A Passed Test?
So, with today being Easter Monday it was a great opportunity to get together for some Dungeons & Dragons. Surprisingly, none of us died...though two of us were close on more than one occasion. Such is the joy of being in another realm/plane of existence.
The real test was Drake. We're slowly trying to have him out more instead of crated. It's started with overnight, and he's done rather well with that. On nights where he's been a true pain (once) he ends up staying in it. On short stretches, where I've been out for an hour, or we've got a quick errand to run, he'll get to stay out. He's done very well with these, so the natural progression is to go for longer durations. I tried that out today, thinking I would be gone 6 hours (and was). I couldn't give him the full house just yet because there's a lot he can get into. So, I gave him the bathroom. Made sure the garbage was out of reach, but otherwise things were set.
Upon returning home he was laying on the towels that had previously been on the back of the door, admist shredded toilet paper roll (whoops, missed on), and some actual toilet paper strewn from the roll itself. This, not a surprise. He also chewed on a bit of the baseboard. Otherwise, not a "mess" at all.
I didn't scold him for the things he did do. As it was, I left him in there, and those few things he did were a result of me leaving those opportunities for him. If anything, it was a learning lesson for me. But let me tell you, he was damn sure happy to see me when I got home today.
The real test was Drake. We're slowly trying to have him out more instead of crated. It's started with overnight, and he's done rather well with that. On nights where he's been a true pain (once) he ends up staying in it. On short stretches, where I've been out for an hour, or we've got a quick errand to run, he'll get to stay out. He's done very well with these, so the natural progression is to go for longer durations. I tried that out today, thinking I would be gone 6 hours (and was). I couldn't give him the full house just yet because there's a lot he can get into. So, I gave him the bathroom. Made sure the garbage was out of reach, but otherwise things were set.
Upon returning home he was laying on the towels that had previously been on the back of the door, admist shredded toilet paper roll (whoops, missed on), and some actual toilet paper strewn from the roll itself. This, not a surprise. He also chewed on a bit of the baseboard. Otherwise, not a "mess" at all.
I didn't scold him for the things he did do. As it was, I left him in there, and those few things he did were a result of me leaving those opportunities for him. If anything, it was a learning lesson for me. But let me tell you, he was damn sure happy to see me when I got home today.