Bennie is 4 today. We don't usually remember on time to do anything but we got him right after I retired and we spent his first month with my Dad. Bennie is the first dog we've had that's gotten this old with only us for company. All of our others had companion dogs to keep them company while we were at work.
I say 4 is perfect because they're old enough for us to all understand expectations but there's energy and less illness - we're between the eating of random junk and organ failure.
He's been a gift. He slept through the night from the day he arrived and is very solid on house training. We've always wanted a dog that we can just leave at home without setting barriers and he's it. We've never come home to random destruction.
For his birthday we got lots of treats and he got a bone...his first. I was expecting him to hoard it or maybe cover it to keep for later. Instead, he ate some of it, came to hang out by us with his bone while we ate ice cream, and eventually left it on the deck under the stairs when he realized it didn't get to come in the house.
Bennie had been a challenging pup in many ways. We'd forgotten what it was like to have a puppy when he came along and we forgot, oddly enough, how reactive cairns are to other dogs. I used to have two dogs tangle at the end of a leash when another dog looked at them funny and now I have just one. It's a little more manageable and there is less excuse for not being proactive and recognizing when Bennie's at the end of his tolerance; clicks and treats are the coin of the realm.
If you have a challenging pup, take heart. They do grow up.
No comments:
Post a Comment