The Puppy Chronicles
There is certainly something quite nice about receiving a warm welcome home from a tail-wagging dog. That's true even if she's looking at you as though you've betrayed her by leaving her alone. I'm projecting on the second part of course, but I don't really have any experience in hanging around all day with a dog.
The big news here is that we picked up permission to have her here. The building manager, whom I will call Not-at-all-Nasty Cat, said it was fine that we watch her. That has made me more at ease, in that I'm not concerned that every paw step will bring an eviction notice. In fact, immediately after securing the NAANC's approval, I took a three-hour nap with Nisa sitting on her cushion beside me. And that was nice. It was like napping with an audience, a boon to my ego. The early part of yesterday was a bit difficult. I woke up at 6 a.m., after getting very little sleep, and found Nisa's perferred toilet spots. Then I took her into the office, where she was quite popular. Lots of people came over and petted her, which negated the sleeping-dog-at-my-feet-as-I-work effect I was going for. She would sleep for an hour, then pop up looking to play. I'd take her out then. So that was fun. She barked twice, once at the UPS guys and again at Anna upon her return. But, by that point, my fear-driven stuff had receded.
Today, after a long walk, I left her alone in her kennel for the first time. She seemed to have come through that OK, although she seems to be staying a little bit aloof from me right now. She'll have another stretch by herself tonight, when I leave for work around 6 p.m. But she'll have been on the end of a long walk, so hopefully she'll just sleep her way through it.
The big news here is that we picked up permission to have her here. The building manager, whom I will call Not-at-all-Nasty Cat, said it was fine that we watch her. That has made me more at ease, in that I'm not concerned that every paw step will bring an eviction notice. In fact, immediately after securing the NAANC's approval, I took a three-hour nap with Nisa sitting on her cushion beside me. And that was nice. It was like napping with an audience, a boon to my ego. The early part of yesterday was a bit difficult. I woke up at 6 a.m., after getting very little sleep, and found Nisa's perferred toilet spots. Then I took her into the office, where she was quite popular. Lots of people came over and petted her, which negated the sleeping-dog-at-my-feet-as-I-work effect I was going for. She would sleep for an hour, then pop up looking to play. I'd take her out then. So that was fun. She barked twice, once at the UPS guys and again at Anna upon her return. But, by that point, my fear-driven stuff had receded.
Today, after a long walk, I left her alone in her kennel for the first time. She seemed to have come through that OK, although she seems to be staying a little bit aloof from me right now. She'll have another stretch by herself tonight, when I leave for work around 6 p.m. But she'll have been on the end of a long walk, so hopefully she'll just sleep her way through it.
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