Water Play! And freedom

A couple weeks or so back, during some near 100 degree days I got out the kiddie pool and filled it for Marley.  He wanted nothing to do with it.

Today I set up a small sprinkler on low flow to water a couple of flowering plants near the porch that don't get watered in the regular lawn watering pattern.  It was only going up about 6-9 inches, spreading a couple of feet, since I was aiming for just 2 plants that are together.

Marley wanted a drink of water and went right into the sprinkler.  He seemed to enjoy the water playing on his head and even started to splash in the mud a little bit.  His head got soaked, his neck & shoulders got wet.

I went inside and got his stick (we let him chew sticks to pieces and our furniture is still intact) for him to chase.  He doesn't quite want to give it up and loves the chase.  I tossed it into the sprinkler a couple of times, and into the dry part of the yard several times.  He thoroughly enjoyed being able to run without me holding him back or snubbing him up short on the leash.  And he seemed to enjoy the water.

One of the times I took him out I decided to let him off his leash; we haven't had any rain or watered in several days so there shouldn't be any mushrooms today.  Next time out I let him out without his harness or his leash.  His newly acquired courtesy - let me in/out the door, down the steps first - is holding nicely.  There are a couple of openings we need to fix - gaps where the fence meets the house.  There are boards to fill the gap, but they've been pushed aside, either by the area tom cat or Charlotte.  Marley would have a very, very tight squeeze to get through them, but I don't think that would stop him from trying. 

He's almost reliable about asking to go out.  Only one cleanup in the last 3-4 days.  YAY!  He might earn the doggy door after all.

Good golly, is there ANYTHING in the yard we can let him eat?

Every time Marley finds something to chew, or eat, out in the yard I find myself thinking this should be OK for him to munch on.  Then, just in case, I go online to see how many places Google finds that say it's NOT OK for him to munch on it.

We assumed from the beginning, once the mushrooms started showing up, that there could be a poisonous species in the mix of mushrooms that pop up in various parts of the yard every time we get enough water on it.  It's more likely after a good rain, but sometimes after watering, too.  Mostly they're really small, light yellow-brown and start with a little button on a stem, opening to a classic Disney tall-capped mushroom or flat-capped mushroom.  One day there were puffballs.  One day there was a single gray flat-capped mushroom with ridges on the top of the cap.  We try to pick them and throw them over the fence to keep him from eating them.  With any luck, even though fall will bring more rain, the cooler temperatures will put a halt to the mushrooms, at least until next summer.

Then it turns out we shouldn't let him eat the dried up earthworms he hunts in the grass - they carry worm eggs.  Oh, and the grasshoppers he wants to chase down and eat - they carry stomach worms.  I'd never heard of stomach worms, but apparently they are number two (after heartworm) in killing dogs.  Damn!  No fun allowed!

Then there are the iris, geraniums, bleeding hearts, mountain ash (AKA rowan), onions, all planted here over the years.  We'd like to keep them as they are reminders of Lois and the good times this house saw during her years in it.  One of these days, we hope, he'll grow out of the puppy phase of everything goes in the mouth.  Until then, we walk him on a leash inside our fenced yard to make sure he has a chance to grow out of the puppy taste-everything phase.

Charlotte - travel challenge

Charlotte is going to pose a problem when we try to travel with her.  She had done OK with the crate and car, but the next trip will be (we hope) in the motorhome.  She's gotten used to going outside and will stage herself on the dryer (right next to the door) or on the floor, ready to scoot as soon as the door opens. 

In the motorhome, when we're coming back inside, the problem will be that she could be on the top of the couch ready to jump over us, on the arm of the couch ready to jump past us, on the floor ready to dash down the stairs or on the bottom step ready to launch under the door.  How do you have a hand ready at each of those positions?  It's a span of several feet, starting at our knee level and going to above our heads when we're standing on the ground.  We're going to have to work out a strategy that will enable us to catch her before she leaps free.

