A Good Night's Sleep

We worked Ellie quite vigorously yesterday with her car training, heel work, and her usual sit and down work. As a result, she slept like a baby most of the evening, and voluntarily in her own bed, I might add.

We let her out to toilet before going to bed at about 23:00. We placed her onto our bed, and turned out the light. She jumped off the bed and got into her own bed positioned by my side, but after a few minutes decided that she wanted back on the bed. Now that she has mastered jumping up onto the bed, this was easy for her to fix.

We never heard a peep out of her until 07:00 this morning. At which time, I found my face being licked with the enthusiasm that only a puppy can have! We checked the carpet and the bed covers to find that she hadn't had any accidents in the night.

I did wake in the night to find my feet sticking out the side, and Ellie had nestled in behind my legs, meaning that if I wanted warm feet, I'd have to move Ellie. I didn't have the heart to, and so I ended up with cold feet. Hey, you can't have it all I guess...

I now have reminders set on my computer which blast me with sound when Ellie is due to be fed. We feed her four times a day at present, at 07:30, 11:00, 14:30, and 18:00. The food bowl is left down for thirty minutes, whether she's eaten it or not.

I took her for a walk this morning. My pocket was loaded with cheese, and I encouraged her to heel as much as was humanly possible. To my amazement, she seemed to remember the game from yesterday, and, for the most part, she did heel, or as close as we can expect her to so soon. If she pulls on the leash at all, I just stop. It's funny when she sees people -- she just stops and wags her tail, expecting them to shower her with affection. It will be good when she gets to puppy training, where she'll be able to interact both with other pups and like-minded people.

We're going to stop using cheese for treating though, as I feel her toileting is becoming a little on the runny side. Not much, but there is a difference. I suspect it's the fat in the cheese. Jan is going to pick up some chicken on her way home today. We'll use that instead.

This is the first day that Ellie has had to cope with me not focusing on her constantly, as I'm at my desk, moving about the house, etc. As I write this, she's gnawing away at her favourite piece of old bone that the foster-carer brought with her. We've just been out doing our morning training session, so I suspect she'll fall asleep soon. When she jumps on the sofa today, I'm encouraging her down to the floor, and giving a "off" command. She's getting the idea. We don't mind her being on the sofa at all, and in actual fact, really like those cuddly moments with her. However, we do want it to be by invite only. It's not nice for other people when they visit, and they have a dog jumping over them when they are sat on the sofa.