No more dog phobia here!

You would have to have lived in my house these past 2 months to understand the significance of this photo.  The HUGE progress it depicts!

Many children adopted from Ethiopia come home and are afraid of their new family's pet dog(s).  As expected our new little girl was scared of our dog.  Terrified really.

When we were still in Ethiopia with her we got a glimpse into what we'd face once we got home.  At our guesthouse there were some adorable newborn kittens, only a few weeks old.  The kittens were mostly outside and we'd just hear their tiny little mews, but one day the door was opened and one of the tiny kitties ventured inside.  The kitty was the size of my hand, but you would have thought Little Girl had just encountered a lion by the way she reacted!  Even once we calmed her from the initial fit and petted the kitten ourselves, she wanted nothing to do with that kitty no matter how much my husband and I or the ladies working at the guesthouse coaxed her.

Of course once we got home, she was terrified of our dog, and Madeline the dog spent a whole lot of time in her crate those first few weeks.  But, slowly Little Girl began to tolerate the dog (as in they could be in the same room together without screaming).

And now, Little Girl loves our dog.  She's giving her a kiss in the picture above!

And it's not just our dog.  As we walk past all the cars waiting in the car line at the elementary school, Little Girl squeals in delight at every dog she sees sticking its head out of a car.  Her joy in seeing dogs is so extreme that another mother I don't know at school recently asked me if we have a dog because every day when Little Girl is so excited to see her dog in car line she thinks to herself, "I hope they have a dog."  That sentiment was so funny to me and I just had to share with the other mom, because really 2 months ago, Little Girl's fear was so strong I was wishing we didn't have a dog!

But, it seems Madeline has turned Little Girl into a dog-lover after all!  Praise God for tangible proof of the progress we've all made these past 2 months!

****Yes, I know Madeline needs a bath and a good brushing, somebody really should have stopped me before we got a furry, furry, blond dog!  Kinda reminds me of our white kitchen floor!  The floor and the dog show dirt in the worst way!****

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