January 10, 2006

Days five and six

Day four ended with what became a series of mishaps: my car alarm would not turn off by the gadget. I didn’t want to set off the alarm in the small Halifax community I was staying in so I kept fiddling with it. Finally it worked and I was able to get Lila’s things out of the car. We had gone visiting in the afternoon. She was a little nervous at first, but warmed up quickly and enjoyed meeting people.

Monday morning, with an early start to school (thankfully) my car wouldn’t start. I walked quickly to school in a light snow falling and was glad that I was in Halifax, not home. When the CAA man came to start my car in the afternoon, he had no trouble. It started right away. Perhaps (probably) in my anxiety about getting Lila fed, exercised and settled into her crate before leaving, I hadn’t pushed the clutch pedal in (which is necessary in this car). Who knows. After all these years, I would think I’d know how to start the car! Since it might have been the battery (which is only a couple of years old), I took Lila and went to The House of Dogs, got some supplies and excellent advice. Then I had the car gadget battery fixed. Finally, we came home and I think both of us are happy to be here.

Today I called a trainer recommended by my vet. With all my reading and all the variety of opinions on the subject, it was such a relief to talk to a humane human being about how to work with my puppy. (It’s a lot like parenting: so many opinions, almost one for every person and it’s only one little puppy!) Lila and I have a date on Friday with her. She’ll come here. I’m looking forward to it.

As of this morning, I am working on come and then sit. Discipline seems to calm her down. She is definitely a puppy with excessive energy that I need to direct down appealng paths. I want a very well behaved dog that can go visiting easily. It's work for both of us and so far, we are both benefiting.

Posted by leya at January 10, 2006 11:19 AM