February 25, 2003
She uses her toys as little pillows when she sleeps.
10:00 p.m.
Last night, as I was coming home from my hockey game (I scored a goal, the by the way - Good Jayme!), I heard a sound coming from my apartment. It was the pup. She was yelping and crying and making a big fuss.
Now, it's entirely possible that she heard me coming in the door and decided to yelp because she needed to go out. I've been encouraging her to vocalize when she needs to go outside to potty.
But it still really worries me. She was doing really well in the crate and I don't want her to acquire a new 'yelping-when-I-leave' behaviour (aka: 'Separation Anxiety').
This morning, we went back to the very beginning of her crate training, with me leaving her in the crate for short periods, then returning. I did this about 12 time and she was fine in the crate until the very last time, then she started crying. I waited until she stopped, waited some more and then went in to get her. She continued crying when I released her from the crate and it was obvious she needed to go out.
I'm hoping that this means she's fine unless there's a full bladder involved, but I'll continue to work with her. Unfortunately, I'm going to be in class in the mornings for the next few days, so I'll have to make sure she has a stuffed Kong toy and is very tired when I leave in the morning (in hopes that she will sleep).
The stair training continues to go well. It's actually a lot of fun - she's getting the hang of it now and will dash up and down the big stairs just for the joy of it. The basement stairs are a harder sell, but she will come down with some coaxing. You can download the movie here.