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| Screen shot from my phone of the newpaper photo of Margot and me. |
Margot and I made it into the newspaper last weekend! I took her up to the dog park last Saturday, Dec. 1, because PetSafe was hosting a celebration to mark the end of Phase I of the dog park construction and the beginning of Phase II. “Santa Paws” was there taking pictures with all the dogs, so of course I couldn’t pass up that opportunity. Margot definitely didn’t like the looks of Santa at first, but once he started giving her treats, she decided that he was okay after all.
When I look at the photo from the paper, I really cannot believe how big she is now! She’s almost as tall as Elsea (my friend, Brett’s, 2 year-old, red Dobe), although Margot’s body is still obvious that of a puppy. She hasn’t really developed her big, barrel Dobe chest yet, and she still has a little bit of awkwardness to her gait when she runs and romps around. In addition, Margot still isn’t barking very much, except for occasionally when she plays at the dog park. She also barked at Justin’s parents’ cat a little bit during our visit on Thanksgiving (in a playful way), but overall, she really isn’t very vocal. She actually chirps more than she barks. Yes, I said “chirps.” She makes this funny little, high-pitched sound whenever she’s really excited or while she’s playing with Sam at home. It’s hilarious and weird, but of course I think it’s adorable.
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| Margot playing with Buddy at the dog park. |
The biggest milestone I have to report is that Justin and I have started transitioning Margot out of her crate. We have left her out on several occasions for various amounts of time, ranging from a quick run to the store to an entire night while we slept upstairs, and so far she has done incredibly well! We haven’t come home or woken up to any major disasters or accidents, which is a relief. Mostly, I think she just curls up on the couch with Sam whenever she realizes that we’re not going to be back for a while, because that’s where we usually find her when we return. We haven’t tried leaving her out during the day while we’re at work yet, but we’ll get there eventually. She IS still a puppy, so we don’t fully trust her not to get bored and chew through some cords or destroy something else while we’re gone, and she’s still not 100% housebroken yet. So, we’ll probably just continue to leave her out on random occasions in the evenings and on weekends to see how she does until we feel comfortable enough to try leaving her out during a work day. Justin always comes home for lunch, so at least if he comes home to find a mess he’ll be able to crate her for the rest of that day. Like I said, though, it will probably be at least another week or two before we do that.
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| My dog's cooler than your dog. :P |
As for the dreaded housebreaking report, Margot only seems to have accidents now whenever it’s raining and she doesn’t want to go outside, or if she absolutely cannot hold it during the night. I do feel sorry for the girls whenever I make them go outside in the rain, but Margot is simply going to have to suck it up and get used to it the same way Sam has. This morning, it was POURING when I opened the back door to let them out. Sam walked hesitantly out onto the deck, but Margot put on the breaks the minute she saw the rain. She tried to run back into the house, but I literally shoved her out the door and closed the door behind her. I then proceeded to put some clothes into the dryer and fill the girls’ food and water bowls, thinking that both Margot and Sam would probably hurry and go pee so that they could come back inside as soon as they were done. Well, Sam was soaking wet when I let her back in. Margot? Not quite as wet. She had obviously NOT gone out into the yard with Sam and just stayed huddled by the door, but I didn’t have time to take her back out. As I was putting dishes in the dishwasher, though, Margot came in and peed right at the kitchen door! I immediately yelled, “NO! Margot, go pee!” and opened the back door to let her out again. This time, she quickly ran outside because she knew she was in trouble, but I seriously doubt she used the bathroom anymore while she was out there. Again, she probably just waited right by the door until I let her back in. I wish there was some way I could get her used to going out in the rain by herself, because she’ll go if Justin or I stand out in the rain with her while she pees, but we’re not always able to do that (nor do we want to). So, the housebreaking saga continues…
What Margot needs is a Raincoat.
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