Another breakthrough

E has been with us for almost 4 weeks. Usually his morning routine is he wants to be petted but won't come all the way up to me without me telling him to sit and then giving him a treat.

This morning, I could tell he wanted to come up to me, but when I'd turn to him he'd trot away, and trot around the dining room table, coming close to me each time but not explicitly coming up to be petted.

I was in my bathroom getting ready for work, and he came to the door-- again, the "I want to come up to you" vibe. I sat on the edge of the tub and one dog came up for pets. And so did E. No coaxing, no "sit" routine, he just came all the way up to me for a little scratching on his chest. It's a small thing, but a big thing at the same time.

Also, in the mornings he is very playful and wants to engage in play. He tries to get this started by acting all prancy and happy and then barking at me. I don't want the barking part, it's early in the morning and my neighbors will not be OK with that. I immediately turn away from him. If that doesn't stop it, which so far it kinda doesn't, I immediately go into the other room and shut the door, leaving him dumbfounded. After about 10 seconds, I open the door like nothing happened. This interruption of the barking is important. If I had more time to work with this in the morning, I'd wait for the moment when he stopped barking, and would C/T the quiet. The only time we have this barking is when we arrive home and he's greeting us, and when he's trying to play (or when my other dogs are wrestling and playing, and he's trying to join in, so he barks at them happily while they wrestle).

Also this morning, he proactively jumped onto the sofa to have a 20-min snuggle session with my husband. Dennis loved this, because E has been slower to warm up to him and now E is completely comfortable with him.