Something New, #54

I took a real leap of faith today.

We always crate The Neurotic Dog before we leave the house. We've done this since the third day we've had her. The first day we left her home alone, I came home on my lunch hour to find a wad of batting on the floor when I opened the door. She had eaten out the inside of the couch cushions. I found more batting around the house, mostly from stuffed animals.

Then I found the batting on my bedroom floor.

She had clawed and chewed up my new comforter. The new comforter that was the first major purchase I had made in probably 10 years. The one I saved change in a coffee can for. The one thing in the house that was off limits to the kids. Yeah, that comforter.

So we got the crate the following weekend. At first I thought it would be cruel, but after about a week, she knew to go into it when she saw us getting ready to leave.

The Neurotic Dog, I later found out, is mostly catahoula. After I read the description of their traits and personality, I was glad I hadn't read it before we adopted her, as I wouldn't have adopted a catahoula in a million years.

But, even though no matter how many times I tell her that no one likes a needy female, she still whines when I shut her out of the bathroom, and barks like crazy when left in the backyard for any time longer than it takes her to do her business, and that I can't even go in the garage without sticking her head through the cat door, and that she worries the cat about half to death, and attacks all other dogs, except for TCGIBS42Y's dog, she is good with kids and loyal to a fault.

So when I had to run The Big One over to a friend's and she threw up in the crate, (the dog, not the child) I just let her be loose in the house. We got back about 20 minutes later, and the house was in tact. In fact, she kept coming over to me with a look on her face like, "See what a good girl I was! I didn't eat the house while you were gone!"

Maybe I'll try to leave her for longer stretches if she calms down.

I should probably refill the doggie downers first, though. That's her, sticking her head through the cat door into the garage.