The tales of having a chiweenie. Gah! As you may recall, we adopted Chili last May from the humane society. We had never owned a small breed dog before and had a few early learning's. The first learning was how to keep him from crawling under the gate. The second big learning came in November. During the summer and fall, Chili spent his days outside with Cooper. During the night, he slept in Kendall's bed. Everything seemed to be working out nicely. We did not seem to have any potty training issues.
Then...the really cold spell hit! Do you remember that one? I do! It was right around Thanksgiving. It was the time that all things "little dog" went south. Chili had decided that our house was his own personal restroom...anywhere...anytime. There was no stopping this dog. We tried everything (or so we had thought). I was at my wits end.
The last straw came late one Sunday evening, or should I say during the wee morning hours of Monday morning? Kendall came down to our room crying. Chili had PEED and POOPED on her cheerleading outfit. Would I PLEASE wash it so she could wear it the next morning? I managed to drag myself out of bed. Kendall proceeded to clean up the mess while I tossed Chili outside. Who cares if he gets cold, right? Gah! I put Kendall's outfit in the washer and fell back to sleep. I am certain that I threatened to take Chili back to the humane society. At this point, I am also pretty certain Kendall was in full agreement.
The next morning, I calmed down a bit and called my sister. She seems to know all things pet. As I recall, she wanted to be a vet somewhere along the way during our childhood. She instantly informed me that we should be crate training Chili. What is that? She said Chili should only be allowed three places: in his kennel, outside, or sitting on someone's lap. Sure enough...I went on the internet and it informed me that we were to blame for Chili's terrible behavior. But, of course...why didn't I realize it was all my fault:)? That night we dusted off the crate that we had purchased last May and had stashed somewhere in the garage.
The first night was awful. He whined and he cried. I pulled out my handy dandy earplugs and tried very hard to get some sleep. Night two went a bit better. By the end of the week, we were in business. We are now a few months into this thing and peace and harmony have been restored. Thank goodness for Auntie Stephie's doggie wisdom or Chili would have been exiled. That would have been sadness for all of us.
About the comforts of the crate, Kendall donated a few of her baby blankets. For the first few weeks, the girls would arrange the blankets and sleep mat neatly. Chili would then proceed to fix it just how he liked it. The girls have given up on a nice and tidy bed for Chili.
When we had company for the holidays, we noticed that Chili really preferred to be in his kennel. It seemed to be his safe haven. How can you not resist that sweet face? Read the above paragraphs again if you have already forgotten.
Yes, those are doggie clothes off to the right of the kennel. Never in a million years did I think I would be that person, the one that buys clothes for their dog. Now chili has several t-shirts, at least 2 sweaters, and one bright orange parka. Spoiled dog!
Though I believe we have largely figured out this small dog thing, I decided to enroll Chili (us, really) in a dog training course. Kevin and I went to one with Cooper when she was a puppy and in hindsight it paid dividends. As the man at the pet store told me, "We are really training you guys, not the dog." I thought it would be a great experience for the girls to participate in. Kendall will take the lead with Chili at the class. I think we will have Sid just watch the first class and determine her level of participation after that. The class starts next month for 6 weeks. The girls are very excited.
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