Reformed Dog: Day Two

Ida Jane and I went for our second walk without the training collar. I set the pace; she walked.

Yesterday she kept my pace, but was about six feet behind me, pretending to be very, very submissive. Right.

Last night my husband reminded me: heel means the dog’s head is even with your left knee. I had never made Ida heel because we always tripped over each other. I made a huge discovery today: when the dog is heeling properly, nobody trips anybody. She was perfect, just like a show dog, keeping my pace. Yesterday she seemed to tire, and I was worried about her stamina. Today, if dogs could sweat, it would have been, for her, no sweat.

Her health has improved amazingly in twenty-four hours.

We still have a problem with Ida and rain. Sometimes, not all the time, when it is raining, Ida will not let you know she needs to go out, and will do her business somewhere you don’t want her to – like the bed, the couch, the rug in the living room.

There is no logic to it. During our horrible snowstorm, she went out perfectly, even though the drifts of snow were so high only her nose stuck out. I’ve given up trying to figure out this dog.

I don’t want to humanize her: dogs are different from humans. For example, we think of a crate as a cage. She thinks of it as a safe den, and sleeps in it all the time. We think of a hug as affection. Dogs are not sure what hugs are all about. To them, it is confinement. A good scratch behind the ears: that’s wonderful.

But today she didn’t ask to go out. In fact, she was reluctant to take her walk, even though the rain was warm. She had already done her business, though. She had sneaked around and peed on the rug, but not the usual rug. She peed on the bathroom rug, which lies on a tile floor. Clean-up is a snap. She’s never done that before, but if she pees in the house again (and she will), I hope she does it in the bathroom. (In Ida's defense, she pees in the house only once or twice a year.)

Ida Jane is named after my Aunt Ida, my mother’s sister, who did things her way, just like her namesake.

Good name.