On my way home from work at 3am, I found a Miniature Pinscher walking down the middle of the road. So I stopped, and managed to catch him. It was pretty easy to sneak up on him as he appeared to be mostly blind and very hard of hearing. Hmmm...now what? (I know that our Animal Control won't respond for found dogs after hours and on holidays - plus I'd rather try to return him directly instead of subjecting him to the stress of being at animal control.)
So I took him home and tried to get him comfy in a crate. Meanwhile, Mocha and Ethan are well rested and even a little bored, so I stayed up and we played for a while, fed them breakfast, and finally went to bed at 5am. Since Mocha had just done her business outside, she got to be loose in the room with us, and snuggled up on the bed part of the time and went voluntarily into her crate part of the time. The MinPin fussed and whined for at least another half hour (out in the living room), but finally resigned himself to being in the crate for a while, and I got some sleep.
By 9am the canines in the house were ready to get up. Ugh. Well, okay, might as well try to find out where the MinPin lives. I had put a Found Dog sign up in front of my house but no one had come to the door.
After a quick trip out back for Mocha and Ethan, I left them again and took the MinPin out and about. Finally, his family saw me walking down the street in front of their house. Mother and daughter had been out looking and drove up while father walked across the street. Even though he couldn't see, he definitely recognized them. His name was Taz. I didn't ask questions about how he had gotten out, etc, but I got the impression he had been since the evening since they asked me if I had had him all night. The ten year old daughter was happy to have him back in her arms and ALL parties were relieved to have a happy ending!
I knew I would want to catch a little nap before going to work, but I also knew that wouldn't happen very easily with two bored dogs rarin' to go, so I decided to entertain the dogs for a while and take a nap in the early afternoon.
The first order of business was a little clicker training session for Mocha inside, working on sit (she offers to sit much more quickly now!) and I decided to see if i could get her to offer a down. It took a little tricky manipulation of the treat and clicking her for even shifting her weight back and down, but she gave me several good downs - each one a little more quickly than the first. Smart cookie!
Then we went out back, where Ethan got to work on some of his agility jumping drills while Mocha waited out of the way in the dog run (didn't want to land on her or trip over her!) We also worked on some Pilates for Pooches exercises. Ethan first, while Mocha watched, and even joined him on top of some of the boxes. Then it was her turn. She was a star! She followed the food and worked her way from box to box. The Balance Disc (blue circle) was easy for her partly because of it's size, but she's also very limber and when trying to reach for some food, stood up on her hind legs on the balance disc for a few seconds. Very good! Then she sat on the disc for me! She really seemed to enjoy her venture into Pilates.
Capri is still not sure about Mocha, even though Mocha will give her submissive body postures when she first lays eyes on her.
Because I usually take the dogs in and out with frequency, sometimes it's hard for me to know when my puppies are actually housebroken. This morning, Mocha definitely went to the back door and whined/moaned, and then went potty just as soon as she went out. GOOD GIRL!
The advantage of having an older puppy in the house is that they can hold it much longer than those baby pups!
Mocha has asked to go outside a time or two just to lie down on the hammock in the sunshine. She still prefers company, but does occasionally like to be in the yard on her own.
I think the loose tooth is gone. I'm pretty sure it was on the right side, and now that area is clear. I haven't found it anywhere, so it's probably either out in the yard, or maybe she swallowed it. I dropped in ice cube from the freezer today and she had a grand time playing with it - it must feel good on her gums.
Mocha will put her feet up on the kitchen counter to see what goodies might be there, so she's definitely not allowed in the kitchen without supervision, but she's very responsive to "ahhh-ahhh" in a stern voice.
The neighbor dogs came out again while we were out back and she had an excuse to ZOOM. Once again, when I crouched down, she climbed up my back and onto my shoulders - using me as a launching pad. I know I should probably discourage this in case she goes to a familiy with children (who might be scared by it) but it's just too cute!