Mercy got into the cat's litter box twice last week. But I think we've worked it out (by scooping immediately. Usually I wait about thirty minutes for the litter to firm up). But the adoptive family might want to look for signs if Mercy's sticking her head in the litter box. Maybe get a Booda style litter box, or have the box placed somewhere that Mercy can't get to. As energetic as Mercy is, she doesn't really pull on the leash when we go out. Also she goes from side to side less than when she first came.
I audio-taped Mercy yesterday when I went to school for two hours to use the computer. She howled pretty much the whole time. At first I thought, I have to spend the next four weeks to teach her not have separation anxiety anymore. Then later I thought, actually Dudley whined when I had the crate at the same place in the living room. I wondered if it's the placement of the crate that made Mercy howl. So yesterday afternoon I put the crate next to the window in the bedroom, and pretended to go out (but stayed in the living room). Mercy didn't make a sound for thirty minutes, so I sneaked out to Kmart for thirty minutes and audio taped her again. She didn't howl that time.
Tuesday, September 21, 2004
Picture was taken when I was typing on the computer at home, and Mercy was sleeping next to my chair, and Anastasia sleeping in Mercy's bed. Mercy doesn't lick as much as before, but she still does it maybe once a day, but she does like to give kisses. I started taking her potty every five hours since yesterday and she�s doing okay with it.
On Tuesday night when I was typing on computer at home, I caught Mercy tinkled on the carpet in the bedroom, even though I had taken her out potty only two hours ago. It wasn�t a lot of urine, and I think it was just a fluke.
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
On Wednesday afternoon, we met a female Golden Retriever. Mercy made this half growl/half wooing sound at the dog, and started chasing the dog! The owner of the dog just said, "The dogs won't play nicely unless we take off the leash", and then we walked towards opposite directions. I don't know if what he said was true; was Mercy just trying to play, or she really didn't like the dog? Later when Mercy saw the dog again, she had the hair on her back up.
I was worried that she had high temperature yesterday morning, because she wouldn't eat her food by herself (I ended up holding the bowl for her while she ate). So I checked her temperature. I had her "Stand" and "Stay", and she didn't move at all when the thermometer was in her (and of course her temperature was normal).
On Thursday morning, Mercy saw a female Italian Greyhound mix. We were about fifteen feet away from the dog, but the owner called her "Daphne", so I think the dog was a female. Mercy growled at her and tried to run up to her. By this time, I thought, oh no Mercy is not nice to other dogs, but we met the male English Bulldog again on Thursday afternoon, and Mercy just stood there and let the dog sniff her behind. Mercy even went up to the owner of the Bulldog, and sat next to his feet, and looked up at him, and gave him this "I'm Daddy's Little Girl" look that I just thought was so sweet.
Mercy has been "Stay" consistently outside for more than a week now. She has also "Sit" twice, but definitely not consistent. Now if I have the backseat window down a lot, Mercy would put her nose out of the window, not whole head like Dudley, but just her nose. I clipped her nails again about a week ago, and she was okay with it. She was lying down most of the time. I think she sat up once, but she was great overall. I can't believe it's almost been a month since Mercy came. She has progressed so much. I'm going to finish clearing out my bedroom, so next week, I'll just keep Mercy in the bedroom when I'm at school, but still leave the crate in the bedroom but leave the crate door open, so she can go in whenever she wants. I still think she's so much like Penelope. Rambunctious and spunky (stubborn at times, but it can be a good trait when you want them to learn something new to keep trying until they get it right), yet willing to please and learn (especially food is involved). I ordered a small tub of freeze dried chicken liver, and she loves that. Now she wouldn't eat the Old Mother Hubbard training treats anymore. Oh well. I think when she's out walking, she probably would be okay with all age of kids. But at home, she might be too energetic for kids under 3 years old, and might knock them over when she wants to zoom around the house.
Mercy scratches the ground and tries to bury her poop sometimes after she has pooped. Mercy is doing the dog walk several times a day by herself now. I just lead her to do the teeter today. I thought she was going to be scared when the plank dropped, but she wasn't. When the apartment janitor was moving some wooden planks when we were outside, Mercy wasn't scared by the sound, actually, she got curious, stared at the origin of the sound for a second, then walked me towards the sound. So definitely she's getting more confident. Here she is looking at something outside of the window with Anastasia.
I've been audio recording Mercy whenever I go to school, and Mercy has been doing fine in the crate. This afternoon I left her in the bedroom (not in the crate) for the first time. I pretended to go out and waited in the living room for twenty minutes. She whined once and scratched the door several times, but otherwise she was okay. Then I sneaked out to use the internet at school. But I don't know about letting her running loose in the house.
It's hard to describe Mercy, but I think she has the "cheerleader personality� (with all the good and bad traits that come with it). I think in a month, Mercy can probably pass the Canine Good Citizen test.
I turned the radio on while I was typing on the computer tonight, and this is the first time I had the radio on when Mercy�s outside of her crate. She was a little confused that there�s human voice coming out of the little black box.