Update: Carlee

On July 29th, another TLC guardian angel foster mom (Roxanne) took Carlee on because we had a few pregnant mommies come in... And now Roxanne is going away for the weekend for her birthday, so I have Carlee for the weekend... 

Carlee watching a Simi sunset

Ten days makes a LOT of difference in the life of one of these little ones, especially one with the issues Carlee has (her back story is HERE)... And as foster moms, on a day-to-day basis you really don't see the progress... But as someone who has not seen Carlee in ten days, I am absolutely blown away by her progress...

First of all, the subtle signs you might not notice right away... Carlee is acting more like a normal dog now... She is exploring her world with her nose... Smell is the most important sense with a dog and she is consistently lifting that head and 'tuning in' with her nose... And she will continue to hold that head up and zero in on what she wants to smell more of... This was a major shocker to me the first time I saw it, and I had to keep looking to make sure I really did see it... She's done it many times this evening and I am just 'gob-smacked' as another TLC volunteer would say... 

The next thing I noticed?... Carlee has learned to be affectionate... Not only to lift her head and hold it, but to give you kisses... Not as accidental ones... But ones ON PURPOSE... She knows where she wants to go and reaches out to reach your chin or cheek, then proceeds to really give you solid and sweet kisses... 

Probably more apparent to those who don't interact with Carlee often, but she is now REALLY pumping those back legs in her wheelie... She is picking them up and you can see her deliberateness when she plants them back down... She now has muscle tone in those hind legs that she did not have before and she stretches out those toes and digs in... Before, her leg had one bend in it (at the hock) and now there is an actual "ankle" above her toes... Instead of half sitting down, there is definition now that she did not have before... 

She has not learned to back up in her wheelie, but she went up and down my long hallway this evening... And if she got the end, she'd struggle to turn herself... Only if she could not did she cry for help... Otherwise, she is a real motor-scooter and this is directly to all the hard work Roxanne has done the past 10 days!  BRAVO!

Amazing stuff, ya know?...