Man's Best Friend... FINALLY!

Collin and Tucker got off to a pretty rocky start. Okay, it was totally my fault. When we finally made it home from the airport the day Collin came home, it was after 1:00 in the morning. We'd been traveling most of the day and we were both exhausted. I put Collin down on the family room floor without checking to see where Tucker was. Did I mention that dogs in Haiti are not the cleanliest animals and therefore the children are taught to stay as far away from them as possible? Did I also mention that it's been just Tucker and I in my house for the last four years and he was therefore REALLY excited to see me after I'd been gone for 3 days? You can guess what happened next. Yep, Tucker leaped for me, landed right in front of Collin's face and scared the daylights out of him. (On the slightly humorous side, 'cuz it was pretty funny, I've never seen Collin jump and run that fast before or since!) For the next 17 (okay I might be rounding up, but it was pretty close to that) days, Collin would start to cry if Tucker was in the same room. Slowly, things started to improve. First, Tucker was allowed in the room as long as he didn't make eye contact or any sudden movement and didn't come within 10 feet of Collin. Then, it was 5 feet and he was allowed on Collin's couch, but still no eye contact and no sudden movements. Our first break through followed a whole lot of encouragement by me, when Collin would touch Tucker for half a second and then run squealing (not crying, just excited) from the room. Of course, Tucker had to be asleep on the floor before he would do it. And then FINALLY...

Not only is Tucker allowed to roam freely, but Collin is even allowing him to give "kisses".

Of course, now that he knows there is nothing to be afraid of, he's taken to running over him with his new Diego bike and pinning him in the corner as a target for his big bouncy ball. I think Tucker liked it better when he was afraid of him. Sorry boy...but thanks for being a good sport!