Friday Pup (and Kit) Time

Today was the first normal (half-day) Friday since Penelope came home, and I was excited, looking forward to really getting to just relax with her.  It was on my mind to stop at the Mediterranean Bakery and bring home a weekend's worth of pita, hummus, couscous, and stuffed grape leaves (*drool*) - but I didn't count on today's being a holiday.  Darn!  But good for them for taking the day.

Coming home, I hear from my mom (from The Dog Whisperer) that one way to reduce some of the more florid symptoms of canine separation anxiety is to make the moment of \homecoming as neutral as possible.  This makes sense to me, so I've been trying to just shuttle her out the door to head off as much of the "YOU'RE HOME YAY" pee as possible.  Today I put her out, went upstairs, bonded with Gossamer a while (damn, that cat is unbelievably cute), got into some comfy clothes, and came outside to bond with Penelope a while (damn, that dog is unbelievably cute).

For a while, I sat fairly calmly while her wig-level subsided, then we got to be all huggy and affectionate, and that was so nice.  After a while, she needed a scratch and a lick, so she went in the grass and we just had (as my neighbor and I tend to call it when our dogs are done interacting) parallel play for a little while.

Penelope has given me reason to suspect she's not the Runaway Dog my late, beloved Sid-Oh-Knee was, and I decided to try an experiment.  In the wee hours of the morning, I'd taken her out for a pee, and she was a Very Good Girl off-leash - so today, after she was wrestling with the lead for a minute, I decided to let her free, and she was REALLY good.  Didn't even think about leaving the yard for a while - we had a great, violent game of frisbee-and-growling, which was so fun.  By the time she did want to wander, I discovered it's pretty easy to get her to come back.  And she got out just now, went for the front yard, and ... when I called her, she came to me.  Sure, it was like the third time.  But Siddy sure wouldn't have!  She used to buzz me for fun.  That girl could run.

So can Penny, to be sure.  *Grin*  But she runs back to me.

Bonding with her was really wonderful.  Quiet.  Lovable.  Growly and loud.  So reassuring, for us both I hope.  I think so.

She got treats when we came in, and this evening I've spent some time erecting her crate (she went right in it; I need to get her some new toys for in there, and probably more than one more blanket now!), discarding that sisal rug she and the cat have both expressed their anxieties on, mopping the floor in that room ... picking up the poop she left on the freshly mopped floor ...

G-d love a dog.  Bless her puppy-Basenji-butt.

I'm told that, indeed, crating DOES help to curb indoor elimination.  Certainly it will be good for my mail, and every cushion in the house!  For now, she's flumped down beside me, the laundry is churning, the floor is drying, and the windows are all open to air out the house (again ...).  Tomorrow, finally, a house-cleaning I can hope will not be reversed in less than a day by rampant doodoo and shredding-of-everything.  I might even get uppity, confident, and ambitious, and bring up The Big Rug from the basement.  The weather is cooling ...


Today my heart swelled with what a great blessing my animals are ... and such hope that I can ever hope to be as good as these two deserve.