BONNIE THE WONDER DOG - POST # 59 - (31 OCT)
Bonnie has figured this out, of all the 25 some odd dogs we have had over the years and, she is by far the smartest.
She was neglected attention-wise because her brother "Hotrod" was so overpowering and dominate, so, she simply took the back seat for many years (until he died), now, we see what we missed. She is a very scheduled animal . . . . 6 AM crap/pee ... 8 PM pee, and she was very attached to her yard in Oakridge,
Last time we stayed on the boat she refused to crap or pee for two days . . . and waited until we returned to the Oakridge house. Moving permanently aboard the boat, it has been long walks up/down the 500 foot dock to the grass, in the rain AM and PM, (an event we all hate), but, she finally accepted (after three days) the new area as replacement for her Oakridge land lubber back yard.
In a particularly hard driving windy rain the other day she got 1/2 way down the dock (miserable, remember she HATES rain), she squatted and peed then a few steps later took a crap reversed, and tried to "run" to the boat.
So, we decided to begin simply letting her go just off the boat, onto the dock, to do her business, I can pick things up just like up on the grass (plus then rinse the area) it took two days for her to give up on grass ! and she can minimize her rain exposure-time.
So, the next step is to try her staying aboard and using the rear fantail ... (which I will eventually cover, making it a dry area).
She was neglected attention-wise because her brother "Hotrod" was so overpowering and dominate, so, she simply took the back seat for many years (until he died), now, we see what we missed. She is a very scheduled animal . . . . 6 AM crap/pee ... 8 PM pee, and she was very attached to her yard in Oakridge,
Last time we stayed on the boat she refused to crap or pee for two days . . . and waited until we returned to the Oakridge house. Moving permanently aboard the boat, it has been long walks up/down the 500 foot dock to the grass, in the rain AM and PM, (an event we all hate), but, she finally accepted (after three days) the new area as replacement for her Oakridge land lubber back yard.
In a particularly hard driving windy rain the other day she got 1/2 way down the dock (miserable, remember she HATES rain), she squatted and peed then a few steps later took a crap reversed, and tried to "run" to the boat.
So, we decided to begin simply letting her go just off the boat, onto the dock, to do her business, I can pick things up just like up on the grass (plus then rinse the area) it took two days for her to give up on grass ! and she can minimize her rain exposure-time.
So, the next step is to try her staying aboard and using the rear fantail ... (which I will eventually cover, making it a dry area).