Thursday, April 05, 2012

Can a furparent be too lenient?

Apparently I'm much too permissive of a furmom. On our walk the day before yesterday, Gozer took me to one of the pet stores. She sometimes gets treats at the pet stores so she likes to go there. The walk to that store is also really nice because it's on a path through and around a natural area.

While we were in the store I noticed that there was a yellow version of the same squeaky toy that she loves. I knew she already had two other of these squeaky toys - Squeaky and Hedgey - but she seemed to really like this yellow one so I bought it for her. It's called Ducky and she does love it. These squeaky toys don't have normal squeakers: their squeakers sound like a cross between a kazoo and a goose quack. I think she actually likes the fact that they're so much louder and more annoying than anything else she has.

Ian wasn't impressed because Gozer already has more than a few other toys and I'm spoiling her by buying her more. Just because she likes them, he says, doesn't mean that I have to buy them for her. Well, yes, that's true... but I like that she likes them and I want to give her things that she likes. I don't buy her stuff every time we go to the store, but I figure it doesn't hurt to buy her some things sometimes.

Of greater concern to Ian is Gozer's latest habit of spending part of the time sleeping on the bed while I'm having a bath. She used to only ever sleep on my bathrobe (which I'd fold up nicely for her) on the floor. Lately she's started sleeping there and then going up onto our bed after a while. The problem is that she isn't allowed on the furniture, including the bed.

Yesterday I made that behaviour worse. After my bath I was very, very tired so I decided to take a nap. Gozer was already on the bed and I pulled over an afghan and fell asleep. I half-woke up later to switch positions and Gozer came and snuggled up with me. Having a nap with Gozer on the bed (where she'd already been sleeping) was a clear violation of the rule that she's not allowed up on the furniture.

I totally agree that Gozer needs to stay off of the couch and there's no way that Gozer is going to sleep in the bed at night. I have much less of a problem with her napping on the bed with me - ok, I love the idea of snuggling with my dog when I have a nap - and I don't much mind her sleeping on the bed only when I have a bath. It's possible that bending the rules this way will lead her to think that she can bend the rules in other ways. If so, then I'm more than happy to crack down on her behaviour... but until then, I'm ok with letting it go. Convincing Ian that it's ok is a much tougher problem.

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