Growing pains

I'm sorry, this is going to be a big whine-fest, so if you don't want to listen, just look at the picture of the pretty pony at the end and go on your way.  I promise, I won't be offended.

So we got this dog.  She's very cute.  And she's very happy to have a home.  She's very sweet.  She's also, well, a dog.  I have always avoided having a dog.  Kind of the same reason I don't have a large piece of property and do my own care for Violet.  I probably could have afforded it at one time (maybe not so much right this moment), but I didn't really want the responsibility.  I've enjoyed being able to go where I want to when I want to.

I think when I thought about us getting a dog, I kind of had imaginings of having this great companion that I could load up in the truck and take with me, to the barn, to friend's houses, to the beach, etc.  I'm not thinking this is that dog.  I have to remind myself this is the boy's dog, not mine.  It was a promise I made to him about 8 months ago.  When we get settled, he can have his dog.  And he is just as happy with her as could be.

Me, maybe not so much.  Maybe I should start from the beginning of the weekend.

So, we have some crating issues.  We bought a nice sized (not too big, not too small, just like all the training articles say) wire crate with double latched doors.  We put a nice fuzzy thick blanket in it, and some toys. Wednesday night, she cried and cried and cried after being put in the crate.  Thursday I put some treats in it and she actually went in the get them, but pretty much stayed away from it.  Thursday night there was some crying, but not too much.  I brought home the iPod and played Tchaikovsky's "Peter and the Wolf" for her on repeat and that seemed to help.  Friday morning I took her out and played a little bit before work and the boy was up, so she was happily napping with him watching the news when I left.

This would be the first crate.  Notice how the corner is busted wiiiiiide open.

Then I got a text that said that he put her in the crate to take a shower and when he came out she was happily laying on the couch, and that he tied the crate shut.  Fantastic.  I go home at lunch, where she greeted me in the kitchen.  She had destroyed the crate and chewed the leadrope that we were using as a leash to pieces, as that was what he tied the crate closed with.  But other than laying on the couch, she didn't really seem to do anything else.  I had nothing to bend the crate back and secure it so I had to leave her loose in the kitchen/living room.  And so I compulsed.  All day.  I left at 5 (early this time of year) and got home before the boy to find a very happy dog.  She had found a bag of roasted peanuts and tore the corner of the bag off, but didn't eat any.  She found the pretzels, but seemed only to smash those into the carpet.  She found a bag of training treats that she finished off.  Thing it, to get to those, she had to get up on the counter.  Like...walking around on the kitchen counter.  From there she appears to have run around on top of my brand new dining room table.  Where there is a scratch in the leaf.  My brand new table that I'm still paying off that I have used exactly twice.  And she peed on the floor.

And this would be what is left of my leadrope.

So now we know she cannot be loose in the house.  I won't put her in the bathroom, because I know she will eat through the door.  Can't put her in the garage because there's too much stuff.  So crate it is.  I hate it, she hates it, it's a joyful thing.

So Friday night date night is getting a new crate.  This time we chose to try the big plastic ones that look like a carry case, but oversized.  It's what I can afford, and the holes are small enough that she shouldn't be able to get her teeth in them.  I looked at ordering a heavy duty metal crate, but good lord, I am not spending $400-$800 on a metal box.

We are trying to prevent this.

Saturday I got up, let her out, fed her and put her back in the crate before leaving the house at 6 for my lesson.  When I got home, all was good, she was happy, Daddy was happy.  He went to work, I got dogsitting duty.  She was content to lay in the sun.  We played catch a lot.  We took a nap.  It was actually kind of nice.  Of course, I can't get caught up on my TV shows because the big cable box is in the den, where she is not allowed, so I have no choice.  Kind of being held a bit hostage here.

Sunday I was there with her on my own all day.  She was good in the beginning.  I left the door open and she could come and go outside as she wished.  We played catch some.  She's full of energy, so I was trying to keep her occupied.  She napped in the sun a bit. Then I went inside to go to the bathroom.  I come out and her collar is gone.  My yard is not that big.  She doesn't appear to be a digger, but just in case, I walked the yard over and over and over.  No collar.  Ok, we'll just go inside and get a bath.  She doesn't like it, but she tolerated it.  I walked the yard again, still no collar.  So now she can't be outside unattended.

Before she made the collar mysteriously go POOF

Then, last night whilst talking to my mother on the phone, Roxy decided she should climb the chainlink fence to get to the wood stockade fence behind it that is blocking her access to the little yippy dog across the back.  She's never seen this dog, but apparently, it must be saying some fantastic things, because she sure wants to.  So while I'm on the phone with my mother, I call out "oh no you don't, you little shit!" and have to haul her 55 pound butt off the fence and in the house.

This is not good.  Understand, I am 43.  My mother is 70.  In our history, we had exactly 2 dogs, and they lived in the yard.  We are not dog people.  We are cat people.  On top of that, my mother is going through this "if you do not choose to drop everything and come here and spend all your spare time with me, then I see where your priorities are, and they are not me" thing, since I got engaged.  It's truly been very trying, because I'm the "good kid", but we can get to that story another day.  Her reaction to "we got a dog" is that means I will never be able to come see her again because I am now tied to the house, and she sees where she stands...

Then of course she adds on the whole thing that we don't give up pets in our family.  And that is true.  Once you get a pet, they are part of the family forever.  This is the part I struggle with.  There is no way I can handle a destructive dog that will not stay in the confines of the yard.  It still remains to be seen how she really is with other dogs, but as of right now, I cannot see taking her anywhere.  At the same time, she is a love.  She's so sweet with us.  She is one big wagging tail, and seems to be full of such joy when she's playing.  And likes nothing better than laying across your lap on the floor at the end of the day.  And she makes her daddy happy.

So I would say we are having growing pains.  Except I'm the only one that seems to be in any pain...

Because this is supposed to be a horse blog, and she's the cutest redhead ever.  And so very happy.