He's at It Again!

Since hand towels are now moved out of his reach, he has to become more inventive in seeking his treasures. He lifted the lid of the laundry hamper again and pulled out another towel. Fortunately, his plan is not to destroy the towel (though he might put a tooth hole in it). He simply wants to cuddle it and hope that I will chase him to retrieve it. Or if he is offered a treat, he will readily relinquish his prize. It’s all about fun and games.

This is Too Much!

Guinness is still up to his tricks of pulling hand towels off towel racks. We can no longer expect a hand towel to stay on a rack in Grant’s bathroom. It has to be hung over the shower rod. If I push mine back to the mirror, it might stay there. Last week, he managed to steal a pretty, new, plush, pink hand towel from my bathroom. After retrieving it, it went in the laundry hamper. Today I sorted things in that hamper, and that towel rose to the top. This afternoon, I found Guinness lying on his bed snuggling with that towel! He had LIFTED THE LID of the laundry hamper and pulled it out!!!

Revitalized by Vitamins

When eating away from home, I take my supply of vitamins in a snack baggie. On our trip this weekend, I neglected to take my vitamins. I removed them from my purse and set them down to take upstairs with me, but they never made it. This evening, I discovered a torn baggie all over the floor, then realized that my vitamin bag was missing. I hope they don’t give him supernormal energy!

Life At Camp

When I pulled into the pet hotel to pick up Guinness this morning, he was in the play yard having his tummy rubbed by his personal camp counselor. By the time I pulled out my camera and rolled down the window, he was standing staring at me. What a happy boy!

Dog Cotton Candy

Guinness appeared at my side with a plastic bag in his mouth. I recognized the bag as one I had filled with styrofoam peanuts from a recently received box. I went downstairs to see what kind of mess we had. It wasn’t too bad – just peanuts everywhere. He came with me and immediately filled his mouth with peanuts. I took one to a sink to test if it would dissolve in water, which it did. So no worries as they are cornstarch peanuts, not styrofoam.

Several years ago, Hershey did a similar thing. I panicked. I assumed that all packing peanuts were styrofoam and that they were going to expand in his stomach and possibly kill him. After calling the Emergency Animal Clinic, they told me to test the peanuts to see if they would dissolve under running water. They did! He was only filling his stomach with benign cornstarch.

Another Test

A friend of Grant’s came to the house today. He did not stand at a wall, but he ignored Guinness. It worked pretty well. Guinness was not as obnoxious as he could have been.

Training Test

Here is Angela at Greg's wedding last weekend.

She arrived willing, in doggie clothes with short sleeves, but, I am sure, not very eager. Guinness was overboard in friendliness, as usual. She moved to a wall, put her face into her arms, and we allowed Guinness to jump at her. (Next time, I will tell our guinea pig to wear long sleeves!) It may have taken a full minute; I’m not sure. It wasn’t an awfully long time before he stopped, walked to a window to look out, then returned to her, sniffing and jumping maybe one or two more times. Then he was calm. I suggested that she try moving to the sofa. He ran to the sofa and jumped on it before she could get there. He was just goofy, so I put him away, and we went out to dinner.

When we returned, he did not jump on her! He sniffed, but none of his craziness! Yay!

Training Evaluation

Tonight I took Guinness to meet a trainer at Petsmart. He tested Guinness by watching me with him and by putting him through some paces himself. He pronounced that Guinness is a “great dog. Very well trained. You have no problems with this dog.”

“Yes, I do! When someone comes to our house, he goes bonkers! He jumps on them and won’t leave them alone. We give up and put him in his crate.”

So he gave me multiple suggestions. After explaining a few exercises, I said, “I need a notebook and pen to remember all of this.” He assured me I would remember. Not! Here is all that I could recall upon returning home:

1. Prepare someone to come to our house.
1. Tell them they will be ignored.
2. Enter; do not speak and will not be spoken to.
3. Ignore Guinness
4. Turn and face the wall with hands on wall so that Guinness cannot lick hands. Ignore Guinness.
5. When he is calm, proceed to living room without speaking.
6. Do not have eye contact with Guinness.
2. Have a family member ring the doorbell.
1. Put Guinness on a sit/stay.
2. Open door / close door
3. Take Guinness outside the door, but do not go anywhere.

I called two people to see if they would help me with # 1 tomorrow. My neighbor cannot, but Grant’s cousin can! I told her to wear “doggie clothes!”