We finally took Tzipporah to our groomer for the first time, a few weeks ago. I was nervous about how she would manage being with strangers, but other than a small panic attack when the groomer got to her front paws (she told us to pre-medicate Tzipporah with doggy Xanax next time), she did surprisingly well. The best part is that I can see her eyes again, and that means I can see how much her facial expressions have changed since she first came home. She looks curious and interested now, instead of frightened and exhausted.
I was so inspired by how well Tzipporah did at the groomer, that I brought her to therapy with me the next day, to show off her new haircut and to test her ability to sit in the car by herself (instead of with Grandma holding her). She survived the short trip by flattening herself on the backseat, totally unlike Cricket’s habit of climbing every which way while I was driving (though I’m still planning to get a car harness for her, just in case), and then she sat on my lap during therapy, and listened intently to what ended up being a long conversation about how freakin’ cute she is.
And, yes, she is still spending most of her time marinating in her bed, but she’s usually awake now and looking around intently for clues about her new world. She even twists around in her bed to watch me when I leave the room, or, God forbid, leave the apartment altogether. She still hasn’t barked, but she makes the most of her soft voice, waking us up in the morning with her persistent cry, like a tiny car alarm. She’s usually looking for Grandma, to give her breakfast or a treat, but sometimes she even comes looking for me, and then she waits until she’s made eye contact and then runs back to the living room, expecting me to follow.
After her success with the groomer, I decided to move her food and water bowls halfway to the kitchen, rather than near her bed, to encourage her to walk around more often. And I even added toothbrushing into her daily routine (she loves the chicken flavored toothpaste!), and she seems to be tolerating the indignity quite well.
As the weather warms up, the next big challenge will be teaching her how to tolerate walks. She still looks at the leash like it’s a boa constrictor about to strangle her, and when I try to put her on the ground out in the yard, she shakes, so there’s a lot of work ahead. Maybe she’ll have to take some doggy Xanax for walks, as well as for the groomer. In my imagination, I see her running along the beach in the wind, and playing with Kevin-the-Golden-Doodle in the backyard, the way Cricket used to do (except without the violence), but that might be asking too much. We’ll see.
I’m trying to moderate my expectations and just be happy whenever she makes progress, but then I worry that I haven’t challenged her enough or given her enough opportunities for growth. With that in mind, I brought one of Kevin’s squeaky tennis balls into the apartment one day, hoping the smell of him would interest her. I threw the ball a few times, and squeezed it to make it squeak, but Tzipporah just watched intently, with no signs of wanting to participate. She hasn’t quite figured out that life is supposed to be interactive, instead of a movie to be watched from the cozy seats, but I have the same problem, so really, who am I to criticize?
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my novel, Yeshiva Girl, on Amazon. And if you feel called to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
Yeshiva Girl is about a Jewish teenager on Long Island, named Isabel, though her father calls her Jezebel. Her father has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with one of his students, which he denies, but Izzy implicitly believes it’s true. As a result of his problems, her father sends her to a co-ed Orthodox yeshiva for tenth grade, out of the blue, and Izzy and her mother can’t figure out how to prevent it. At Yeshiva, though, Izzy finds that religious people are much more complicated than she had expected. Some, like her father, may use religion as a place to hide, but others search for and find comfort, and community, and even enlightenment. The question is, what will Izzy find?
rachelmankowitz 