As an update, Clover has been home with us. My mom is a great guinea pig since she’s pretty calm and unfazed by Clover and doesn’t try to get in her space. And she knows we are practicing with guests so she’s been willing to help.

I’m pretty sure Clover remembered that last interaction with my mom because when we did the arrival protocol, Clover did her stranger danger bark and she doesn’t do that too often anymore (even when we have had repair guys come). So we just let her chill in the crate until she relaxed and then when ready brought her out on leash and did OSR by the couch. My mom and I chatted for a couple hours and Clover was mostly relaxed but definitely keeping an eye on my mom. Like idling at yellow I would say and dipping into green now and then. We put her back in the bedroom while I made dinner and the girls came home and she came back out on leash after dinner and was then much more relaxed around my mom and curious about her (sniffing at her a bit and even laying pretty close to where she was). The girls started doing tricks with her so she got a little playful and was then much more herself. She even laid down on the couch between my mom and me (a few feet away from my mom) before bed. We’ve just kept her on leash while we are all together.  This morning, Clover was a little startled when she came out and my mom was still here so she barked but we just did the routine again and did OSR on the couch and she settled. She at one point went close to my mom to check her out and sniff at her and then froze and growled quietly so I just said her name and she refocused on me and we did more OSR. But she’s mostly ok. She just walked by my mom (on the leash) and gave her a little lick on her hand and walked off. I would say it’s mostly a really positive experience. She’s just uncertain here and there so we are doing our routines and I can see her settling back down again. My mom leaves tomorrow so we will probably just keep doing what we are doing. So that’s what’s happening!

I’ll let Brian tell you about how he encountered a dog on his walk with her last week (all went well thankfully, but it was an off leash dog so we are lucky). 🙂