11.11.2011

Stinker!

    Yesterday I decided to move Lucky's crate.  We have had his dog crate in our kitchen since we brought him to our forever home a little over a year ago.  We really do not have room in our kitchen for this big crate and have been awkwardly trying to walk around it for over a year.  We have also come to realize that we will need to continue to use his crate for a long while as Lucky is a big and curious dog and still has some puppy in him when it comes to finding socks and shoes and whatever else he can get his paws on.  We also need to quickly be able to crate him when we are leaving the house so going up or downstairs probably would not work.
     So, I moved his crate to a corner of our family room...which incidentally is only about 4 feet and just around the corner from its prior kitchen location.



     Well, Lucky apparently is going to protest this move.  So far he has not automatically and willingly gone into his crate as he did before.  To make matters worse, he barked incessantly all night long.  I finally let him outside at 2:30 am thinking maybe he really does have to go "potty".  He mostly sniffed around and took a brief potty break.  Then, when I let him in he tore up the stairs and directly in our bed!!!  I am quite sure that was the plan all along.  I had to go up and retrieve him to which he decided to let out a.....growl!!!??  I let him know I was not having that, and my husband stepped in and put him back in his crate...so that he could continue barking and whining the rest of the night away...  Ugh!!  Lucky has been a dream dog in most respects so it caught me off guard that he was acting out so dramatically.
     Meanwhile, my husband slept like a baby through it all.  I didn't!!  I am also waiting for an "apology" from my beloved dog.  He did lick my hand this morning, but I was too tired and crabby to care.  He has been doing this all day....


     Obviously, I now realize that this 4 foot move of his crate is more traumatic for him than I bargained for.  However, I am sticking to this new location...and praying for a better night tonight.  That spoiled stinker!!  His fur even looks extra messy -- I guess even dogs have bad hair days -- when they don't sleep!!!