Kathie’s first day home has been less eventful in some ways than her days at The Seeing Eye were. On the other hand, adjusting to a new environment is hard work. She is learning to not chase after the cats–that in itself is a very big job. She was rewarded this evening by Sierra giving her some nose-to-nose time. Sable is still hissing at her; but at least they are existing in the same room now.
This morning we went to the doctor so that I could get my allergy shot. Kathie was very good but did not like me getting the injection at all. She tried three times to block the nurse from injecting my right arm, which was near where she was lying. We will be working on this a lot–I get weekly allergy shots, monthly Xolair injections in my stomach, and bimonthly blood draws to check various things related to a medication that I take. In time she will learn that this is all part of the routine.
This evening, someone knocked on the door to deliver some items. He had driven up in a big truck and left it idling outside. She was on a tie down in the office, and I answered the door there in the office where she could see what I was doing. I think the bark had as much to do with the fact that I did not take her to the door as it did with his presence or his knock. I asked him to please repeat his knock so that I could correct the barking behavior. He was very nice and obliging. These are regular deliveries, and he is our regular driver. He knew that I was away training with her; so he is interested in what is happening with her as she settles in.
I have been training her on things she needs to know since the moment we got in the door yesterday in preparation for an off-leash trial. The crate is here, and she is very happy with it. She can respond to “go to your place” from anywhere in the house and will run to her crate and settle down inside it. She is also learning that “So you need to park?” is a question designed to elicit running to the back door if she needs to go, and going out the back door means the next place she goes is to her relief spot, which she is already using faithfully. Use of the relief spot is often the most problematic thing for new dogs coming home. My first dog had numerous accidents indoors and didn’t stop until she was with me on leash when I found one and became furious. I am glad to have a nice, easy dog for once.
Tomorrow we will be meeting a friend, and in the afternoon I will be doing some editing work. This editing part of life is boring for Kathie; but it is a part of my life that she must learn to handle. We will have a little play time in the morning, and she will hang out with me while I edit.
On Sunday, we will do more fun things. We will go to the church early and learn the layout, and then we will be there for the Sunday school hour and services. After church, we will go to lunch with our friend who is meeting us tomorrow. By the time we get home, I expect we will all be rather tired.
Next week, we have a few miscellaneous trips planned. Right now, I am just working on exposing Kathie to the variety of new things we have going on here at home and working toward very consistent behavior across environments. She is testing me in various places to see if I still mean what I said in the last place about things like staying down after I said down, not playing queen of the floor with the nose, etc. In time, the testing will stop and she will assume I mean good behavior as a matter of course. Not yet, though.
Most people with whom I interact on a regular basis right now are used to seeing me with a much older dog. Even when I brought her home, Loretta was nine months older than Kathie is now. That means that someone else did a lot of the work of taking the puppy out of Loretta. I get the joy and the frustration of doing it with Kathie. It is an interesting process and a healthy challenge for me.
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