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| What more do you want from me? After a bath, I say hello as best as I can. |
We pick up Gizmo after a week at Sam’s Green Paw and again we are a little nervous. After several calls, we have been guaranteed that Gizmo is enjoying himself, having a great time and getting along well with others.
But will he recognize us? Has he forgotten us? What will his reaction
be to us when we take him home?
Even worse, last night it occurred to me that he has spent nearly a week in a huge room with dogs his own size. We asked that he be given a bath because he has been lying down where other dogs urinate.
He has also been urinating where he wants to and when he wants to in the equivalent of a living room. Has he forgotten all our training and housebreaking? Will he return home and assume that anywhere at any time is what we want of him? How long will it take to re-educate him, if necessary?
Before he comes downstairs, I ask the attendant if there are
problems going from Sam’s to home, with bad habits needing to
be unlearned. He said, no, that the home environment was
different from Sam’s and the dog will quickly re-learn the habits previously taught. I have my doubts, even though that is good news.
Then, Gizmo comes down the stairs. He has been beautifully and successfully bathed, so he looks fluffy and rather large. He also looks happy. He comes to me, stands on his hind legs and buries his head in my crotch, a traditional Gizmo greeting. Grace gets an only slightly more subdued hello.
Payment made, we go out to the car, where the cage is in place. Gizmo leaps up into the trunk and enters the cage. I enter our home address on the GPS and about a half hour later than we wanted to leave because Sam’s misplaced his collar with all his tags and licenses we begin our 2 ½ hour drive to Palm Desert, CA.
Within minutes of entering the cage, Gizmo, evidently exhausted
from the doggy day care experience, goes to sleep and doesn’t move
until we open the doors at the local Costco, where we re-supply some
of our food needs and our dog indicates it is time for him to relieve himself.
To tell the truth, his greeting after a week of separation is a bit disappointing. Yes, he jumped joyfully towards us when he saw us;
and yes, it was about as energetic a greeting as we get when we return
home after being away for more than half an hour. But, it was not
the fully energetic, unstop all the stops, and let the emotions flow greeting that I was expecting.
He may simply be tired or maybe he is a little upset with us at leaving him in the first place. Maybe he is getting more mature and his old puppy love leaping is a thing of the past. Or, perhaps more likely, we got a fulsome greeting, with all the energy he could muster at the moment.
Let’s see how he greets us after a good night’s sleep tomorrow morning.
But will he recognize us? Has he forgotten us? What will his reaction
be to us when we take him home?
Even worse, last night it occurred to me that he has spent nearly a week in a huge room with dogs his own size. We asked that he be given a bath because he has been lying down where other dogs urinate.
He has also been urinating where he wants to and when he wants to in the equivalent of a living room. Has he forgotten all our training and housebreaking? Will he return home and assume that anywhere at any time is what we want of him? How long will it take to re-educate him, if necessary?
Before he comes downstairs, I ask the attendant if there are
problems going from Sam’s to home, with bad habits needing to
be unlearned. He said, no, that the home environment was
different from Sam’s and the dog will quickly re-learn the habits previously taught. I have my doubts, even though that is good news.
Then, Gizmo comes down the stairs. He has been beautifully and successfully bathed, so he looks fluffy and rather large. He also looks happy. He comes to me, stands on his hind legs and buries his head in my crotch, a traditional Gizmo greeting. Grace gets an only slightly more subdued hello.
Payment made, we go out to the car, where the cage is in place. Gizmo leaps up into the trunk and enters the cage. I enter our home address on the GPS and about a half hour later than we wanted to leave because Sam’s misplaced his collar with all his tags and licenses we begin our 2 ½ hour drive to Palm Desert, CA.
Within minutes of entering the cage, Gizmo, evidently exhausted
from the doggy day care experience, goes to sleep and doesn’t move
until we open the doors at the local Costco, where we re-supply some
of our food needs and our dog indicates it is time for him to relieve himself.
To tell the truth, his greeting after a week of separation is a bit disappointing. Yes, he jumped joyfully towards us when he saw us;
and yes, it was about as energetic a greeting as we get when we return
home after being away for more than half an hour. But, it was not
the fully energetic, unstop all the stops, and let the emotions flow greeting that I was expecting.
He may simply be tired or maybe he is a little upset with us at leaving him in the first place. Maybe he is getting more mature and his old puppy love leaping is a thing of the past. Or, perhaps more likely, we got a fulsome greeting, with all the energy he could muster at the moment.
Let’s see how he greets us after a good night’s sleep tomorrow morning.
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