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So far, today has been a good day for all of us. Breakfast went smoothly. As I was putting the cats' lunch plates down, Jackie turned around and walked over to her dish and sat down...I gave her her lunch, she ate and life was good. Tonight at dinner, I did have to say, "Room! Room!" and point a couple times, but she went in the room and sat down. After I put the cats' plates down, I gave Jackie her supper. She gobbled her food down, I said, "Room!" and she went into the living room. Everybody ate supper. After I picked the plates up, she came back out to the kitchen and nosed around, just to make sure nobody dropped anything.
The cats are dealing well. Muffin likes to mutter when Jackie gets into her space, but other than that, they're fine. Pepe and Tabby are still wary, but they want their food and their kibble, so they come out. Tabby is coming out more often than she did. Boo doesn't care one way or the other. He really likes Jackie's new bed and is probably wondering why he didn't have such a neat bed before this.
We've been giving her free rein in the house the past couple of days, BUT I do have a gate at the bathroom door, so she can't go in....those feline Hershey bars are just too tempting for her. No accidents....she's been out nine times so far today (yes, I count!) and she does pee every time, not a lot, but she does something. I think she feels obligated to pee because we're taking her out so often.
But the exercise is good for her and for me, too, so I'm not going to squabble. 10-minute walks around the yard are better than no walks. I'm trying to get her to run or at least lope a little bit, but the smells in the yard are just too tempting for her. She sniffs everything. She'll probably go out twice yet before today is done. (And I can see on my Fitbit Dashboard every time I take her outside because my steps increase a little bit.
Every little bit helps.)
Jackie was sleeping on the couch earlier. I started taking pictures down from the walls to put some Christmas things up. She opened one eye, realized that I was doing something and she had to get up to check things out. She follows us everywhere. I swear she thinks, "What ARE these people doing? Just about the time I get used to something, they change everything around! Sure was a lot quieter at my old house!"
She's been "helping" me clean the living room today and she's been helping me with laundry. The cats' pillow for the living room bay window goes into a pillow case and the only way I can do that is by putting the whole thing on the floor. Jackie thought that was great fun; she rolled around on the pillow case, belly up, tail wagging the whole time. And right now, she's helping Rick pull up some of the carpeting in the bedroom. Rick is taking the carpet up; Jackie is laying on the carpet padding watching every move. And she's doing a lot of investigating. That tail of hers never stops wagging; I think that's a good thing.
Rick said she's going to be one tired pup tonight. She's been a busy girl today.
I'm wondering, too, Carol, what she's going to do when Evelyn comes here on Thanksgiving. And what she'll do when it comes time for her to leave again, if Jackie'll fuss to go along. Hopefully, she'll just say, "Bye! Catch you later!" and snuggle on the couch. I don't want her to be too confused.
The cats are dealing well. Muffin likes to mutter when Jackie gets into her space, but other than that, they're fine. Pepe and Tabby are still wary, but they want their food and their kibble, so they come out. Tabby is coming out more often than she did. Boo doesn't care one way or the other. He really likes Jackie's new bed and is probably wondering why he didn't have such a neat bed before this.
We've been giving her free rein in the house the past couple of days, BUT I do have a gate at the bathroom door, so she can't go in....those feline Hershey bars are just too tempting for her. No accidents....she's been out nine times so far today (yes, I count!) and she does pee every time, not a lot, but she does something. I think she feels obligated to pee because we're taking her out so often.
Jackie was sleeping on the couch earlier. I started taking pictures down from the walls to put some Christmas things up. She opened one eye, realized that I was doing something and she had to get up to check things out. She follows us everywhere. I swear she thinks, "What ARE these people doing? Just about the time I get used to something, they change everything around! Sure was a lot quieter at my old house!"
She's been "helping" me clean the living room today and she's been helping me with laundry. The cats' pillow for the living room bay window goes into a pillow case and the only way I can do that is by putting the whole thing on the floor. Jackie thought that was great fun; she rolled around on the pillow case, belly up, tail wagging the whole time. And right now, she's helping Rick pull up some of the carpeting in the bedroom. Rick is taking the carpet up; Jackie is laying on the carpet padding watching every move. And she's doing a lot of investigating. That tail of hers never stops wagging; I think that's a good thing.
Rick said she's going to be one tired pup tonight. She's been a busy girl today.
I'm wondering, too, Carol, what she's going to do when Evelyn comes here on Thanksgiving. And what she'll do when it comes time for her to leave again, if Jackie'll fuss to go along. Hopefully, she'll just say, "Bye! Catch you later!" and snuggle on the couch. I don't want her to be too confused.
that things continue going great.
Crating can be a really positive experience for a dog. We still have our lab's crate up, and she puts herself to bed there every night...and sometimes in the day too. When we had crates downstairs both dogs would regularly choose to go in them for a nap. So long as the crate isn't associated with punishment it really can become a dog's 'safe space'. There's no need to feel bad about it.
