We walked our neighbour's dogs for the last time this afternoon and both of us felt a huge weight lift off our shoulders when we took them home. As much as I enjoy spending time with those two - and I do, because they're super-cute when in their own home - I'm tired of walking them. Gozer needs so much attention right now that walking two other dogs along with her is just too much.
Speaking of Gozer, we gave her a bath today because it's melting outside and her belly was filthy. Poor girl! As soon as we took her into the main bathroom where she gets her baths, she started trembling because she was so scared. She wouldn't even take a yummy treat. We went ahead with the bath anyways and she was definitely not adverse to treats when we were done. I'm happy to report that the red bumps that were on her tummy are completely gone and the sores she had from worrying at her belly are almost gone. Yay!
We're going to spend some time taking Gozer into the main bathroom so that she doesn't get so scared going in there. So far we've only taken her in there for baths and I guess we need to play in there with her favourite toys.
Owing a dog is harder than owning a cat because cats don't need to be trained in the same way that dogs do. There's so much work involved in training a dog because you have to be consistent all the time - and Ian and I need to be consistent, too, which is hard. For example, when putting on Gozer's booties, I touch her paw, say "Paw" while I'm touching it, and lift it. I heard Ian doing things differently so I stopped him so that we could figure out which specific steps we would do. That's only one small thing; there are many more.
Life will be easier for all of us once Gozer's had more training - and we've learned how to train her properly. Because it isn't just about training the dog, is it? It's about training the human to communicate with the dog effectively. I hope I'm a good learner.
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