Wednesday, November 12, 2008

 

Puppy Trials

Stella, our five month old Boston Terrier, has developed a late night and early morning ritual. When we go to bed at night, we bring her up on the bed with us and snuggle with her for about half an hour or so. Just until the last person awake (usually me) is about to drift off, then we put her in her crate a few feet from our bed for the night.

In the morning, the first person up (usually The Squeeze) takes her outside to do her bidness, brings her back inside and puts her food in her dish. Some mornings she'll eat the food before heading upstairs, some mornings she just runs up without eating. Her goal in coming upstairs is to get in bed with me and snuggle until it's time for me to get up.

It's just so cute having her nuzzled up close, snoring away, that I've been tempted to not put her in the crate at the end of the day. The thing that's prevented me from letting that happen is the fact that The Squeeze and I outweigh Stella by about...oh, a ton, and one little turn from us in the middle of the night would spell certain doom for her.

Now I have another reason not to do it. The Squeeze took Stella out Monday morning, and she sprinted back up to snuggle with me right away. Only an hour or so after she came back in, I was taking my shower when The Squeeze walked into the bedroom and discovered that Stella had peed right below the pillow on my side of the bed. This was rather out of character. She's been doing great with the housebreaking, and I can't recall the last time she's had an accident in the house.

So I stripped the bed and threw the sheets and the miraculous no-seep mattress-protecting underpad in the wash. Luckily she didn't get the comforter, because I usually have to take that to the laundromat due to its size. That night The Squeeze and I made the bed and had a nice fresh bed to sleep in for the night.

Last night as we were getting ready for bed I heard The Squeeze yelling from the bedroom. I left the bathroom to see what was going on. Stella peed on the bed again. I had just taken her outside less than an hour prior. This time she got the comforter too. This was just after 11:00pm. Again, I stripped the bed and lugged the soiled bedding down to the laundry room and began washing. I even decided to jam the comforter in as a second load instead of letting it sit there wet on the basement floor. It fit fine. I wonder why I wasted so much time and money at the laundromat in the past.

The Squeeze had moved us into the guest room for the night, but it wasn't until after midnight before I joined him. And there was no pre-crate snuggling that night. And there wasn't any post-pee snuggling this morning either. I don't mind having clean sheets on the bed, but twice in two days. Come on.

I'm pretty sure I'll cave on my new "no dog on the bed" rule as early as tonight. She's just so darned cute, how can I not cuddle with her? I'll just say "piss on it" and hope she won't take it literally.

On a somewhat related topic. Tonight the pup graduates from Puppy School. I want to get her into more classes to fine-tune her training, stop the jumping up and pulling on the leash. My goal will be to be able to walk her down the street without a leash and know she won't go from my side. Wishful thinking?

Comments:
You know, it doesn't bother me that you pee the bed. Not at all. But blaming the dog? That's low. That's just low.
 
Have you learned the trick of a cup of white vinegar in the wash to get the smell out of the sheets? It's helpful when pets pee where they're not supposed to, although I don't know if puppy pee is as lethal as cat pee.
 
fwg: we only blame her for our farts. The pee is all her.

kat: no I haven't tried the vinegar, but actually there doesn't seem to be an odour to it. I think cats are much worse in that department. That's why I could never clean the litter box when we had our cats. Oh yes, now I remember a time when the cats peed on the bed and it WAS nasty. Let's hear it for puppies! :o)
 
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