Night 2 with Madoff: Make some noise!
Madoff Day 2
I must confess that at some point yesterday I was desperately cursing myself for falling for the whiles of a wanton puppy. Stupid, stupid! Now I’d be stuck with a whining dog for the rest of my life, I’d never sleep again, they’d find me in thirty years mumbling to myself, chewing dog treats and call me the Crazy Puppy Lady, why God, why?
Luckily my trusted best friend (whoever said dogs are man’s best friend has yet to meet my friend P.!) knows a thing or two about dogs and came to the rescue. He told me to calm down, take a deep breath, have a stiff drink, relax, it’d all be fine. And to maybe put a radio or something in Madoff’s bench because he might simply be lonely and dogs like noise. So I put The Monster That Kept Me Up All Night into his bench and had a bath. Then I got TMTKMUAN from the bench, after he’d stopped whining for the required 10 seconds, put him in my lap and watched Mamma Mia on the couch. What an incredibly lazy exercise in filmmaking. They had all that talent, Colin Firth, Pierce Brosnan, Meryl bloody Streep even!, and this is all they came up with? Greece was looking good though. So was Colin. Bless him.
Madoff snored happily in my lap and I started thinking that maybe this wasn’t The Dog from Hell sent from the Future to punish me for sins I have yet to commit (Hey, I didn’t get much sleep). Maybe this was just a cute puppy that could be taught a thing or two. Then I scrubbed the entire house, partly to discover any overlooked turds (one) and partly because it just felt good. It was kinda fun, Madoff chasing the broom, trying to chew the mop, mucking up my clean floor: a very rewarding experience was had by all.
At night I didn’t let him get on the couch or on anything else to stimulate going back into his comfy bench. He rolled up inside my shoe, which was adorable, but I felt might be counterproductive, so in the end, the only place to go was his bench. And it worked! Around 22.00 I took him outside on his leash, he wandered around a bit, did nothing, and then I locked him in his bench. After some initial hysterics (and groans from all non-canines present) he settled down. And practically slept through the night!!!!! Bit of whining around 2.00, but short shushing and sticking my fingers in the bench to let him know all was well.
I think the biggest change was the noise: the first night I didn’t lock him into his bench until all was quiet and everybody was trying to sleep. This night, ER was blaring, people were talking. Puppies aren’t used to quiet, they’re used to snoring siblings. So thanks P. for a great tip!
January 21st, 2009 at 3:44 pm
You’re welcome! He’s the cutest little thing!