River's first walk downtown
Although River was taken out at 6 AM and 10 AM, by noon she had peed in the house twice when I wasn't looking. So I decided to take her on a long walk at lunch-time. I had a bank to go to and my real estate bill was due today, so I suited her up in her new harness and leash and stepped out into a soft rain to walk a mile with my puppy.
The harness is too big. Even tightened in all three directions as much as possible, it still is too roomy. Plus, she thinks it is a chew toy and turns into a velociraptor dog made entirely of teeth when I try to put it on her. But it works fairly well if I hold her leash totally vertical to her, sort of lifting up the harness from above. So that's what we did on the way downtown. It went fairly smoothly and I was impressed by how well she walked. But she would NOT pee. I kept taking her onto grass and commanding she pee, but she ignored me. By the time we got to the bank I was nervous about how long it had been since she had last peed. Could I risk bringing my new - however cute - puppy into the bank if she was going to pee on their carpet? I thought I'd try it.
We had a short line to wait in - on carpet - and I crouched down and engaged her, ignoring people trying to talk to me because I had to keep both eyes on my little pee factory. When it was time to move to a window I was relieved we were on tile, but still kept one eye on River while I transacted my business. At the end she seemed to be walking a bit oddly... uh oh. I grabbed her and ran outside. She peed on the sidewalk JUST OUTSIDE the bank doors. On the main intersection in town. A large yellow puddle in the middle of the sidewalk. Sigh.
Just then the pedestrian walk signal came and I fled the scene kitty-corner across the main intersection to the town common. (Maybe the light misty rain will take care of it?) I took her to the town hall next - much more relaxed now that I knew the status of her bladder - and she was appropriately adored by all the stern ladies who are supposed to yell at me for bringing a dog into a public building. I paid my bills and took her back to the grass of the town common and commanded her to go poo. She sniffed and sniffed but didn't walk the poo walk and I figured she hadn't eaten in six hours and there wasn't really much to be done about this, so off we went to the sidewalk.
She was praised by all we passed, the super-cute puppy. At one point, right after we crossed Main Street, she somehow wriggled out of her harness. I tried to put it back on but she had the move down now and wriggled right back out. So I clipped the leash to her collar. She wriggled out of the collar. Now I had a naked puppy at the major intersection in town. I wrestled her into a down-stay and tightened her collar and reattached the leash, giving up on the halter. This time it worked and we proceeded down the sidewalk. As we passed a cafe all the diners on the lunch rush grinned to see the cute puppy. So what did the cute puppy choose to do right then in front of the adoring diners? Delicacy forbids me from detailing it out. But it was too liquid to pick up completely from the six separate spots she left on the sidewalk. On Main Street. Directly in front of a picture window of a restaurant. I picked up as much as I could.
Then I fled the scene again.
Damn it, I'm going to need to find a new home town.
The harness is too big. Even tightened in all three directions as much as possible, it still is too roomy. Plus, she thinks it is a chew toy and turns into a velociraptor dog made entirely of teeth when I try to put it on her. But it works fairly well if I hold her leash totally vertical to her, sort of lifting up the harness from above. So that's what we did on the way downtown. It went fairly smoothly and I was impressed by how well she walked. But she would NOT pee. I kept taking her onto grass and commanding she pee, but she ignored me. By the time we got to the bank I was nervous about how long it had been since she had last peed. Could I risk bringing my new - however cute - puppy into the bank if she was going to pee on their carpet? I thought I'd try it.
We had a short line to wait in - on carpet - and I crouched down and engaged her, ignoring people trying to talk to me because I had to keep both eyes on my little pee factory. When it was time to move to a window I was relieved we were on tile, but still kept one eye on River while I transacted my business. At the end she seemed to be walking a bit oddly... uh oh. I grabbed her and ran outside. She peed on the sidewalk JUST OUTSIDE the bank doors. On the main intersection in town. A large yellow puddle in the middle of the sidewalk. Sigh.
Just then the pedestrian walk signal came and I fled the scene kitty-corner across the main intersection to the town common. (Maybe the light misty rain will take care of it?) I took her to the town hall next - much more relaxed now that I knew the status of her bladder - and she was appropriately adored by all the stern ladies who are supposed to yell at me for bringing a dog into a public building. I paid my bills and took her back to the grass of the town common and commanded her to go poo. She sniffed and sniffed but didn't walk the poo walk and I figured she hadn't eaten in six hours and there wasn't really much to be done about this, so off we went to the sidewalk.
She was praised by all we passed, the super-cute puppy. At one point, right after we crossed Main Street, she somehow wriggled out of her harness. I tried to put it back on but she had the move down now and wriggled right back out. So I clipped the leash to her collar. She wriggled out of the collar. Now I had a naked puppy at the major intersection in town. I wrestled her into a down-stay and tightened her collar and reattached the leash, giving up on the halter. This time it worked and we proceeded down the sidewalk. As we passed a cafe all the diners on the lunch rush grinned to see the cute puppy. So what did the cute puppy choose to do right then in front of the adoring diners? Delicacy forbids me from detailing it out. But it was too liquid to pick up completely from the six separate spots she left on the sidewalk. On Main Street. Directly in front of a picture window of a restaurant. I picked up as much as I could.
Then I fled the scene again.
Damn it, I'm going to need to find a new home town.