Friday, 11 September 2015

On getting home a little puppy who will only do baby and not live-in-best-friend


Hi R,

I hope you are having a fantastic time in Europe! The photographs were stunning!!

I am sure you would have heard about little Chicory; who is at once incredibly amazing and driving me to an early grave! I swear I have MISSED you guys – any advice would have been great!  K fussing over the puppy would have been  a balm to my rather frazzled nerves… Actually, we haven’t been that terrible – Chicory has learnt to ride in the car without crying or tangling himself in the buckles (a seatbelt is compulsory for him) with only his body weight’s worth of treats! (The first two times we went out, it was so bad I was ready to feed him all my chocolates and mushrooms!) He has a wonderful habit of sitting next to me instead of jumping at me (and I am hoping that will never change). He has realised that I am mad and likely to bolt out of the house at any time or randomly bang car doors but unlikely to abandon him – I have yet to convince him that I wouldn’t leave him to starve alone in the car. He is far too smart and can see that I am manipulating him to sit in his crate but likes the idea that I don’t take his toys away from him if he is there when we are playing – he doesn’t mind terribly if I close the gate, but I haven’t done that for long periods anyway – that is most likely going to happen once he doesn’t need to go to the toilet at night. I wish he wouldn’t whine every time he goes to the toilet but I suspect he would love me if I came down to clean up in the middle of the night – of course, if I do come down then he’ll forget everything and want to play; so I ignored him last night and he didn’t make an issue out of it (not that my lungs didn’t spontaneously plunge into a cold bath at that sound at that time!) I have tried to ensure he doesn’t get bored and he has tried to keep his peace if there are enough interesting things around him to amuse himself – if not, he does try to get my attention.

I think that all the above was too much information, but I am insanely proud that I am making any sense and am able to string words together to form sentences. Among other things, during the past four days, I have scribbled inane comments on a book in pen (sacrilege, in normal circumstances); I have driven into the wall of my driveway; I have genuinely forgotten to eat my lunch and then my dinner; reached for an appointment at 17.15 instead of 7.15; gone outside with only a cotton t-shirt, jeans and open shoes when the entire ground was white with frost and nearly gotten myself frostbite – growing so cold that even my dog refused to lick my hand, which I only wanted him to do so that I could use my fingers to open the door; and perhaps I have been oversensitive to everyone and been incredibly defensive and almost bitten off a few head, maybe...

Part of that was also because the renovation guys did not complete building the cupboards till Monday (and Chicory arrived on Sunday) and so the apartment was in a state and I have been trying to move things out of boxes and into cupboards; so I wouldn’t entirely blame Chicory and I have been hating these guys too when I've found a moment to spare, but Chicory...  

If you don’t mind, I was planning on taking him to your backyard for a play on the weekend, he doesn’t get completely vaccinated for another few weeks and there is a bit of a risk of parvovirus (or something similar) on public land… I have been trying to make him walk on concrete and road where he is less likely to come across anything that might make him sick – he of course bolted back home one time but that is another story for another time!

Also, S suggested I speak with you regarding the fencing in the backyard – I was thinking of this: http://www.vebopet.com.au/dog/dog-exercise-pen/6-panel-metal-tube-heavy-duty-pet-exercise-play-pen.html which is expandable or some other kind of that limits him to part of the backyard…

Do let me know what you think! Looking forward to having you guys back and hearing all about your holidays too!

Have a great time till then!
Neha

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