One Month Anniversary: The good, the bad, and the waste of $10

Today marks one month since Halo came to live with me! It's hard to believe that so much time has already past. But it seems like times are a-changin'...I think we've hit the equivalent of the "terrible twos."

We've had a few celebrations and tribulations in the past two days. Yesterday, I worked at the SERC library and decided to try leaving Halo out of crate all day. I used her blanket to create her "place" next to my chair, and she was fantastic all day! I had the crate in my car, but never needed to go out and get it. Not only did she sleep the day quietly away, she spent most of the time lying on her back:

While yesterday included the first time out of her crate all day at work, it also included this:

Halo's first time on the couch. (I know it's a dark picture, but I think you get the point.)

I had gone into the kitchen to do something, and when I came back to the living room, Halo was nice and comfortable, smack dab in the middle of the couch, gnawing on a nylabone. Furniture is a Fidelco no-no. Since we don't know whether the guide dog user will want the dog on the furniture or not, we train them not to. It'll be a lot easier to allow Halo on the furniture later if the user wants to allow it than to try to retrain her to stay off the furniture later. I had to snap this picture quickly before shooing her off the couch, just to capture the moment in time. She's already jumped up twice again tonight; literally vaulted straight off the floor, all four paws in the air, flying onto the couch to get Harley. At least I'm getting some exercise too when I jump up off the recliner to drag her back to the floor. I hope this phase passes quickly. (Forget it, she just ran from the kitchen and dove onto my lap. It's like she's showing off her new jumping skills. GRRRRR.)

Today was another good news/bad news day. Halo spent the day crate-free again. And -- drum roll, please -- she peed on command! When I took her outside mid-afternoon to get busy, she walked straight toward the grass and laid down. She loves lying in the grass. I looked at her, said, "Get up and get busy," AND SHE DID! Fidelco expects that the pups be fully housebroken and get busy on command by six months old, so we're on track to meet that expectation.

However, we seem to be following a new pattern. Good things happen at work, naughty things happen at home. Do you see any problem with this picture?

I'll give you a hint. Before I took this picture, Harley and Halo were on the same side of the gate...on the other side of the gate!

I received a phone call at dinner time tonight when the dogs were wound up, so I stepped out onto the back deck to talk in a bark-free environment. Next thing I know, I see Halo's little face every few seconds as she jumps up to look out the screen door. The door she shouldn't be able to get to because the $10 baby gate is up to keep her out of the kitchen. Since the gate wasn't knocked down, she has obviously learned how to clear it by jumping over it. To answer my own question: Yup, I wasted $10 (see my Friday, August 29 post) .

One month has passed. Halo has gotten bigger. She has adjusted to "working" at SERC and has wound her way into the hearts of my co-workers. Best of all, she has brought a lot of joy and happiness to me and her foster dog siblings. Let's just hope that the next month isn't full of mischief!