Monday, April 5, 2010
It’s been a busy couple of days, and I have quite a few good things to report about our sweet Bailey. She is continuing to be a wonderful dog, full of energy and curiosity. She has had a few accidents in the house but, interestingly, they have all been right at the front door. I think she’s figuring out where she is supposed to go potty (outside the front door!) but she hasn’t quite figured out how to let us know she needs to go. If you watch her you can kind of read her behavior to figure out she needs to go potty because she gets kind of nervous and restless. The good news is that she is learning, and that’s all I care about.
We have also realized that Bailey is a bit of a Houdini when it comes to being locked in the back yard. We are not used to having a smaller dog around, so it didn’t even occur to me that she may be able to get out of the back yard. Our lovely dogs have dug into the dirt right in front of the gate to the fenced area of the back yard and Bailey has figured out that she can squeeze UNDER the gate to freedom! On Saturday, I put all three dogs in the back yard to run off some energy and enjoy the beautiful weather. I went inside to put the baby down for a nap and when I came back outside there were only two dogs in the back yard… Bailey was MIA. So, naturally, I start freaking out…’I’ve lost the dog! The dog is gone! She’s gonna run out (through the woods and around a lake) to 129 and get run over!” I start calling for her: “Bailey! Come here Bailey! Where’d you go little one? Come here!” I walk to the front of the house, look out towards my neighbor’s pasture to see if maybe she was frolicking with the horses or something… and I see nothing. My heart starts racing… I turn to head to the house to get my keys, because my next plan is to hop in the car and ride down the street to look for her (my father in law was at the house working on our deck, so no, I wouldn’t have left the baby at the house by herself) and there’s Bailey, sitting on the front porch, waiting to be let inside. :) Ahhhhhh… relief. She was tired of being in the back yard, and wanted to cool off for a bit, I guess. Now here’s the really good news, I left the door open almost all morning and not once did she run off. She would step outside, do her business, chase a bug or two and then come right back inside. See what I mean? She’s such a great dog!
So, yesterday, we went back to Atlanta to spend Easter with my family since my husband had to work, and naturally I brought Bailey with us. She rode down there in her crate in the back seat, which she wasn’t a huge fan of, but it’s so much safer for her. Caroline was SO not in the mood to be in her car seat so she was whining and when Caroline would whine, so would Bailey. Both of them whined almost all the way to Atlanta. I swear, it’s like they were feeding off each other… I just about lost my mind! But we made it to Decatur in one piece, thankfully. Bailey got to play with Molly and Lola again, and this time she got to play chase with Lola.. or rather, be chased by Lola. They ran in circles in the back yard until I thought they would fall over, and Bailey looked so happy! Then, a little bit later, we leashed up all three of the dogs and went for a walk. My sister, Emily, walked Bailey and all together I think Bailey got a good 30-45 minute walk in. Emily said she was great on the leash and basically did whatever Emily wanted her to do while they were walking. Em said she thinks Bailey would be a great running partner. :)
The ride home was peaceful, as both of the babies were tired. Bailey snoozed in her crate and Caroline watched Elmo on the DVD player, and all was right with the world. When we got home, I let Bailey off her leash and she went potty in the grass and then followed me around while I checked out the progress on our new deck :) She didn’t follow me all the way around to the back where the loud power tools were that kind of scare her a little, but she waited patiently for me by the side of the house until it was time to go inside. She hung out inside and didn’t chew on any toys or socks at all.. I think she was too tired to be a typical puppy. I think that’s the key to her happiness. A good walk and some good friends to play with, and is that really too much to ask for?
I have some pretty cute pictures of her from the past few days that I’ll put up later tonight.
We have also realized that Bailey is a bit of a Houdini when it comes to being locked in the back yard. We are not used to having a smaller dog around, so it didn’t even occur to me that she may be able to get out of the back yard. Our lovely dogs have dug into the dirt right in front of the gate to the fenced area of the back yard and Bailey has figured out that she can squeeze UNDER the gate to freedom! On Saturday, I put all three dogs in the back yard to run off some energy and enjoy the beautiful weather. I went inside to put the baby down for a nap and when I came back outside there were only two dogs in the back yard… Bailey was MIA. So, naturally, I start freaking out…’I’ve lost the dog! The dog is gone! She’s gonna run out (through the woods and around a lake) to 129 and get run over!” I start calling for her: “Bailey! Come here Bailey! Where’d you go little one? Come here!” I walk to the front of the house, look out towards my neighbor’s pasture to see if maybe she was frolicking with the horses or something… and I see nothing. My heart starts racing… I turn to head to the house to get my keys, because my next plan is to hop in the car and ride down the street to look for her (my father in law was at the house working on our deck, so no, I wouldn’t have left the baby at the house by herself) and there’s Bailey, sitting on the front porch, waiting to be let inside. :) Ahhhhhh… relief. She was tired of being in the back yard, and wanted to cool off for a bit, I guess. Now here’s the really good news, I left the door open almost all morning and not once did she run off. She would step outside, do her business, chase a bug or two and then come right back inside. See what I mean? She’s such a great dog!
So, yesterday, we went back to Atlanta to spend Easter with my family since my husband had to work, and naturally I brought Bailey with us. She rode down there in her crate in the back seat, which she wasn’t a huge fan of, but it’s so much safer for her. Caroline was SO not in the mood to be in her car seat so she was whining and when Caroline would whine, so would Bailey. Both of them whined almost all the way to Atlanta. I swear, it’s like they were feeding off each other… I just about lost my mind! But we made it to Decatur in one piece, thankfully. Bailey got to play with Molly and Lola again, and this time she got to play chase with Lola.. or rather, be chased by Lola. They ran in circles in the back yard until I thought they would fall over, and Bailey looked so happy! Then, a little bit later, we leashed up all three of the dogs and went for a walk. My sister, Emily, walked Bailey and all together I think Bailey got a good 30-45 minute walk in. Emily said she was great on the leash and basically did whatever Emily wanted her to do while they were walking. Em said she thinks Bailey would be a great running partner. :)
The ride home was peaceful, as both of the babies were tired. Bailey snoozed in her crate and Caroline watched Elmo on the DVD player, and all was right with the world. When we got home, I let Bailey off her leash and she went potty in the grass and then followed me around while I checked out the progress on our new deck :) She didn’t follow me all the way around to the back where the loud power tools were that kind of scare her a little, but she waited patiently for me by the side of the house until it was time to go inside. She hung out inside and didn’t chew on any toys or socks at all.. I think she was too tired to be a typical puppy. I think that’s the key to her happiness. A good walk and some good friends to play with, and is that really too much to ask for?
I have some pretty cute pictures of her from the past few days that I’ll put up later tonight.
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