Looking up

Things have, indeed, gotten better. As I'm sure is no surprise to anyone, most of the improvements have to do with Kraig and me honing our puppy skills.

I spent an hour yesterday afternoon chatting with my mom on the bed in my room with the dog gated off in the livingroom and diningroom. I needed a break away from her company. Mom had some good suggestions that my sleep-deprived brain hadn't come up with, like putting something that smelled like us out for her to curl up with. Finally, I have something to do with Kraig's stinky hockey shirts other than gag while putting them in the washing machine!

Anyway, that worked. We also talked about whether she was leashed trained or not, and I realized that, no, she's not the least bit leash trained, and that what Kraig and I were expecting of her on walks was simply not realistic. I also tried using her kibbles as treats instead of the "grain-free, organic chicken" treats we bought her as a present. I thought we'd adopted a mutant dog who didn't like treats. Turns out, those things were just crap (and also didn't agree with her stomach). Now all we have to do to get her attention is hold up a kibble. I spent 10 minutes with her on-leash walking slowly around the apartment next to me, sitting whenever I stopped walking. Success! I even got her to do it twice outside this morning when she went out to pee. It's still a bit too busy outside during the day to expect her to focus, but I'm going to keep working inside and hopefully it'll translate naturally to her walks once she gets the hang of it.

The VERY BEST bit of progress from yesterday is that she SLEPT BY HERSELF IN THE LIVINGROOM!!! Kraig and I have been taking turns sleeping on the couch and keeping her company, which sucks, and last night we decided that she was used to the house and was going to have to suck it up and deal. She whined for about an hour (apparently; I passed out immediately) and then settled down and slept through the night without any accidents. She was even still asleep when we went to take her out in the morning, so maybe we can sleep in a little on weekends.

At the moment she's playing contentedly with her tennis ball and fabric frisbee in and around my office while Kraig showers and shaves. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to get some work done later today while she amuses herself. She's figured out a neat trick of picking up the ball wrapped inside of the frisbee so that she can carry them both around at the same time. She has a seriously adorable puppy prance when she's proud of herself.