Ellie Update

So I thought I'd make a real post today and give you an update on the chronic crapper dog. She is crapping all over the house doing fantastic. We love her--we really do. Crap or not.

She's got the most easy going personality, which comes in handy when Sydney grabs handfuls of hair (or an ear) and pulls her across the kitchen floor. She doesn't even growl at her. Of course, she does get her revenge by walking on top of her when she lays down on the floor. They have sort of a love/hate relationship. Definitely the dynamics at the bottom of the family have changed. Instead of having one little critter who gets what she wants, we now have two. And they are vying for the position on top.

But then they also do get along well. Sydney loves that she's got a new cage playhouse. All she's got to do to get it to herself is sit on top of the dog. And she likes that whenever she gets thirsty, all she's got to do is hunch over and suck out of the dog's critter canteen. Oh, and did I mention she likes to eat dog food more than veggies? Yeah.

And Sydney has discovered that when she wants a capri-sun, she doesn't have to bring it to me, push it at me and whine anymore. She just brings it to the dog and lets her bite it. They both like that one.

The dog is providing loads of entertainment for us. For instance, when she sees her reflection, she goes nuts. So when she walks past the stove she barks at it. Or when she sees a picture of me on the computer, she barks at that too. It's pretty funny.

Not so funny would be the dog's preference of carpet under her bum when she poos. Well, not necessarily carpet, but anything other than concrete and grass and dirt. She doesn't really pee in the house, just poo. She's tricky. I'll take her out, she'll poo, and we'll come inside and she'll poo the rest out. Or we'll walk for an hour outside, and when no poo comes, and we finally give up, she'll do it promptly on returning indoors.

So she doesn't poo in her kennel, I've got the spot spray stuff, and I've even tried chaining her leash to my beltloop to keep her with me in the house. That didn't work either. She just waited for me to turn around and dig through a laundry basket, and did her CRAP while my back was turned.

She's making me say bad words.

The other day hubs was outside and I walked out to throw away some poo, and he says, Whatcha doing? And I replied hotly, "The little shiz did it again."

I don't think my kids heard that!

So any potty training tips would be totally appreciated--even though I've probably tried most of them, and I've read everything on the internet about it.

And I'm praying too, but so far, He hasn't seen fit to just hand me a potty trained dog on a silver platter. Guess this is one of those blessing you have to work for. Maybe I should quit saying bad words over her?