SO, how do you explain to a little DOG how important it is for him to be in a crate 24/7? Today Toby is crying...today I have begun to as well. It is almost too much- like the proverbial 'frosting on the cake". I take him out, and let him walk a bit around the yard, then he plants his hiney and stays...I cannot bring myself to get FIRM enough to MAKE him MOVE, so I stand or sit and wait until my back begins to tire and my mood begins to slip...then I gently coax him in with lies. "is that Daddy?" come see daddy! No daddy......sorry Toby ...I had too....
I didn't want to FALL IN LOVE... ....not with another animal. I wanted only to love them and take care of them but not get so emotionally attached to them that I would FEEL like I feel now. I love this little guy almost as deeply as I see my husband love him. I was raised on a farm. I KNOW better then to get too attached...but it happened in a weak moment watching him stumble and try so hard to walk, or lift his leg to potty...or sit and cry in a crate with big eyes pleading to "PLEASE stop punishing me". That is what it FEELS like he is saying. It doesn't matter, it is how I feel he is thinking.
He seems to be a tiny bit better? I can't tell for sure. He did slip twice on the wood floor this morning in his excitement to go outside. My fault. I had put him on the "wanna WALK? leash"! He thought I was going to take him for a real walk...not just outside for a potty break. I let the leash be a bit longer then the 4 foot one we have been using...it made him happy... until his potty break was done, and he was back in his crate. That was the moment I KNEW I had fallin in love......and I cried.
aww MAN! Did Dan get a board made so you can hold him in your lap? Did you ask the vet about a sling to hold him? He needs held and loved.... and YOU need to hold and love him... Until Dan gets home and then HE needs to....
ReplyDeleteAunt Denise it is very very hard to see your loved one in a crate or even in a stall for a long period of time. IT IS THE HARDEST THING IN THE WORLD BUT IT IS THE BEST FOR THEM. Just remember that if you did not care they would be worse off. It was very hard when peanut was in a crate for 4 months.I would let him out on the couch with me on a short short leash a few times a day. Remember it is for the best for Toby to stay quiet. He knows you love him.
ReplyDeleteIt is so hard to watch your baby suffer like that. I just lost my sweet tipper in January and knowing that they don't understand makes it harder I think.
ReplyDelete((hugs)) and remember that keeping him in the crate is safer and better for him even if he doesn't understand.
You raised kids. :) Remember? (This hurts me more than it hurts you). You can do it. Hang in there!