The life of a dog....

Well, owning a dog is a LOT more work than owning a cat. Roxie is a very very sweet dog, but she does have her issues. Apparently she suffers from abandonment issues. She has claimed me as her "person" and wants to be at my side always. Right now she's lying happily at my feet doing what she does best - unfortunately that's sleeping and farting.

She's very loving and gentle. She let us give her a bath yesterday and now she feels and smells good. She has not bothered the cat (well, Tater finds her mere existence bothersome, and is annoyed that she insists on eating the cat food). She loves to snuggle and give big wet sloppy dog kisses. She doesn't bark, or snarl (except at really big dogs when we're out walking). She can't be left alone though.

For the first week I felt like a prisoner. When I was home, I was locked in our bonus room with her, or had her on the leash at all times. It must be like having a new born baby (only not as hard) - some days I didn't even get to shower! I bribed both Roxie and Tater with chicken, and they now can be in each others vicinity without me having to worry. Roxie ignores Tater, and he growls at her if she gets a little too close. They both vie for my attention. I often find myself petting them on either side of me. Perhaps this will be good upper arm exercise?

The problems start when we have to leave Roxie alone at home. The first time I left her alone in her crate, she managed to break out. I don't know how she did it, but the great Houdini dog squeezed herself out of the corner of the crate. We zip-tied the crate and figured we were ok.

Last Thursday we went out for a green beer with my friend Maryann. Since she was being so good, we left Roxie loose. MISTAKE! She found a pie pushed back on the counter and ate it, leaving sticky strawberry-rhubarb yummyness all over the floor. She also ripped apart a bag of clean recyling and spread that throughout the house. She had quiet the evening.

On Saturday night we again went out. Hubby worked all day and I met him for dinner before he had to go and work all evening. I had plans to go to a party. We left Roxie out. After dinner, hubby went home to change his shirt. Roxie had pulled down the bread basket, ate the bread and shredded the plastic all over the house. In all the excitement, she also had a little accident. Brian cleaned up the accident, left the mess for me, put Roxie in her crate and went back to work.

When I got home, Roxie met me at the door. She fought like the devil to get out of her crate, somehow busted out of the back of it, squeezing her big body through the crack, over the night table and out to freedom. Everything on the night table was on the floor, and the mini-blinds on the window did not survive her struggle. This was very upsetting.

Of course Roxie didn't mean to be destructive. She was just scared. So..... hubby zip locked the entire crate, we're working with her on separation training, and hopefully she'll calm down and know that when we leave her we'll always come back.

Except for the breakouts (and the farts) she is a really delightful doggie. I'm sure we can get through this as a family. I just hope she feels comfortable sooner than later.

On other fronts, I am slowly working on the crochet bunny that I started. I keep messing up the decrease formulas, so it's taking longer than it should, but hopefully it will be cute in the end.