September 15, 2009
Potential and Theoretical Dog Woes
So the parents continue to get braver and braver in the more and more empty-nested world they find themselves in, and are actually, now, taking a pretty big trip in October. This is going to leave me alone in the house with the puppy dog for like, a week. This has me worried.
I mean, it’s not like I don’t like the dog. I like Molly very much! She is very cute and affectionate. We play all the time. I’m very glad she’s around.
At the same time, she is also a very needy dog. Whenever my parents leave, and I’m still at home, she’s constantly coming up to me, trying to get me to go and look for them for her. She whines until I take her outside to see where they are, or she’ll constantly pat my leg, and want me to come with her to an “approved” spot to spend time with her so she will not be alone.
It’s as adorable as all get out, don’t get me wrong. But I’m glad that, whenever I’m not in the mood for it, I can “turn that off” and not worry about it, and know she’ll get the attention she wants a little later when the parents come home. Molly is there when I want such things, and I can turn it off when I don’t.
During that week my parents are gone, however, I can’t. She doesn’t like being in here, in the room with the computer, and thus is going to be constantly trying to get me away to spend time with her. She’s also likely not to eat much without me forcing it on her, a little. She doesn’t eat when she’s nervous, and without the parents there for days, she won’t be. She’s also scared to death of the doggy door, and we simply cannot teach her to go out the door to use the bathroom when she needs to, which means I’m going to have to take her outside like clockwork fairly often. I’m going to have my hands full, to some extent.
At the same time, the “test run” I’ve had so far when my parents were gone for one night went surprisingly well. She eventually realized the parents weren’t coming back, and came in and slept with me very nicely. I didn’t have a whole lot of trouble with her. And I mean, we have over a month to teach her to use the doggy door. It should be alright.
Still, you know. Potential Stressor. Yay.