Remember how I adopted a dog? Remember how she seemed awfully smart? Remember how she was sick and I took her to the vet? Well, the vet gave her some nice antibiotics. And she started feeling a lot better. And her energy level spiked.
From the day she started to feel well, Princess got to be too much for me. It didn't bother me that she suddenly owned all the chew toys, but it did bother me a little when Buster turned into one of them: she chewed Buster's neck ruff till it was soggy. She, um, imposed upon his goodwill until he crammed his entire body into a nook behind some furniture to get away from her. She wouldn't let him on the bed. She filched things off tabletops to chew. I started crating her in the daytime, which worked fine but left her with energy undimmed when I came home.
None of this is to say Princess is a bad dog - she isn't. She just has a lot of bounce, and needs more exercise and running room than I can offer in a condo. We did take a lot of very long walks together. I succeeded in tiring her out - she'd nap after a walk. The only problem is, by then I needed a nap too! Actually Princess's sleeping behaviors were my favorite parts - she happily snuggled with me from the first night, and was a good girl all night long. I tried, but in the end I decided she wasn't a good fit for my household, so she's back with the good people of Paws and Prayers. Princess needs a Timmy!
2 comments:
Our dogs are related if not clones. Seriously, We adopted our Sadie from the local SPCA as a companion for our nutty Lab. She looks exactly like your Princess. She also outsmarted us within hours. We knew we were in way over our heads and resorted to having her as an outdoor dog. The SPCA told us she was a rotty-mix, LOL! They don't know what they're talking about. The dogs, yours and mine, fit the description of Australian Shepherds to a "T".
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