She does have a collar with her name and our landline phone number.  We'll switch to her old collar when we travel since it has my cell phone number.  But, she has come inside without her collar several times.  Once it's off, she's just a lost kitty until someone takes her to have her chip scanned -- if they even try that.  Some people will just take a cat home and decide it's now theirs.

Anybody have any good ideas for keeping her safe when we travel?

Almost there

It's been an exciting couple of months for Marley.  From the warm safety of mama's nest box (we assume & hope) to the shelter, to our house.  Then there have been other kinds of changes - he's learned to like the car (mostly for the cool passenger foot well), he's learned to deal with guests (we've had overnight guests 4 times since he came home), a cat, and rules.

Most importantly he's almost there on potty training.  We've not been crate training him.  It's not the way either of us grew up with the dogs in our lives.  It's available, but we had to force him in one time and he's tried to stay out of it ever since (bad job on our part).  I've been making sure that some of his "find it" food goes in the crate so he can build a positive association with the crate.  The door is held open with a bungee cord so it won't accidentally close on him (the same as Charlotte's crate).

I found a mostly dried puddle in the dining room today.  That's first of any kind of "accident" that we know of in a couple of days.  That means we're almost there.

Yesterday I left him in the house (asleep once, awake once) for a half hour or so.  The guys were moving an old pickup truck out of one of the garage bays, then after lunch the engine & transmission (all bolted together), so they wanted photos.  He did OK.  He'd rather not be alone (wouldn't we all?) but didn't spend a lot of time barking or crying.  I also left him for a few minutes in the car while I picked up mail and got a money order, then again (running with the AC to make sure he'd stay on the floor) for a couple of items at The Local Store. 

All in all, a lot of progress.

Peace - for a few minutes

Last night Charlotte came down off the boxes, used her scratching post, then lay on the floor.  Marley was across the room, dozing near our feet.  He got up, walked over and lay down beside her.  (Massive jaw drop from both of us.)  He reached out with a front paw and touched her a few times, then settled down next to her.  It only lasted a short time before he got up and needed to go outside, but for just a few minutes there was peace that Marley initiated.  Progress?  I sure hope so.

He still cares

If Charlotte is out and wants back in Marley will let me know if I don't hear her.  This morning, at the 4am potty break, she was so eager to get out she was telling me about it.  I just don't have a lot of "fight" in me at 4am, so I let her out.

Around 6:30 she wanted in.  I didn't hear her rattling the front door, so Marley started to whine.  He whined quietly at first, then a little louder and a little louder, until I got up to let her in.

I knew it was the end of trying to sleep - he was going to harass her and she was going to complain.  She still hasn't laid claw or tooth on him, but I wish she would.  I'm almost afraid she'll let him really hurt her.  This time he was grabbing her by the tail while she was trying to eat.  Since her food is on the dresser in our room (to keep him from eating it), there was no ignoring the noise.

I did wear him out a little last night before bed.  Between feeding him a third of his dinner "find it" style and having him chase the laser dot ... he was panting.  So, it was only because I had to get up and use the bathroom (I think) that he needed to go out at 4.  For me, I have to choose between getting up at night and being a bit dehydrated & thirsty.  I'd rather get up, but boy I get worn down when it's too many times a night.  There's a huge difference between shuffling to the bathroom and shuffling to the bathroom, doing your thing, putting on your robe, heading through the living room and kitchen to the utility room, putting on the Crocs, putting the leash on the pup, getting the pup off the cat, going out into the yard for him to pee then reversing the process for another hour or two of attempted sleep.  Oh, I'll be so glad when he's good all night through, good in the house and we can activate the doggy door.

Locked out!

