Annie loved her crate. It was her safe place and she would go in there when she needed confidence and comfort. In the first few days she might venture out for a minute, but then return shortly after and settle back down into her bed. She would tuck her nose into the bumper and rub it around. I think she loved the feel of something soft on her face and this was probably her very first bed that was all her own. We didn’t close the door to her crate very often, she spent so much time in there, I wanted her to feel free to explore if and when she had the courage to do so.

We began calling her crate “home base”. When I called her, she would cock her head and consider what she should do. Eventually she would stand up, take a couple of steps out, but then return again to her crate. I’d give her some time, and then she’d try it again, coming out a little further and then return again to regroup. Watching her do this reminded me of my son when he played youth baseball. He’d lead off of the base with each pitch and then tag up again if the pitch was missed. Annie was “tagging up” at her base.

In the first couple of months it might take 5 or 6 tries to get her to come all the way around the house (she still refused to cut through the short hallway), whether it was to go out, eat a meal, leave the house for a walk, or try to get her into the yard so that we could then get into the car. At times it was frustrating but I was learning that she was willing to follow me, she just needed to take her time and some days required more time than others. Sometimes she would tremble in between tries, sometimes not. There was no predicting if she would come on the first attempt or the 9^th.

When she began spending more time outside her crate, she would tag up if there was any sort of change. If someone came into the house, she would tag up before coming out to see who was here. If she heard one of us coming downstairs and she was outside her crate she would tag up. If she was coming around the perimeter of the house to get into the kitchen and one of us was standing in a place she wasn’t exptecting, she would get startled and turn around and tag up before she would try it again. She was gaining confidence, but she needed the comfort of her crate to give her an extra boost.

She was getting more comfortable with the leash so if we needed to go somewhere (usually the vet) and I was short on time I would give her 3 or 4 tries and then clip her on leash. Once on the leash she would follow me straight out the door. I wanted her to learn to come on her own so I didn’t do this often. After a couple of months I discovered that if I put her leash in my hand and stood outside her crate, she would follow me.   Once in the yard she might pause a few times when she saw me heading for the car and I would need to use the leash. This usually meant that she and I would do a few circles in the yard before she would let me clip her on the leash. Eventually she got to the point that she would come all the way through the yard and to the car without having to be leashed. This is when I knew we were finally gaining her trust. She felt safe with us and was beginning to overcome her fear of the unknown.