Don't get me wrong. His favorite toys are still his collection of stuffed animals.
For the better part of three months I've referred to Chester as being like a stuffed animal himself. Put him in a corner or under a table and he stays there until you go retrieve him (no pun intended). Well, it's time for that moniker to be dropped.
He's finally started to exert some of his own will in certain situations and at the same time he's responding to more of my wishes. He sits or stands still while I connect the leash and generally walks without resistance anywhere in the house or back yard. Lately though he tries to turn right towards the front door when we're actually headed left to go downstairs. He loves to ride in the car and if we go right and out the front door he knows that means a trip of some sort. If we're just taking a walk in the neighborhood we exit through the garage. Chester may be limited in some aspects of his life, but nobody in our household ever said he was stupid. He catches on quickly, the only things holding him back are his nerves and level of stress or fear.
Here's some of the most recent changes in Chester's behavior:
1 - The leash is never required to return upstairs from the basement. He returns to me and the stairway door multiple times each day when I call him. That's misleading because he would return if I never said a word. He prefers to be upstairs in his "space", but if he is otherwise preoccupied in the basement, he will come when I call his name.
2 - Occasionally he actually comes when I call his name for other reasons, not often, but that's improving.
3 - He acknowledges me when I speak to him. He sleeps on a dog bed at the side of my bed, so if I look down at him from my bed, he turns to look up and acknowledge that I've spoken to him.
4 - Today when I not only showed him the leash, but the halter, he stood up and walked to me so I could put it on. That always means he's either going for a walk or in this case, a car ride.
5 - He approaches us more often when we offer him a treat. Previously he stayed under the table or in his corner and the only way he got food, water or a treat was if we brought it to him. Now, especially if it's one he really likes, he will approach us and sit or stand to get his share.
6 - Last night not only did he sleep with his back to the open room, he was completely exposed sleeping with his head in the corner and his tail to the room.
7 - He hasn't had nightmares for awhile. When he had them they'd wake me up as he was obviously in distress. I'd pet him and talk softly to him to calm him down so he could return to sleep. Chester does still snore sometimes when he first falls asleep. Funny, very deep sound coming from this otherwise small boned dog.
8 - For the first time since he became part of our family, I let him outside in back (for potty breaks) by himself or with Casey. Chester doesn't go outside to the back yard for anything other than potty breaks. He believes he's an inside dog and has no interest in playing or patrolling the yard out there like Casey does. I have been so concerned about Chester's propensity and ability to escape, I've gone outside with him every time for several months. Last week I started turning him loose in the fenced yard by himself without fear that he'll try to escape. I go to windows in the basement where I can watch him run. He makes a right turn outside the patio door and runs, all out, around the corner and up the hill. All the while his tail is raised and sometimes wagging. He prances and bounces and jumps around and is obviously enjoying himself. Back and forth, up and down the hill he runs, each time returning to the patio door to see if I'm there to let him inside yet.
All things considered with Chester's progress, I can't refer to him any more, in good conscience, as my stuffed animal rescue dog.
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