Retraining

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

19 May 2007 03:11 PM

Now that Moose, Lally, and I are (sort of) settled in our new home, I've noticed a bit of a regression in my little girl dog's training.

When I first brought Lally home from the shelter in September 2003, the first thing she did was hop onto my bed and piddle. She also used to piddle in excitement when I came home from work, or if someone new came to the house.

She hasn't slipped that much in her housebreaking this time around, but we've had a few accidents in the new apartment. On Saturday, I came home from the grocery store to find that she had piddled on the bed. (Okay, on the air mattress, but it's the temporary bed until I get a real mattress!) The other night, she barfed on the floor in the living room.

I know she's just unsettled and uncertain; it's going to take a little time before she feels comfortable in our new home. The noises outside are strange and unfamiliar. The smells are different. She doesn't have a big, fenced-in back yard like we did at my grandmother's house. She's got to adjust to a lot of changes all at once.

But that doesn't mean I can't encourage her to resume her usual level of housebreaking. When she first came home with me, the trainer I spoke to encouraged me to make a "piddle party" every time Lally went to the bathroom outside. Clap, cheer, dance, and praise her for every outdoor piddle.

Moose, bless his doofy heart, doesn't seem as bothered by the change of homes. He barks a lot at all the unfamiliar noises, but other than that, he's the same old Moose. Lally has a far more nervous and sensitive temperament, but she's also a very quick learner. I'm sure she'll be back to normal in another week or two. Heck, I'm still not adjusted to the new place. I fall asleep and wake up at weird hours, because I'm still getting used to the time zone change. It's just going to take time for the three of us to get settled into a new routine.

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Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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