Continued from last issue...

Every house has its own rules, as if they exist in parallel universes.  House Rules are arbitrary announcements that seemingly have no origin in logic.  For example, even though I was told I was now in MY new home, I was not allowed to mark it as such.  Although the first thing I did when I walked in was to march immediately over to the living room sofa and pee on it, I learned rather quickly and in no uncertain terms that was not to purposely happen again.  Apparently, Scotchguard has a definitive life span. For a dog that lived entirely outside my whole life, it was a little difficult at first to get the “inside peeing is bad but outside is OK, and in fact, preferred”. But it didn’t take long.

Once I got that down, I learned that House Rules revolve around Schedules.  You are not on your own anymore, you are a member of a family.  And your Housestaff  has a Schedule.  There is a time to eat your breakfast and supper.  There is a time for your morning playtime and walk before they go to Work.  And there is a Day Time and a Night Time. It gets even MORE confusing when you talk about Weekdays and Weekends; it makes me dizzy even thinking about it, so now you’ve done it, I have to take a nap. 

OK, I’m up now, quick review.  Day Time is for eating, playing, digging and rolling around. Also, for short naps.  Day Time during your Housestaff’s Work Week gives you time to have longer naps, and if you are able to be trusted and not in a crate or behind a gate, these naps can be done either in your own bed or on a soft chair or sofa that you may usually be Not Allowed On.  (This works primarily for short haired dogs.)  There are many other things you can sneak around and do during Day Time during the Work Week, and we can discuss these at length at a later time. The Basics come first. 

Night Time is for sleeping.  There are a few things that you can do both Day and Night, like snuggling, getting kissed on the nose, and getting belly rubs, but there is apparently again some arbitrary cut-off.  For example, during Night Time, when your housestaff is sleeping at say, 3 a.m., this is NOT a good time to leap up on their bed and ask for a belly rub.    

When I first came to my new home, I had a lot of trouble at Night Time.  I don’t remember what happened to me when I was a puppy and a younger dog, but at Night Time I would become frantic.  I would pace and run around in circles and cry when Night Time came.  But Laurie would lie down on the floor next to me on my new bed and talk to me and pet me and cuddle me, and Amber would leave her bed and lie down next to me on the other side.  Laurie would cuddle me until I fell asleep.  And she and Amber stayed there all night long, too, because when I would wake up during the night, they were both still there, right next to me. Soon, I was able to sleep at Night Time in my own bed all by myself. So you see, even though you have to follow new rules, there is this benefit of being a family member, because you get fussed over, and you are safe and sound. 

House Rules also include Inside Rules and Outside Rules. I think I am running out of space and we can discuss that when we return in our nest issue....STAY TUNED!