Evidently the angels came and visited my dog last night while I slept.
She apparently repented of her past transgressions and was born again.
I say this because she was a nearly model puppy this morning at breakfast and on her walk.
Virtually no biting, no romping around the house, she ate her food, played with her toys in the back room, did her biological business in the yard every time I took her out, rode in the car with little distress, walked near me in the park (mostly) for half an hour.
This is in contrast to yesterday when she was a complete mess.
Although she did not transgress the Tradition of the Elders in the house, she did nearly everything else on the "disapproved" list.
Which includes - just so you will have an idea of what-all she does - chewing on the wooden rungs of my dining room chairs,
chewing on the leather cushions of my couch,
chewing on my oak coffee table,
chewing on the legs of my wooden TV tray,
chewing on the shoes on my feet,
chewing on my pants cuffs,
chewing on the loop-pile carpet,
and, chewing on my hands.
It seems that every other word out of my mouth with her is "no".
And, as I have noted before, she understands to some extent that she is not supposed to chew on this stuff.
She cannot help herself.
When I scold her, she gets frustrated and lays her chin on the floor and bites the air.
That was yesterday.
Today I had a new dog.
She was happy to see me this morning, as usual.
And she did some of her little jumping, spinning, happy dance that she usually does.
(thankfully, Sally does not jump up on me, she jumps straight up in the air)
Her nibbles on my hands were very gentle and she did a lot of sitting and watching me today during breakfast prep time.
When I sat down to eat my breakfast of oatmeal and eggs and milk (three of her favorite foods, it appears) she came over to my chair and nudged my leg with her nose one time to let me know she was there.
That was it.
Then she sat or laid down to wait for me to finish.
She knows what usually happens when I finish.
I let her lick my dishes.
I sent her to the back yard while I went grocery shopping.
In addition to the vittles that I wanted/needed, I picked out a few items for Sally the Dog.
These included some new rubber chew toys, some corn chips for treats (she loves them), and some stew meat.
She does not know it, she is going to be one of the best-fed pups on the planet.
Then, I took Sally to a small park about two miles from my house.
It has lots of grass and a paved walking/running path, but no trees.
The path is a loop that may be about 3/4 of a mile long.
It was a bright sunny morning, with a light breeze and about 50 degrees.
Perfect doggy walking weather, methinks.
Sally was a near-perfect angel on the 30 minute jaunt.
I let her stop and sniff when she wanted to, but she did a good job of staying with me for much of the walk.
There were a couple of other walkers/runners about, and Sally gave each of them a long look/sniff from a distance.
She tried to chase one runner who passed by us.
I had to discourage that with difficulty.
But that gave me the wonder if she might actually enjoy running with me someday.
We will investigate that in a year or so.
Sally is well coated.
So much so that 50 degrees in the sunshine had her panting just from walking with me at basically her pace.
So she was ready to go home when I suggested it.
I had to help her into the car because she is still not completely comfortable in the car yet.
And not sure how to get in or out.
On the way to the park I put her on the shotgun side floor, where she put herself on a previous ride, but she ended up on the seat by the time we got there.
On the way home, I again but her on the floor, and this time she laid down and seemed a bit more composed all the way home.
She will work out her issues with the hummy, bouncy, leany, stop-n-go car with time.
I intend to take her places when she gets older and stops her puppy/jumpy ways.
We shall see how long Sally's new manners last.
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