This is beautiful Ella … or Bella Ella as I've started calling her … doing what she does every meal time. Alayne got this photo yesterday evening while I was in the dining room filling the dog bowls with food. We have a doggie gate that separates the dining room and kitchen from the living room, and Ella comes over and stands up with her one front foot on the gate to monitor the food service staff. Occasionally she'll even let out a muffled "woof!" if she thinks we're not moving fast enough to dish it out.
She really has this thing about standing up on her hind legs. She'll go over to a window and do it to get a better view outside, and of course in the process her one front paw then takes down the blinds. Please note rumpled blinds in the background!
With every passing day she is becoming more like a normal dog and putting her fears of people behind her. She no longer hesitates about coming through the door if we're standing there holding it open for her, nor does she run from us any longer. If we approach her suddenly, Ella will still instinctively turn away and crouch, but now she doesn't flee … she'll stay put, and once we begin loving her up, she relaxes. It's almost like there's one part of her brain that continues to be "wired for flight" from her past history of abuse, but other parts of her brain have figured out that good things come from these people and it's okay to stand still and wait for them to approach. We can almost see the tussle between the two emotions in her when this happens.
But at meal time, there's only one emotion we see: "Feed me!"
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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