New Found Confidence

When I recruited Girl Scout leaders for a living, I preached to anyone that would listen to me my firm belief, that one of the most important qualities a girl could gain was the confidence and ability to make a good decision. Kev, as a sixth grade math teacher, sees first hand that gaining this self-confidence early is essential to making good decisions - no matter what your gender.

So, you might wonder why that after living in our home for seven months, one of our girls lacked the self-confidence to simply pick up a toy that squeaked. Yes, if Roxy was a sixth grader, she would have started the school year as the girl in the back of the class whose mom still laid out her clothes every morning (and were obviously still purchased in the girl's department and not the teen department), she'd always need help getting her locker open (and not because she wanted the cute boy to help her), her mother hasn't let her read Are You There God, It's Me Margaret yet (and she has no idea what it might be about) and her most prized possession would be her sticker collection from fourth grade (even the scratch and sniff ones still smell, which is an accomplishment). In a nutshell, she might be 11 years old on paper, but she'd be about 8 years old on the maturity scale. To put that in Roxy years - she's a 4 year old with a 2 year old brain.

Let's be clear. She's not a spook, unless there's thunder outside. She's just not confident, well I should use the past tense of that verb. She wasn't confident until Amber's visit and now Maddie's stay. Something in her doggy brain has clicked on and she had become this confident, sassy, little lady who is attempting to rule this house. So far her achievements have included:

1. Jumping on the furniture: yes, I love that Seka gets on the sofa with me. I love that Seka sleeps in bed with us. I love that she wants to snuggle with me and I don't have to lay in the floor to do it. That's why they call it FURniture, right? I used to have to pick Roxy up and hold all 54 lbs her in my lap like a baby for her to cuddle with me on any piece of furniture we owned and she didn't really like it. While I worked in Dallas last week, Roxy decided that she could get on the love seat all on her own and has now claimed it as her spot. Seka hasn't decided if she likes it yet.

2. Squeakers: every squeaker toy has now been shaken (not stirred). She's even tried to play a bit of tug of war with Maddie. She can squeak the stuffies with the best of them now, like a big girl.

3. Retrieving: stuffies in the yard bring out the retriever in Roxy. She's getting pretty good at bringing them back to us. It's still a work in progress, as she is a bit ADD.

So, while our Roxy is not ready for a spot on the next season of Greatest American Dog, she is gaining the confidence she needs to get over whatever trauma she faced in her former life (which we'll never know what it was like for her) and possibly lure course eventually. Maybe I should enroll her in Dog Scouts to speed up the process. She'd look really snazzy in a vest full of badges!

PS: Maddie is doing great. Her ears were in REALLY bad shape, but she is healing nicely. Dr. Hottie took good care of her. You can keep up with Maddie on her own blog until she is adopted. She's a fun girl if anyone is looking for an easy keeper!