So, what do you get when you are trying to heat the bathroom, keep the bathroom door closed and let the cat have access to her litter box?  Well, if it's Charlotte, you get locked out of the bathroom.  This morning Marley was feeling especially full of himself, so when Charlotte needed to get to her litter box I let her in the bathroom and shut the door to keep Marley from bothering her (and knocking the door open, losing all the heat).  We use a space heater to warm just the bathroom and have tried leaving the door mostly closed, but they run in & out, bump the door and it opens all the way.

A while later we heard her making noises at the bathroom door, wanting out.  I went to let her out and could not open the door more than a half inch!  She's decided in recent days that she needs to open the bottom drawers of the vanity.  She has developed a "need" to get into the vanity cupboard between the drawers and can't quite get the doors open so she tries to go in through the back of the drawers.

The vanity is the first thing inside the bathroom, so with the closer drawer open the door hit it and would not open.  We had to find something that would go under the door, then up, to push the drawer closed.  I tried slipping a thin metal yardstick through the tiny gap.  I could get it through the gap, barely, but couldn't maneuver it.  I needed something bent so I could slip it under the generous gap under the door, then turn it to push the drawer closed.  While I was trying to close the drawer, Marley thought it was a great game and was walking all over me, pulling at my hair, getting in the way.  Tom found a suitable "tool" and we got the drawer closed and door open, releasing Charlotte to be harassed some more.  And we're keeping that item handy in case it happens again.

Earlier, in the dark hours, I had found both bottom drawers open and a large Ace bandage unwound in the hall.  I'm guessing she opened the drawers and Marley helped himself to the new "toy".

Baby drawer locks just went on the next shopping list.  Oh, the joys of young animals in the household!

Getting better

After a bit of backsliding while he had diarrhea, Marley continues to improve his potty habits.  He also continues to frustrate us.  By late afternoon or early evening he reverts to going to one of a couple of areas in the living room to either let fly or pee a little bit to tell us he needs to go out.  Grrr.  Earlier in the day he'll bark at us, or we'll see certain behavior, but as the day progresses he just can't hold it together and we have to get more vigilant as we're getting more tired. 

Our only previous puppy was already well on her way to being house trained because she was the only puppy in an adult dog household so she learned to do what they were doing.  And she learned early.

We just need to keep reminding ourselves "he's getting better".  The important thing is he almost never pees or poops inside at night now.  He does expect to go out every time I get up to pee (once or more each night).  By taking him out, he's not as likely to need to go when we're sleeping.  Today he even made it to 8am - but we were out about 2 and 5 (just as the thunderstorm was arriving). 

About 6:30 Charlotte wanted back in.  She'd defied my attempts to keep her in at the 5am potty break.  I heard banging sounds and she was halfway up the front screen door.  We almost always go in & out the Dutch door at the back of the house.  She must have gone the long way around the house since the short way around means going outside the fence, then back inside.  She still had her collar this morning, so I don't think she went under the fence.

Going the long way around the house means she left her comfort zone - she usually stays pretty much on the back porch & deck.  We're still scheming a way to let her get under the deck without letting Marley get under it.  We're considering a sewer pipeline fitting - big enough for a bit larger cat than she is right not, but small enough Marley won't be able to fit as he continues to grow. 

Any ideas out there?  The gap between the deck flooring & the ground is covered by lattice panels; the gaps between steps is covered with fence material.  We want to keep her from digging a new entrance so Marley isn't tempted to enlarge a hole she starts . . .

Pumpkin - wow!

Marley had a bout of diarrhea. We don't know what brought it on, but it had gone on over 24 hours before we called the vet.  The vet surprised us by asking "Have you tried canned pumpkin?" rather than having us bring him in.  They'll see him in a week, so it's not like they just didn't want to see him, it was a matter of trying the reasonable things before resorting to a doctor's visit.

We had tried an Imodium, half a tablet in the afternoon, then the remainder in the evening, but it didn't produce any results that we could see.

This morning we had a small breakthrough - Marley was in my lap, being docile for a change.  Charlotte carefully climbed up to check him out.  For just a couple of minutes both of them were on my lap, not fighting. Wow!