human training, part four

Henry and I are slackers -- we skipped obedience class on Monday night. CJ was at work, which meant I'd be dealing with an extra crazy puppy. I had a busy day at work on Monday and I worked past 5, and I wasn't in the mood to deal with obedience class, so we just didn't go. I'm sure it will put Henry behind the rest of the class, but let's be honest -- he wasn't at the top of the class to begin with.

We've been having some behavioral problems with Henry lately too. CJ assures me it's like the terrible twos for children, but he's been assuring me of this for awhile now, and my patience is running a tad thin at times. The biting is sort of under control. We've got to the point where he won't try to bite our hands, but he still likes to nip at my arms and legs. I've decided that anytime he does it, he's automatically going to his crate for a time-out. Some sources say that time-out should be separate, but really, where else do you put a dog for time-out so he won't get into any more trouble?

Speaking of the crate, that's another issue itself. Several weeks ago, when the crate was still partitioned off, Henry finally figured out how to make it to the other side. CJ removed it the partition, and Henry was a lot happier in his crate. But then it defeated half of the purpose of crate training -- to ensure Henry wouldn't pee in the house. Henry is really good about going to the bathroom outside when we're around, but since he had the run of the entire crate, he decided he could pee in the corner or worse, pee outside of the crate. It was gross, and I'd had enough, so CJ shortened the crate again. So now he's rebelling against the partition by peeing on the other side, which is incredibly difficult to clean. And did I mention it's gross?

And on the other hand, he's had hints of turning into a cuddler. He laid down with me on Sunday afternoon -- no biting or anything. And he did the same thing tonight. That's the dog that I've wanted all along.

So week #4 was a bust, but we'll be back at obedience class next Monday, hopefully with some new lessons learned.