February 24, 2003
So many toys, so little time.
5:30 p.m.
Every day, there's a new discovery. Today, there were two.
The first discovery is that my puppy is not a morning-creature. I had to wake up very early today to make an 8:30 a.m. appointment. I got up and showered before I woke Dusty up.
I had planned to do a short training session, feed her and take her outside before I left at 7:30 a.m., so I woke Dusty up at 6:30 a.m.
I set up our training tools, but noticed right away that the pup was not demonstrating her usual enthusiasm. She sat, then she layed down, then she put her head on her paws and gave me a mournful look. She refused to get back up. When I asked her to 'stay,' she rolled over and went to sleep.
I gave up and put her breakfast in a Kong.
The other Big Discovery is that the pup is afraid of heights. This shouldn't be a big surprise actually, but it does a lot to explain the growling when she's picked up - it's clearly a 'fear growl.'
How do I know this? I noticed that she tucks her head under my neck, whimpers and refuses to look as we descend the steep stairs to the basement.
So, we started the stair training today. Actually, this went very well and I think it's really good for her to get used to heights in a friendly way. I chose a relatively benign set of less-steep, softly carpeted stairs in another part of the house.
Going up the stairs, of course, is not problem. Going *down* the stairs was a bit more tricky. At first, she peered over the edge of the first step and cried - it was really cute. But soon enough, she was clambering down the stairs on her own. It's amazing what some patience and the lure of a liver-treat can accomplish!
Soon, we'll tackle the steeper, scarier basement stairs, but for now I'm going to let her practice a bit.
10:00 p.m.
I'm now wishing I had taken a photo of Dusty crying on the stairs earlier today (at the time, I thought that sticking a flash in her face would have been a little cruel). I've lost the chance though, because she's getting the hang of this stair thing SO fast!
She's got the carpeted stairs down pat now and she's going up and down the stairs at the front of the house by herself. Tonight, she painfully made her way down the steep basement stairs. Keep in mind that these are very steep, very narrow and they aren't carpeted so they're slippery!
It's really great because it means that I won't have to carry her around so much. Amazing what a help it is to have a mobile dog!
I have some other dog news, but I'll save it for tomorrow.