My Pet That I Can Finally Pet

From the day we brought Macho home, I've been anticipating the day that I could sit on the couch and cuddle with him. He is so adorable when laying in his bed that I want to pick him up, hug him, and pet him.

Over this past weekend, I became pretty close to seeing that day! I was mopping the floor, and when I was finished, I was stuck in the bedroom as I didn't want to walk on the wet floor. I just laid down on the bed to rest for a minute, and Macho came into the room. He hopped up on the bed like he has done quite a few times now. But he came up above my head and just sat there. I reached up to pet him, and he jumped and ran away. I thought that was the end of him coming up on the bed with me, but I was wrong.

Next thing I knew, Macho came back in the room and hopped back on the bed. This time, however, he sat closer to my body facing away from me. I reached up to pet him, and he let me! As I pet him, he laid down on the bed. I could not believe it! He laid there for a little bit letting me pet him the entire time. He heard a noise in the living room as I had the window open, so he jumped off the bed to check it out. But a couple seconds later, he was back in the bedroom and hopped back up on the bed. Again, he laid down in the same position and let me pet him. This repeated quite a few times, but every time he came back. I ended up laying with him on the bed for about an hour.

I really think that this is a huge step for Macho. Not only did he lay on the bed without shaking in fear, he let me pet him the entire time. I know that I have pet him every day since about the second week we brought him home, but unless he is in his cage, he will not let us touch him. So letting me pet him when he is not in the cage was very surprising to me. Since Nick's roommate moved out and Macho is the only dog in the house, he has been loving it. He is more brave, calm, and open to us. Lately he will come right up to us to see what we are doing, he licks our plates after we have eaten, and he comes out of his cage voluntarily now.

When I think about how much progress Macho has made since we brought him home, I sometimes can't believe that he was the same dog who shook in fear and sat in the back of the cage terrified of us when we went to the shelter to see him. We are starting to see his true colors, and that is the most exciting part of adopting him. To see this little dog show off his personality and play a little makes me so happy. Yesterday I even saw him wag his tail for the first time. These little steps in the right direction let me know that one day, Macho will be that dog that will let me cuddle and pet him whenever I want. I cannot wait to see little Macho Man showing us what is under his shell.