Old Dog, New Tricks

It can't be true, right? There isn't some magical block that keeps dogs of a certain age from learning new patterns. If my Mommom can learn to use a DVD player to watch Jeff Foxworthy & my dad is on facebook, I have hope that Natalie & I will be alright.

Sometime after we moved to Southside & the weather started getting nasty, Natalie (Natalie-Wood Wolcott, my 5 year old chihuahua) decided it wasn't necessary to poop outside anymore. False. So we've been on this adventure of re-housebreaking her into using peepads like most of my friends with tiny dogs use. Let's just say it's been really stressful on us both for the past week.



Clearly Natalie is used to the luxurious life... it's true, I spoil her with pretty dresses & snuggle toys that I know she'll only shred eventually. But she's my baby! So she's really not used to this new, strict mom behavior. Natalie just looks up at my with those big hua-hua eyes & you can just see how sad she is. "Why can't I play in the rest of the house? Why haven't we gone for walks? Stop making all those crazy gestures with the weird paper thing on the floor!"

I've been reading all kind of articles on housebreaking adult dogs, but the best advice I got was from Tink (a sure sign that our running is improving us physically, emotionally, and mentally... right?) Apparently her mom house trained their dog with a song. Love it! I'm not sure if it's the most effective method, but I think Natalie & I both enjoy it most. I'm happy to report that Natalie has now used the peepads twice! (please don't do the math, I'm aware) So we're in the "progress, not perfection" stage of the game & she seems much less distressed at the current arrangement which makes me much less stressed. We'll get through this, I'm almost certain of it.

p.s. I realized this is the second post in a row that I've referenced dog poop, I'll try not to make it a habit. Sorry...