Business trip day 6: selective hearing
This morning I was watching the news after feeding and playing with the boys, while Chester was still in his crate in the bedroom (after one trip outside already), thinking what a good boy he’s been in the mornings. Not a peep out of him even tho he’s all alone in the bedroom for an hour — and that’s when the whining started.
It was just a few minutes, and then he quieted down again. That’s the first time he’s made any noise in the morning.
Today I usually go socialize cats at the cat rescue, but my friend called to say they had to take one of their cats to a specialist (didn’t say why, doesn’t sound good), so I couldn’t go. I was really looking forward to it. There’s nothing more calming than a little kitten therapy. It’s like being a grandparent: I get to play and snuggle with them, but I don’t have to do any of the “real” work.
As we went out on our walk, a little later than usual because it was cooler this morning, it was looking slightly ominous. I decided I wouldn’t walk quite as far as usual, and just add on a little extra on the end if it wasn’t raining. I still planned to go out, because I need to keep working to get Chester used to being alone, so I wanted to tire him out.
I did run into the woman I used to see frequently on my walks pre-Chester, and her dog. I haven’t seen them once since we got Chester! Blanche, who’s a wonderful, big ole mutt, was a little scared of Chester actually. Chester has been doing very well on his walks lately. He’s been stopping at crosswalks without me having to say anthing about 90% of the time.
We managed to get back without being rained on, so I ate lunch, took Chester out for a little more training and an attempted (but failed) potty break (no big surprise, he’d just gone an hour before), then put him in the bathroom. He definitely did not want to get in there.
Since I didn’t have to go out today, it was soooo tempting to stay in. I’m tired. I didn’t want to go out. But Chester really relapsed on being left alone while I was sick, and I have to get him acclimated to it again.
It started to rain as I left my second stop, so I decided to head home and hope that I could beat the worst of it, which meant that I got home in an hour and a half.
Chester wasn’t too bad. No accidents. He didn’t touch the treats I left in the crate (with door open); no big surprise there. But while he was definitely happy to see me, he wasn’t as frantic as he sometimes gets. Normally I’d be gone longer on cat rescue day, but I just didn’t relish the thought of taking him out in the pouring rain. He always has to go right after I come home; he gets so anxious it’s difficult for him to hold it.
I also brought the boys in out of the kennel. I gave them one of their favorite treats, Nupro Health Nuggets, and since Chester was out loose, I had him do some sit-stays and down-stays (for his own treats) while the boys ate theirs. And it worked. He never touched their treats. While I could probably get him to do it when they eat their dinner, too, Gizmo gets so nervous that he’d be liable to just stop eating. He deserves to eat in peace, and that’s why Chester is crated while the boys eat.
Usually my husband takes care of him while I’m feeding the boys, but since he’s not here, the crate is working. Not only that, Chester has to become more comfortable in his crate. I think that we’ll continue to give him a kong in his crate in the evenings, even after my husband is back home.
We managed to dodge another thunderstorm this evening at last call, as I like to call it. Of course, there was the doozy that woke me up at 3 am . . . but didn’t seem to effect Chester. It’s a good thing he’s not scared of thunderstorms, but we get some really good ones. Still, I don’t understand how he wakes up & runs after Gizmo, barking, because Gizmo simply jumped off the couch, yet he apparently sleeps through thunderstorms. Go figure.
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