I’m Still Around…

Just been busy. We had snow last weekend (4-6 inch range in my part of middle Tennessee) followed by BEAUTIFUL weather today; throw in housebreaking the pooch in addition to the other stuff on my plate and you’ve got a busy gal.

A week ago I called the adoption place for the Dukester to see how his foster was working on the housetraining, as Duke was sneaking off if I was not looking and doing his filthy little business in 1. the hallway or 2. the bathroom (kinda OK as that’s easy to clean) or 3. the Bear’s room…I was getting extremely paranoid any time he so much as moved or sniffed.

So, I speak to the foster and she says, oh yes, he’s housetrained, he uses a doggie door (which we don’t have, nor do we plan to get). Which basically means, he’s trained to use his spot outside, not trained like Annie, who would be MORTIFIED to go inside the house (I’m not kidding – I would be worried about her health if she used the bathroom inside the house).

Anyway, here’s what the foster suggested and it’s worked well, so if you have to housetrain a dog, read on:

1. Keep him on a leash the first couple of days (this didn’t really work for us. I just made sure he stayed in the same room, and if I couldn’t keep an eye on him as I’d like, he’d go into the kennel).
2. If he starts circling/sniffing, take him outside.
3. When you take the dog out, act like an insane person when he does what he’s supposed to do (for me, this is many high-pitched “good boy”s and a treat; we’re phasing out the treat). If he doesn’t do it, he goes into the kennel for a little time-out.

I’ve been a lot less paranoid for the past week since the kennel became my best friend. We housetrained Annie but it seemed a lot easier – BHE and I both worked, so Annie was in the kennel/crate for the day until we got home (BHE always took her out at lunch too). At some point we realized we could trust her so we retired the crate and she has run of the house. Anyway, the crate likely helped to housetrain her very quickly. It feels a little strange to put him in there when the boys and I are hanging around (and Annie roaming freely), but he doesn’t really whine about it. I think he likes the peace and quiet sometimes! We’ve been outside a lot too since the weather has been gorgeous, so that’s helped out tremendously.

I officially started an aerobics class last Tuesday. It’s twice a week, it’s $2 a class and it’s awesome. She works your butt off for an hour solid and for me that’s definitely a good thing! Last week’s class (my first) had me sore through Thursday; luckily my body is responding a little better to yesterday’s class as I’ve not been sore today from yesterday’s butt-kicking. I feel really good about myself for hanging in there.