Friday, October 10, 2008
faker
Lately, around his normal choice for bedtime, Tug has been pulling a fast one. He does his normal "I'm ready for bed now please deliver my snack to my crate" routine...until he's IN the crate...then, it's five minutes of quiet and "bark." It's his very polite "may I come out now" bark that he does when he's woken up from a nap. If not addressed, there's a minute or so of quiet and "Bark." If you still ignore him there's either a "BArk" or this type of part-yawn part-groan sound. The little butthead wants to come out- mostly so in about half an hour he can go back in again- with another bedtime snack! That's the deal- go in the crate quietly and there's a treat put inside. He is so working it!!!
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
The Grand Tour
Tug handled his weekend trip very well. He and Mama rode together in the backseat for what ended up being about 9 hours with rest stops. Thank goodness he can pee and poo on command as some stops were quick hit-and-run types. Sometimes we didn't even let him out of the car. He spent time in Mama's lap looking out the window and sleeping beside her. There were snacks, of course, and lunch included his favorite edible of all: peanut butter. He had just a little bit as a reward for being such a good boy but none of us wanted to upset his tummy.
The hotel was nice and new. We loaded a cart with all our belongings which included his crate. My sister carried him through the lobby and down the hall to the elevator as there were people about and she didn't want him getting overly excited. She carried him into his first elevator and he shook like a leaf for the ride to the third floor. We ignored him so he wouldn't think it was a big deal. Once she put him down to walk into our room he shook himself and just started sniffing around like "no big deal."
There wasn't a lot of open floorspace for play but my sister did let him up on her bed with her. Mama and I resolutely kicked him off of ours when he'd try to get up. My allergies cannot handle dog hair in my pillow and neither does Mama's asthma. At one point, he was waiting outside the bathroom door while my sister was in there. I looked at his body posture and pointed it out to Mama. She knocked on the door, let Tug in, he used his papers and trotted back out- all while my sister was in the shower. What a good boy!
The ride back was a little different for Tug as I sat in the back with him. He didn't get into my lap so much but he did lean against me some. He tried hard to sleep but everytime he was just about settled a truck would blow by or we'd take a pit stop. He got overly excited at rest areas close to the road from the noise. If there was a stand of trees between him and the road he just ignored it.
Overally, a very well behaved terrier who exhibited unusual patience with this complete disruption of routine.
The hotel was nice and new. We loaded a cart with all our belongings which included his crate. My sister carried him through the lobby and down the hall to the elevator as there were people about and she didn't want him getting overly excited. She carried him into his first elevator and he shook like a leaf for the ride to the third floor. We ignored him so he wouldn't think it was a big deal. Once she put him down to walk into our room he shook himself and just started sniffing around like "no big deal."
There wasn't a lot of open floorspace for play but my sister did let him up on her bed with her. Mama and I resolutely kicked him off of ours when he'd try to get up. My allergies cannot handle dog hair in my pillow and neither does Mama's asthma. At one point, he was waiting outside the bathroom door while my sister was in there. I looked at his body posture and pointed it out to Mama. She knocked on the door, let Tug in, he used his papers and trotted back out- all while my sister was in the shower. What a good boy!
The ride back was a little different for Tug as I sat in the back with him. He didn't get into my lap so much but he did lean against me some. He tried hard to sleep but everytime he was just about settled a truck would blow by or we'd take a pit stop. He got overly excited at rest areas close to the road from the noise. If there was a stand of trees between him and the road he just ignored it.
Overally, a very well behaved terrier who exhibited unusual patience with this complete disruption of routine.
