After speaking with my mother, who has raised many dogs, and used to breed and show Collies, about Libby’s chewing issue, the decision was made to confine her during the night. We did not want to shut her away from the family, and to be honest, there is no room in which to do that anyway. The second option was to tie her up inside the house. She is a big, strong dog. We needed a place where she could stay out of trouble, be able to reach food and water, and have a place to lay down, and play with/chew on her toys. The choice was made to tie her to the kitchen table. The table has one large pedestal leg. She can reach into the hall way, and see into some rooms, (which means she can still see me at night), but she can’t reach anything that she would tear up. We made her a bed on the kitchen floor (remember the comforter she destuffed?), and left her toys on it. I also gave her a couple of dog biscuits. We don’t tie her up until we go to bed. The rest of the evening she still has the run of the house. We’ve done that for nearly a week now, and she is not happy. The first few nights she whined a little, but then she settled down. Once she is in there, she seems to be fine, but being the smart dog she is, she is looking for ways to avoid it. Last night, I was getting ready for my shower after which I was going to tie her up. Well, as I was getting ready, I saw her make a bee line for my bed, and under she went. I told Kyle that after I got out of the shower, he would have to help me get her out. When the time came, he got on the far side of the bed. She saw him and started to come out the other side, but I wasn’t quite there yet. She however, saw me, and went back under, turning herself until she was under the bed long ways. After a few minutes of muttering, Kyle managed to get hold of her, pull her out and drag her down the hall, with her looking for escape at every option. Once she was tied in the kitchen, she simply laid down as if to say “oh well, I tried anyway. I never heard a peep from her all night.
There was another Libby incident earlier in the week however. I got up that morning and unhooked her. She went straight to the garage door and scratched at it, which in Libby language means “I want out, now!” So I got my shoes and coat and opened the door to the garage with the goal of getting the other leash, and taking her out the back garage door to tie her outside (this is the only way to get to the back yard). Unfortunately, when Kyle left for school, he left the outside door open, and off she went! For the next forty five minutes, I followed her around. I can’t say I chased her, because that doesn’t work. Mainly, I see where she goes to make sure she doesn’t get into any trouble, and try to get her to come to me, or at least follow me back to the house. Finally, she got distracted by a dog down the street, and I was able to get hold of her. By that time, she was getting tired, but it occurred to me that she might not be tired enough, so she and I walked some more. I walked her around the “block” which is probably about a 4 block distance, before I tied her in the back yard. I know she is not getting enough exercise (and neither am I), so I’m trying to rearrange schedules to make sure she gets a little trip every day. We’ll see how that goes as well.
On the feline front, there was an incident involving nine-year-old Katherine and her 8-year-old cousin, who had come over to play. Ed and I were both at the computers in the office, and I noticed Katherine rather frantically going back and forth up and down the hall. When I asked her what she was doing, she said she was trying to find the kitten (Bookworm). I said I was sure she was sleeping somewhere, but Katherine was adamant that she had to find her. When I asked why she said “Because Josie and I want to play vet!” (OMG!) I told her there were plenty off stuffed cats that would work well for that purpose and she didn’t need the real cat! After she went back to play, Ed and I burst out laughing. Ed remarked that he wondered if the reason cats hated the vet so badly is because they’re afraid it’s a kid “playing vet”! Anyway, Bookworm escaped that indignity, at least this time.
