Looking out through the bars of the crate, what patterns does she see?
Tag: house rules
A man has been fined S$5,000 for keeping his pet dog in the balcony of his apartment, and exposing it to the sun and rain for long periods of time… Ling had said he was not aware of causing any suffering to his pet as it was healthy. – 3 Sep, 2013 channelnewsasia – The balcony is not a safe environment for dogs when unsupervised.
Three weeks ago…
Last night…
Time, has not made a difference to her persistence in the mission :P
“Go to your bed” or crate/kennel cues are so useful in this case :P
It hadn’t occurred to me until now but it is dangerous for any animal to hang around the door frame, especially in our case since we live on high floors with crazy winds that sometimes slam doors really hard. In this case, we had the bedroom balcony door closed which shuts off the wind. Normally we do keep the door securely hooked to the wall, and not ajar.
This girl is dead serious playful.
Will you play with me? from weliveinaflat on Vimeo.
We didn’t train her to do this but perhaps because she knows she is not allowed in the bedroom, so she stepped into the room to deliver her toy as a play invitation before stepping back to sit “respectfully” outside the door.
I was quite amused when she did that. XD She doesn’t always do it of course. :P
She vexed me today. We came home to find the dog was doing a little interior rearrangement of her own. A vase of roses toppled, the water spilled on the floor and laid stagnant about and under the TV console. That must have surprised and made her nervous. As I scolded and cleaned, I could find traces of saliva dripped in various corners of the living room and corridor.
“Bad girl. Bad. Bad.” went my almost monotone voice. I don’t scream at her but the human still needed to let out some frustration. And since I was cleaning anyway, my frustration went ahead to wipe the white TV console more thoroughly than normal and of course the floor behind and under it. “Bad. Bad.”
I was at the doctor this morning and tired. So I left her alone after I cleaned up to get my own rest. Perhaps an hour later, I heard strange noises that I thought could be her woofing a little in her sleep. Came out of the room to find her in the toilet puking on the newspapers and pee pad.
The two thoughts – worry and “thank god this dog is smart enough to go do it in the toilet” – occurred simultaneously.
“Good. Good girl!” I petted her gently and clapped, half hoping to lighten the mood so she doesn’t feel so awful and half hoping the praise will cement in her brain that ALL future episodes of puking should happen here. “Good job. Good girl.”
That was before I saw the two more puddles of vomit on her bed and another before her bed. She probably did not have the time to head for the toilet so she threw up all her breakfast, and guess what, bits of dried flowers and rose leaf there. I had mistaken her food tasting and self-intoxication session for interior redesign. = =!!!
She was to vomit 8 times in total. The last time, she set on the pee pad and she struggled a bit, her muzzle pinched looking before she threw up mostly white phlegm-looking liquid. Then it was almost as if she was exhausted, she shook off my petting hand and walked away from me to settled down on her own on the floor.
Her bed, grossly soaked and packed with soggy kibble, canned food, barley and the incriminating dried floral arrangement, was packed and dumped in the garbage. So now my sick dog is one bed short. THIS is the reason my friends why a dog should have at least TWO cheap beds and not one ridiculously over-priced bed from the pet shop. I feel so affirmed. Haha! :P
It started to thunder and rain. So today, for the comfort and ease of my poor sick dog, the forbidden study is not forbidden. (I hold my breath that she does not puke again in the study!)
The scenario is pretty similar to the last time she tried to intoxicate herself with a hydrangea leaf, except that that was one quarter of an extremely toxic leaf. So now on top of instituting the forbidden balcony, Mr P will have to consider more carefully when he buys flowers for his wife in future.
But no, that is not why she is behind bars in this picture. Haha :P
LIFE… as it happened.
Theoretically, Donna should be a forbidden subject since mongrels are not HDB-approved by default. You could seek approval but it is subject to approval on a case-by-case basis. And in the case where the dog is not approved, you need to rehome the dog. – –
On the micro-level, our household operates with similar methodology. Donna knows what’s forbidden about the house – the sofa, the kitchen, the rooms – unless we explicitly lets her on or in them. Barricades, like the child gate we’ve installed, are so effective in communicating boundaries.
I like to think our household governance is more compassionate than…. bureaucracy. Most people would have that preference.
Humans are not so easily deterred by rules and regulations. Our eyes seek out the holes and the cracks that sneaks us a peek into what lies behind the barricade. Sure we read the sign-posted “No Entry” disclaimers. But even before the developer was ready to hand over the keys, some more enterprising future neighbours of ours had already sneaked into the development to take pictures and videos of the corridors and the unlocked units.
The Sign Says… doesn’t mean people and dogs will follow.
Interesting isn’t it, how things forbidden present the most desirable adventures to humans and dogs alike.
That’s the answer to why that dog was behind bars in the forbidden kitchen in the first picture. She sneaked in, but unlike our human neighbours, she couldn’t sneak out again. :P
Reference
– when to take a vomiting dog to a vet
– ASPCA dog care – vomiting
When Donna first came home, she was followed us everywhere like a little busybody. But Mr P and I already agreed that she would not have access to all the rooms. So the Donna zone covered only the balcony (when someone is at home), the living room, the kitchen and the common corridor along all the rooms. The kitchen was barred only after Donna ran in and peed on the kitchen rug once too many times. We secured it with a child gate. All the other room doors were also closed all the time.
Of course, at the start Donna still wanted to follow us everywhere. When we entered the bedroom and shut the door, she would be outside snorting loudly demanding to come in. Sometimes we can hear scratches and bumps and wonder exactly what was she doing outside.
We sometimes work in the study for long stretches of time, so we leave the door open. But, the minute she sticks one paw in, it was one of us saying “Out!” and getting up and backing her out the door. There are times we had to do this repeatedly when she thought it was a great game to run in and out, in and out until we got tired of getting up to shoo her out. And when no one responds to her antics, she will get bold and clatter all the way in, reminding us that we need to be consistent ourselves if we want her to abide by the rules. We treat her when she backs out by herself. But mostly we treat her if she stays outside by the door, without coming in.
And when she lies quietly or falls asleep on the floor outside, I go “Yes! Dead dog! Good job!” and treat her again. Actually I was hoping that the “dead dog” will stick in her subconsciousness as time goes by :P But all it accomplished, really, was a laze-about dog that loitered in the corridor waiting for treats xD
Sometimes, she’d curl up on her pillow for a nap. Because yes, the pillow is another treat zone since I was trying to help her to love the pillow.
And after a while, Donna stopped insisting to enter any of the rooms. She would stop outside even if we left the door open when we went in.
Donna can usually be found with her entire body just piak on the floor dozing off, unlike her adopted young cousin Doudou who falls asleep in all sorts of adorable contortions half on and half off furniture. So I was surprised and amused to find her in a new sleeping position when I got up from my study desk yesterday for a break.
Although, how comfortable can a door frame pillow be for a dog’s head is beyond me.
She was obviously too comfortable or lazy enough to just follow me with her eyes as I walked around snapping pictures :P
Today, Donna has piak herself outside the kitchen instead because I ran out of treats in the study a few days ago. That dog is not stupid at all.
P/s: We are not dog trainers and most of what we do is trial and error and may not be the best for your dog. A lot of times, we may also do what is most effective for us at that point in time but it may not be best practice. However, we will never harm our dog.
