Growling & Traveling

So, to finish the last post...

In the evening times lately, when I go to do my bedtime routine, Petey sneaks in, gets on the bed and under the covers. I almost never see or hear him when this happens. I am not often surprised to find him the the bed because the covers are all mussed and I expect to see him.

Having established in the previous post that I am the softie, I just gently push him over because he is always in my spot. He'll get up after a bit, and I'm on all sorts of allergy medication and I take 5 shots twice a week now. I should get something out of it!! The other night I go to do my usual push and I got a growl!!! I was shocked and amused. I think it bothered Petey that I was not afraid. He got up. I was punished for my bad behavior by the absence of his presence. :)

As far as the travels go, Nanny took a little trip to see my sister in Raleigh so John & I picked up her mail and checked on the house while she was gone. Petey, as you know, loves to get in the car, but often realizes that he's made a huge mistake just a few blocks away and is nervous for the rest of the trip. We take him anyway, because sometimes that is easier than leaving him behind. So, during the time she was gone we'd ask if he wanted to go to Nanny's house. He would respond eagerly and run to the back door before we could change our minds and leave him. On the next to last trip, Petey laid in my lap for several blocks. Then he sat up in my lap and watched through the windshield as we went along. He was calm and sane, much unlike his usual car self. I pointed this out to John but neither of us had an explanation. He did this both there and back. On the last trip there and back. He laid in my lap the entire trip!! That is huge. Petey does not cede control that easily. I guess he'd learned the pattern and knew what was happening so he trusted John to get us there and back safely without having to monitor his progress continually. This is a huge breakthrough for one of them - John or Petey - I'm not sure who...

More and more and more Treats!!!

It has been a while since I blogged, but not to worry Petey has been keeping quite busy. Namely he's :

• Laid in the sun
• Conned treats from us
• Growled about getting moved in the bed
• Traveled back & forth to Nanny's

You already know how he loves the sun. You also know how much he loves treats. You don't know that he has ratcheted up his treat expectations a good bit. He expects a treat any time he returns to the house, any time some one walks in to the laundry room where they are kept, or any time something is opened that sounds the remotest bit like is treat bag being opened. I have been indulgent, and given him treats most, but not every time, he thinks he should get one.

John, on the other hand, is much smarter than me. He wants Petey to be happy as much as I do and understands that Petey shouldn't eat 7 or 8 treats a day. Since John is home a lot more now, he's had more of an opportunity to deal with the issue. He's started grabbing two or three pieces of Petey's dry dog food and handing it to him. Petey trots off in to the other room to eat it. At least we think he's eating it. So far we haven't found a stash of uneaten dog food any where in the house. I'm glad John's around to come up with creative ideas of how to deal with Petey...of course it is his fault we have him...hmmm...

I'll let you know about the growling and traveling in my next post.