Couch dogs

Good morning, I'm up and at it early. I have to get cooking this morning; the dogs had chicken, spaghettti squash, cut baby greens and oatmeal for dinner lastnight. Luke surprisingly paced and watched the entire process of getting everything together and then thoroughly enjoyed his meal. It was light on the meat so I thought he wouldnt' enjoy it as much as his typical meals but he ate unusually fast. He loves chicken and he knew that chicken was on the menu so I guess his appetite had been sparked.

Luke is a creature of habit, as soon as he finishes eating he has to go outside. And I mean as soon, he goes from bowl to the door and if I'm not fast enough he'll hit his bells hanging on the door. He also has several spots in and around the house that are "his" spots. The girls are much more flexible about their life, typical don't you think?

Before we moved Luke had a spot on the couch where he spent most of his day. Unless he had something great to be doing he could be found on the corner of the couch watching the comings and goings. Once we moved; our movers lost the cushions to Luke's couch and it had to be tossed. I felt sadness as they took Luke's couch out to the curb, butI knew that it would be a good thing in the long run. It's not good for anyone dog or human to get too set in their ways.

The whole move was very good for Luke, it shook things up a bit which is what he needed. The girls have lived in Canada and several houses but Luke had only ever known one home. This house is not layed out for one perch sitting, it is multi-level so there really is no one spot to sit and watch everything. And I have said before I have dog beds all over my house to accomodate my following pack.

Another change is that the dogs are no longer allowed on the couches, the cloth couches. They are still allowed and will always be allowed on the Leather couch. Luke is a digger and circler, everytime he is going to lay down he circles and digs (except for the leather couch) until everything is just right. We decided right from the beginning that we did not want to come home to find a hole in the couch so "new rules." This was a huge adjustment for Luke, again not so big for the girls. He would literally stand and stare at us the entire time we were on the couch. But since then he has adjusted to not being on the couch, or so we thought.

It is actually an easy process to train your dogs not to go onto the couch. And if you decide that they can go on the couch but only when you say, easy as well. The tough one is teaching the dogs not to go onto the couch when you are not around. I'll discuss this in detail in a later post.

We came home on the weekend after being out for several hours to find him curled up on the livingroom couch surrounded by all the blankets. You see I'm a big fan of cozy blankets and I just bought two new ones at Costco; they are the softest blankets I've ever felt. These are the furry type, caramel brown and luscious; and its not only us that think they are so great obviously. The look on his face when we came in; we caught him and he knew it.

Now that I have been enlightened I have to make sure that the comfy blankets are away before I go out. Dogs do love their comfort just as much as we do.