Christmas eve day

 

Well, we know the answer to yesterday's blog question about whether the area rug and its pad would survive any training.  Didn't even make it to 24 hours.  The new rug was enough to entice the pup to knock down the gate, multiple times, and she loves to tear into the pad.  This morning, I pulled out the harness again and enticed her into the car for a ride before puppy nap #1, even!

I also sacrificed another stuffed toy to be used for distraction and even allowed the cat to tease her from the deck rail to save that room.  One day at a time, Barb, one day at a time.

After puppy nap #1, I was hoping for warmer temperatures, but they did not materialize.  The pup looked expectantly at the gate to the front hallway after being put into her harness to distract her from the family room temptations.

We went on a leash walk in the 30F overcast day.  My fingers near froze during that 45-minute walk.  Naturally we revisited the dead mouse (that she has visited on the last four walks) and crossed the street to find the (probably bunny?) rib cage she had carried out of the park on Sunday.  Of course she rolled in it.  Repeatedly.  

Frozen fingers inside gloves, I picked that foul thing up and hurled it to lure her onward to get us home.  At home, she sat by the garage door until I opened it, and then she hopped into the back seat all stinky when I opened the car door.  While she was clipped inside the car, I went back out and retrieved that stinky body part and put it in the poop garbage pail.  Then went inside, washed my hands and threw the gloves in the laundry!

Thus, my smelly dog and I went through the Scooter's drive thru nearby.  I rolled down the windows to air us out.  Ember ended up with her first professionally prepared pup cup, while I indulged in a Mr. Mint Mocha, kid's temperature.  238 calories of sugar and fat!  But it's Christmas Eve, so who's counting?  (Me, that's who.)

The Prisoner was sitting on the deck outside the sliding door when we got back into the house.  It took some doing, but Ember finally consented to go down for her next puppy nap and I shuffled The Prisoner back inside so he could have his own treats.

It may not look like much, but this is The Prisoner's domain.  It has a nice, solid latching door between him and Ember's domain!

Baby gates can no longer contain Ember, if she's determined not to honor them.  That new area rug with the pad under it are way too tempting for her to honor the gate.  She pushed it down again, and my games and such were not sufficient distraction.  I put her in the harness which settled her down, in the end.  She was not in the harness when the episode began.

After I finally got her down for puppy nap #3, I put in another layer of containment, stealing a couple of panels from her x-pen in the parlor.

This is not to keep her in, this is to keep her out.  The x-pen is to keep her in a safe space.  This is to protect an area I want to use under supervision only.

One of these days I am going to run out of ways to contain her, and I can only hope that some of the self-restraint has kicked in better by then.

Today on our leash walk she very nicely met a young couple who were leaving a house they were visiting.  The young man was holding an infant/toddler age child in his arms, and she was good, keeping paws on the ground wagging tail, savoring the pets.

It's the contrast between the times she's very, very good, and the times she's feral that will drive a hu-mom nuts!  All told, it was a pretty good day.

Life is Good.  Sparkle a Merry Christmas, a Happy Hannukah, a belated Festivus... whatever, happy holidays!