the doghouse

The morning was a rough start, but the rest of the day was great! Nate came home and took me out around noon, and Tiff came and took me out a few hours later. Then, a couple hours later Nate got home – I was only alone for about 3 hours at a time! After Nate and Tiff came home from work, they took me over to meet Tiff’s parents, her sister, and her sister’s husband. I had lots of fun! There was another puppy there.. his name was Murray. We got to play outside for awhile, and it was lots of fun! In any case, I quite enjoyed myself, and no more accidents.. a very good night!

Here’s a picture of me and my new friend Murray:

I whined pretty much all night last night, trying to get Nate and Tiff to pay attention to me.. finally, Nate came over and put his hand in my crate, and I snuggled up and went to sleep for awhile. Then, around 4:00, I really really needed to go, so Nate got up and took me out. I did my business and came back in, and went back to bed for a couple hours. Nate got up at 6:00 and took me out again, but I didn’t do anything, so he took me back in and took a shower.. while he was taking his shower, though, I needed to go, and made a big mess on the bathroom floor. While he was cleaning that up, I went out to the living room, and had another small accident. I think my tummy’s upset – Nate says he’ll call the vet this morning and find out if I can eat some other food or something to help my tummy feel better. Tiff just put me back in my crate for the morning.. I whined a little bit, but I didn’t mind as much as yesterday. She said that either she or Nate would come back in the middle of the day to take me out, and then put me back in the crate for the afternoon. I wish they’d just take me wherever they go!

Well, today was pretty long.. I had to stay in my crate most of the day, and I really don’t like it very much. I am kind of getting used to it, though. Tiff left around 8:00, and then came back for a couple hours.. I was excited she was home! Then she had to leave at 11:00, and I was all alone until 4:15 when Nate got home.. after that, I got to stay out the rest of the night! I ate my full dinner last night for the first time at home.. it was yummy! I only had one accident tonight, and went to bed in my crate around 9:15 (again, I wanted to be in bed with Nate and Tiff.. since I was in the crate all day, I was hoping they’d be nice and leave me out at night. Ah well!

I had another good night. I spent the night last night in my crate next to Tiff and Nate’s bed. I whimpered a little bit because I wanted to be on the bed with them, but eventually, I decided to just curl up and go to sleep. No accidents – yay! I was moving around at 5:50 or so, trying to convince someone to get up, because I really had to go.. Nate finally woke up and took me out to, well, you know. Then he brought me back in, and tried to go back to bed.. I didn’t let him – just kept licking his hands until he got up. Nate says he’s going to have to go to work soon, so I get to spend an hour or so with Tiff until she has to go to work.. and then I get to go into the crate for the day. Not sure if I like that idea, but we’ll see! Tiff is going to try to come home to walk me over lunch.. if she can’t make it home, then Nate will come home, but he says he has a much longer drive. In any case, I’ll be happy to see whoever comes home for me! I haven’t been eating very good.. my people think it might be because I’m teething. Nate mixed my food with some water this morning, and I liked that better than the plain food.. I ate about half of it. Better than nothing, he says!

I saw another puppy today – one right outside the patio window. Oddly, I can only see it when it gets dark. It moves exactly how I move, and barks right when I bark at it. Tiff and Nate tell me that it’s just something called my “reflection”, but I don’t think I believe them. Nate finally put a gate across the patio window, so the other dog is trapped outside.. I’m still watching the window carefully, but I think everything is ok now. Hopefully the other dog won’t come back!

I had a good night.. I spent it in the dining room, with gates blocking me from going into Tiff and Nate’s bedroom (why don’t they want me in there??), and another gate keeping me out of the kitchen. I had fun pulling everything within reach off the counters, and finally went to sleep. I didn’t have an accident all night – my people were so proud! Nate worked from home so he could make sure that my first day went good. He scolded me a few times when I marked my territory (why doesn’t he like that), so I’ll have to try to stop doing that. We had my first visit at the vet today.. I weigh just over 40 pounds, and am very healthy. I really liked the vet, and didn’t even mind too much when she gave me my shots! I am teething, so I chew a lot.. I especially like blankets, but I’m not supposed to chew on them. Nate tells me that I’m going to have to spend most of the day in the crate tomorrow.. not sure if I like that idea or not, but at least someone will come home during lunch to play with me and take me out!

Hi! My name is Chimo, and I was surrendered to the Minnesota Valley Human Society on March 22, 2006. I’m a lab/malemute mix, and am about four months old. I got neutered while I was there, and met lots of nice people. Then, today (March 28), a person came by and took me home! I have two nice people now – their names are Tiff and Nate. I’ll keep you up to date on how my life is going here!

Oh, here’s a picture of me, with Tiff in the background: