my little houseguest

Jasmine, a 4 month old yorkie puppy arrived at my house Saturday night. Her family is having me watch her for a week while they're in Florida. They're also hoping I can help her be a better dog by having some stringent training while they're away. I discovered why she needed it the first night. This dog is SPOILED. The amount of things that arrived with her was my first clue. Now spoiling a dog is not a bad thing in itsself, but when you couple that with not a lot of discipline, you get a very bratty dog. I can see why they have a tough time being strict with her though, she's absolutely adorable.

When she first arrived, I took Wesley outside to meet her, and she was very excitable. The little dog can jump up and touch your nose in a full stand.. She's practically spring-loaded. So he did what any well-adjusted dog would do. Completely ignored her. I was very proud of him. Then we went inside, and she was barking at him trying to initiate play. She barked in his face about 3 times, so he barked back.. once. and she went running! It was actually really funny. After that they seemed to get along great.

They brought a "play pen" for her to stay in while I can't watch her. This thing is about 4 and 1/2 feet tall, so I have no place to put it but in my kitchen. Let me tell you that when she goes in there, my neighbors probably think I'm beating her. She squeaks, crys and barks to be let out. She did this the ENTIRE first night. Luckily, I was so tired I managed to somewhat sleep through it. I'm sure her family would love to come home to a dog that no longer cries when put in her pen. The problem, I discovered is that she's not entirely housetrained either. She hasn't peed on my freshly clean carpets, but poop is another story. Thankfully it's small, so it's not that big of a deal to pick up, and solid, so I'm not getting new stains on my carpet either.

She's actually a very smart little dog. Her only issues are her excitability, and crying in her pen. They said she doesn't come when called, but I havent had any problems at all with that. She's come every time I've called her. Especially after we went for a walk. She was actually behaving on leash better than my own dog, who kept challenging me for leadership. Not once did she challenge that role. When walking around in the house, she won't even pass me when she's following.

She's learning that crying and jumping gets her nowhere, and that being calm gets her all the attention she wants. I think they'll be happy with the results... and this is only the third day with her. Today though, when I got out of bed, Wesley and Jasmine came to my bedroom door to greet me. She had been in her pen all night. So I was really curious how she got out. I put her back in, to see how she did it. Apparently, this little dog can not only jump 4 feet, but she's an excellent climber! This should be interesting to see how I can keep her from performing that little feat! She's such a clever little dog.

Last night Eldon came over, and I showed him what I'd been working on with her, and he helped reinforce that EVERYONE wants her to behave this way, which I think will also help her. We went out to see Failure to Launch. It was a cute, funny movie. He actually laughed harder than I did! Then we went out to Devil's Point for stripaoke. He'd always wanted to see it, but since he works early Mondays he hadn't been willing to stay up that late. This time he did. I tried really hard to get a group of people to go with us, so that we could peer pressure him into singing, but everyone flaked... except Shauna. I'm sure everyone had valid excuses, but it still sucks because I don't know when he'll be willing to sacrifice sleep again to go. :(