We got the puppy something like three weeks ago. I have just looked at the calendar and I think it will be three weeks tomorrow but I am not sure because it really, really feels like forever. I feel like we have had that dog forever and there is no escape from him. You will note that I have not used his name. This is because I feel no attachment to him. I am worried.
I had rabbits growing up. This was a mistake. Rabbits can apparently be litterbox trained, but if anyone knew this at the time, they didn’t tell my mom, so we had the cages and the cedar chips and it smelled, so the rabbits were eventually confined to little hutches in the backyard. And then eventually we stopped getting rabbits. Then we got a cat. My dad has always hated cats, but my brother and I convinced my mom that we needed a pet, and since Dad thought we shouldn’t get a dog since we didn’t have a fenced-in yard…we brought home a cat one day. Surprise, Dad!
Almost two years ago, I went with Nancy to the animal shelter so she could look at puppies. And I thought, hmm, maybe I should get a cat. They are pretty self-reliant, they go in the litterbox, my apartment is okay with them, etc. I found a cat that day; she sat in my arms and purred, and she licked my arm. A lot. It was cute. I didn’t get her that day; I went home and thought about it. And thought about it. And went back to visit her, and she was still there. So I thought about it some more. And then I told myself that if she was still there next week, I would get her. She was, so I did. She is a good cat. A little annoying, but I generally enjoy her company, and vice versa. It took her a while to warm up to James, but she has.
She has not, however, warmed up to the puppy. She hisses at him and bats at his face. He mostly thinks it is a game and tries to play with her, and she hisses again. It is sort of amusing to watch. I sort of think she should lay off, because the puppy is obviously scared of her; she has won. But then I think, wait, I have not adjusted to the puppy, why should the cat?
James wanted a dog. I put him off by saying we could get a dog once we had a house. At the time, I thought this was a long way off. Turns out, I was wrong. As soon as we moved in, he was on the lookout. “I’ll just stop by the pound to have a look,” he’d say. I went with him once, and it was clear that we have wildly different tastes in what constitutes an acceptable dog. Trying to compromise and all, I said we could look at the puppy when James found him online. I reasoned that I did not ever want a big dog (as James does), but maybe if we got a puppy when he was still cute, then I would like him enough by the time he got big that we could keep him. I reasoned that I would be attached to him by the time he reached adulthood.
We went to the foster home. James fell in love with the puppy right away. There was nothing I could do. And I didn’t see the point, anyway. I had agreed to it, I was fine with it, and if we didn’t get this dog, it just meant more time spent looking for one. Plus, he was cute.
Jake (see! I used his name finally) is still cute. However, I think he has started peeing on the floor just to spite us (me?). It is working. It is a vicious cycle. The vet said we should crate him at night, and then put him in the bathroom while we were at work during the day. Then, as he learned to hold it, we could reward him by letting him out under supervision for hours at a time. At first, this seemed to work. But now, I know he CAN hold it, yet he refuses to. So I can’t reward him. So he gets mad that he is confined and pees in the bathroom to spite me. Vicious. Cycle.
As I return to my point (TM Tripp Tracy), I have not formed an attachment to the dog, and I am worried. I want to like him. I do. I want to not think how he is ruining my bathroom and my life and chewing up everything and I can’t go on vacation ever, even if I had money because I cannot afford to board him somewhere. Do you see how this is bad?
Also, I don’t have a snappy ending. Maybe I will edit this later. But probably not. Anyway, if you have any suggestions on housetraining a puppy, PLEASE send them my way.
