Doggie Daycare

Yes, yes, we have broken down and are going to become one of those yuppie dog parents who send their dog to daycare.  But there is a little back story...  Remember in my last post when I said there have definitely been some bad days?  Well Tuesday was one of them.  I. Broke. Down.  I'm talking tears...twice.  Coincidentally, after each accident Kairo had in the house that evening.  Here's how things went down, get ready for the play by play: 

First some background, G$ is taking a class two days a week, so I'm on Kairo-duty every Tuesday and Thursday from when I get home from work until about 9pm.  Easy peasy, right?  Well, some days it is - when Kairo chooses to take a nap at some point during that three hour window.  However, that was not the case on Tuesday.  I had a demon dog on my hands.

I get home from work and immediately take Kairo out.  If you recall, Tuesday was the day they were calling for severe thunderstorms, so the sky the dark and it was getting pretty windy.  While we were outside, there was the sound of low rumbling thunder and a little bit of lightning.  Due to the ominous sky as and the fact that there were not a lot of other dogs outside, we went back inside after less than 20 minutes outside (which is a very short trip for us).  We get back upstairs and I try to get some energy out of Kairo by having him run back and forth in our living room.  He's having a grand ole time.  After about an hour or so of playing and chewing, I take him back outside thinking we could go for a long walk.  It still hasn't rained mind you and the sky still has dark clouds, so I opt not to go for a walk, but rather to have Kairo run in the grassy area of the park.  So back and forth we go a few times (again, me trying to get as much energy out of him as I can). 

On our walk back to the apartment, demon dog comes out - jumping up on my legs trying to nip on them while we walk down the hallway to the elevator.  Same thing down the hallway from the elevator to our apartment door.  He's gotten this way before, when he's really exhausted, but let's be honest, a few back and forths in the living room, and a little running in the park is not enough to tire little Kairo out that much.  Needless to say, I'm thinking, he just needs a nap.  We'll go inside, I'll sit on the floor with him and he'll chew a bone in my lap until he falls asleep.  Well, he chewed and chewed, no sign of sleep.  I move him up to the couch, thinking he just needs his normal spot.  More chewing (on both toys and my arm) and playing, no sleep.  At this point it's about 8pm and he's been up for at least three hours.  He goes to the other end of the couch and I'm thinking to myself, 'Halleluah! He's doing the thing he does right before he goes to sleep!' (Kairo often moves around to multiple different areas trying to find 'the best' spot to lay down and sleep).  WRONG!  Next thing I know, we've got tinkle all over the one couch cushions and a little on the throw pillow.   This is when Tears #1 start.  I'm cursing Kairo (he knows better! and he can get off the couch by himself now, so there's no excuse!) and I'm cursing G$ for leaving me by myself.  While the tears are a-streaming, I start to strip the cushion and pillows - luckily, both have removable covers, so I slip them off, soak them with Nature's Miracle to clean and remove the urine smell, and hang them over the kitchen chairs to dry overnight. 

Crisis averted. 

I'm able to calm him down.  We do some training exercises - some sit-stay-comes, some downs - and then I get him to chew a bone in my lap while I sip chug a glass of wine.  Then he starts back up with the trying to use my arm as a chew toy.  Ugh.  At this point it's close to 9:30 and I send a text to G$: Where are you!?!  Except in my hurry, I actually typed: Where ate you!?! Whoops.  A few minutes later I realize I missed a text from G$ saying that he just got off the metro, let's meet outside.  Phew, relief is here!  I get Kairo ready to go out and then go back to cut up treats, thinking it's a time when there wont be many dogs out, so we can try some more training outside.  While cutting up the treats, Kairo is whining - he wants a treat.  I keep saying hold on, hold on, we are going to go out, and then Kairo just decides to squat and tinkle right on the carpet.  UGH!  Tears #2.  I clean up the mess, then grab Kairo and head downstairs.  G$ is waiting for us right by the stairs.  Rescue has finally arrive and G$ was very sympathetic.  (Thanks for being so supportive!)

Due the debacle that was Tuesday evening, it got G$ and I thinking about Kairo's high energy (Vizslas are known to have a lot of energy and require a lot of exercise.  Our plan was to run him, but Kairo isn't quite old enough to do that yet - folks have said at least wait until he's 6-8 months old).  We also started thinking about some of the suggestions we've received from folks while out with Kairo.  Everyone has such great things to say about doggie daycare - the dogs come home exhausted, but can't wait to go back... Just saying the word 'daycare' get the dog all excited... It's a great way to socialize a new puppy... etc. etc.
So we pondered and pondered and finally decided it probably was worth spending a few bucks (I'm not including price on here because I know a few mothers reading this would find it absolutely appalling...) to send Kairo to daycare a couple days a week.  G$ started researching options and we think we have found "the place" - now we just need to fill out the paperwork and Kairo has the pass the evaluation to be accepted.  Yes, there is a complicated process and we will keep you posted! 

Demon Dog

Hope everyone has a great July 4th!  We don't have any major plans - we are having both of our parents over for brunch on Sunday for the "official" show them the new place meal.  Unfortunately, due to my old job, that wasn't something we were able to do within the first six month of our marriage, so there was no "official" viewing of the old apartment.  I'm ok with that though, the new apartment is so much nicer! 

<3
K$