenever he sees Mila for the first time after a period apart (sleeping at night, or after her play care). Tripe is a disgusting dog food made out of the lining of a cow's stomach, and it's apparently like crack for dogs. They FREAK when they get it. They now *only* get the tripe when they are together so that Murph can start making positive associations with having Mila around. It has honestly been so successful, that he approached her this morning and licked her face!

While our progress has been great, we are still taking it slow. The line between success and chaos is very thin with Murph and I don't want to overload him too quickly so their contact will remain limited with Mila spending her days in day care so that Murph can wander the house unrestricted #burritowrangling