Tag Archives: doggy doors

Doggy Doors….Part II

Well, the doggy doors are being completely utilized now.  Casey is still struggling a bit coming back inside, but he eventually figures it out.  I was watching him the other day, trying to assess his problem.  The door is a little piece of plastic that swings both ways equally well.  When he’s leaving the house, he just puts his nose on it and walks on through, no problem.  When he’s coming back in, he puts his nose on the door, backs away, and gets it swinging.  Then he barks.  And fidgets. And barks some more in a distressed way.  Finally, he gets it swinging, then starts swaying like a little kid trying to pick just the right moment to join a moving jump rope.  He finally gets brave and hurriedly walks through.  He seems so proud of himself when he finally conquers the door!

Last night, I let him sleep outside his crate.  During the middle of the night, I heard one of the pups scratching at the bedroom door. When that happens, I get up and show them that there is another doggy door to use in the bedroom.  My bedroom and the kitchen both have doors leading to the back yard.  Last night, there was no dog there when I got up.  I opened the door and Casey came trotting in.  Apparently he found the door in the bedroom.  He just returned via the kitchen. One night, Krystal did the same thing. I heard her sniffing from the other side of the door.  But when I got up to let her in, she was already walking intently away towards the kitchen.  She quickly walked through that door and without a moment of hesitation, she headed right through the door in my bedroom.  She is pretty good at problem solving.  Unfortunately, more often than not, she has to solve Casey’s problems, too.  Bless his heart.

Doggy Doors!!!!

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They have arrived!!!  My much-anticipated time has come…..yesterday, the doggy doors were installed!  Krystal went through them right away.  She rarely forgets anything.  It took Casey a little longer to embrace the new way out the door.  He finally got the hang of going outside.  Unfortunately, he’s struggling with figuring out how to come back in.  If you don’t understand, I suggest you read an earlier post about Casey.  Bless his heart.

Speaking of Casey, he normally sleeps in his crate at night.  But sometimes, I let him join Krystal and me in my bed.  A couple of nights ago was one such night.  At 2:30 AM, one of the back up batteries in a smoke detector decided it needed changing.  (Might I add, I’ve been in this house a whopping one and a half months…..did they put used batteries in the detectors???)  Anyway, there was a chirp…..then a dog on top of me with his nose pressed to mine staring me straight in the eyes.  The chirping scared Casey to death!  When did he become such a big sissy?!  Krystal, my anxiety prone pup, slept soundly away…..another perk of her hearing loss.  I didn’t feel like changing the battery so I closed the bedroom door and put Casey under the covers.  He still cowered, either on top of me, or smashed up against me.  Finally, at around 5 AM, I got out the step stool, found a new battery and headed to make the change, tripping over Casey the whole way.  He even tried to climb the step stool with me.  Finally, the chirping stopped, and we headed back to bed.  It took him half an hour to finally lay his head down.  The mean side of me wanted to imitate the chirping just to watch him jump but I was too tired.

Well, Casey is ‘stuck’ outside again, and Krystal just went to the swinging door and tried to open it for him.  Bless his heart.

Big Days

On October 19, 2004, my dad died very unexpectedly.  His birthday was October 10th.  So every October, I think about him a lot more than other months.  And I think about my mom, knowing that she still misses him very much.  But you know what?  She told me that the hardest day for her is not in October.  It’s May 16th, the anniversary of their marriage.  

 

I’ve discovered that experiencing divorce is a lot like experiencing a death of a loved one.  Today would have been my 39th wedding anniversary.  I can’t help but think back to that day, being 18 years old, nervous, excited, happy.  But while I occasionally look back with sadness at what could have been, I truly look forward to what God has in store for me!  I admit, I occasionally get scared thinking about traversing this world alone.  One of my dearest friends, Nan, shared a cute email the other day.  Towards the end of it, there was a little saying that stuck with me.  Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up.  I choose to look up!

 

As a tiny little side note, I guess yesterday was a big day for me, too.  I bought a house.  And guess what?  There are TWO spots for doggy doors!  YESSSSS!!!  Thank you, Lord!