So it's hard to housebreak a puppy. It's even harder when the two dogs who already reside in the house are not particularly housebroken. Generally, Jack and Neuf are good dogs, but Jack is getting old and incontinent, and Neuf is just a douche bag who likes to pee and poop in the house to show us all whose boss. So the house is full of dog odors and Ned, who is used to going any ol' where in the first place, thinks the whole house should be his bathroom. On top of all that, Ned has decided that since he's now bonafide, that means he should never have to set foot outside in the rain ever again. Ok, princess.
So I read up a bunch of websites on housebreaking your puppy, and most of them recommend crate training. I tried this for two days before collapsing in a fit of rage and tears. Ned loves his crate until he's forced to stay in there, then it's crycrycrycrycrywhinecrycry. I'd let him out for bathroom time, and when it would be time to go back in, suddenly the crate that's been his happy home for the past three weeks becomes a punishment and a thing to fear. Plus, he'd be so neurotically intimidated by what was going on that when he was let out and taken outside, he couldn't relax enough to eliminate, so it was right back into the crate, and thus developed a complex about going outside for a few days until I was able to lure him out with meat and snax. While we were outside, I tried to remain as calm as possible and wait for him to do his thing, but the only place he feels comfortable lettin' it all fly in inside. It rains here at least once a day, so that didn't help any either, instead of eliminating, he'd just stand at the door and whine. I can't fathom how people with carpets deal with this. At least we have all tile floors here, so the dozen or so small pools of wee are easily cleaned up. And to his credit, I will give him props for learning to pee on his wee-pads inside. Mostly he's figured out to use them. Though I can't help wondering if those just encourage him to think that eliminating inside is where it should be done.
I guess I should just be grateful that I have pretty much all day everyday to see to his training, I can't imagine trying to do this on a regular work schedule. ...Come to think of it, I can't even imagine BEING on a regular work schedule.
So today, tropical storm Emily is pissing down on us. I was hoping for a lot MORE rain and thunder and lightning, but all she's delivered so far is a constant stream of light rain. It's making for what I'll call a Novocaine day. Everything just feels a little numb. Speaking of Novocaine, I'm in the process of getting a crown put on one of my teeth. It broke when I was back in Seattle, and I figured that I'd just get it fixed when I was down here, and I wagered things would be a lot less expensive here. When I got the estimate in Seattle, the total was around $1,500. Wowza. When I went in to the dentist here in Santo Domingo and she gave me the estimate of around $500, and I was like, "oh, that's great." But with some pokey silver utensils in mouth, the dentist thought I was being sarcastic and said, "I know, right, just what you wanted to hear." If there hadn't been pokey silver utensils in my mouth I would have explained to her that it was, indeed, just what I wanted to hear, but opted instead to stay moot and avoid the possibility of getting poked by the pokey utensils. So last Monday I completed visit 3 of 4, and I have a temporary crown on now. It feels really weird and flat, kinda of like a really hard piece of gum has been wedged between my teeth. Well, at least it's not the snaggle-tooth that was there for two months after it broke!
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