Puppy class on Friday. I think I’ll be glad to start that. Since Melanie’s gotten home, I’ve been as busy as ever though. Which also means that I haven’t had a lot of time to do a lot of training with the Beast. Seriously, it’s felt like I’m always doing something with a dog. Usually involving taking one or another of them out to park. Of course, that’s not entirely true. I wish I could let her have some freedom in the house, but I can’t. In part because of the housebreaking. In part because of the propensity for indiscriminately picking up and possibly chewing anything and everything. Picking up the oxygen tubing and giving it a good chomp would probably be a bad thing. Especially if I don’t notice. I’ll feel a lot better about it once I can start getting a good recall on her. At least with the bell, I can keep track of where she is, except of course when she got away from me this evening when I was getting her into the crate to do something with dinner. She took a merry run around the downstairs, and eventually came back on her own. The coming back on her own was a good thing.
Today was a busy day for me, not so much for Hilda. Tomorrow will probably be the same.
Today, I had to take Fiona to the vet. Fiona was a spaz at the vet. Panting, squirming, trying to be everywhere at once. I think there was some anxiety going. (On a side note, I think she’s not entirely happy about Hilda. Lots of growling and snapping, and I don’t think it’s always playful. I do keep them separated as much as possible for that reason, but Fiona also barks as if she wants to play with the other two, except maybe she doesn’t want to when she has the opportunity.)
Anyway, I put her in the crate. I wanted to take her out one more time before I left, but of course, the cab came for us right away, as opposed to later. However, as I took her out only a half hour or so before, I figured it’d be OK. I put Leno in with her, hoping that would help. instead, they both set up barking! Oops. And she peed. And licked it. And walked in it. (I think she laid in it yesterday after I gave her a bath…I can’t think of another reason the whole side of her was all wet after she dried out.) She repeated this performance a couple other times, even though I’d taken her out only a short time before, each time. I had to go to the store and came back to a similar mess. And another time later. And again this evening. When I took her outside each time, she still had more, too, so I think it was a physical rather than a mental or training problem. On a different note, she’s never, apart from the first or second day, defecated in the house. And she’s gone through the night every night after the first week or so, knock on wood.
Speaking of the bath, yep…I gave her one yesterday. She was a little squirmy, there was a tiny bit of whining, she made a halfhearted attempt to get out of the bathtub, but over all, no real problems with that.
I’m also getting less pulling on the leash when we walk to go out to park. I’m looking forward to trying another walk around the block.
Her leash definitely has puppy teeth at it. She hasn’t chewed through it yesterday, but it’s definitely been chewed from the couple times I accidentally left it on her while confined. I’m going to send off for a couple more of these, just in case.
With Melanie having new attendants, and nurses, and therapists, and all sorts of people in and out, Hilda has met a bunch of people. She’s been very friendly to all of them. She is a jumper though. But she’s showed no anxiety with new people. Oh…and she definitely barks at the vacuum cleaner. Don’t think it’s a fear bark, because it sounds like the bark she barks at the cats.