Day 60: Friday

Hey, we've had that little rascal for 60 glorious days!!

I went to Columbus, Ohio last weekend for my cousins bachelorette party while Mark stayed home with the puppy dog. He left Charlie out of his cage while he was at work and he chewed a pair of headphones, the training clicker (which we've never used, it was only $3), and some other insignificant item.

Charlie now knows sit, stay, paw and down. He's learning roll over. We are working on "other paw" lol. And "up" (standing from sitting or laying down). He invites himself onto the couch and bed sometimes if he's feeling excluded.

Mark is in Buffalo visiting family. He's been gone all week and isn't coming back until Saturday afternoon. My mom was here visiting on Tuesday and Wednesday. She stayed at my apartment while I was at work and she took Charles out 5 times a day. He's so spoiled! So am I (she vacuumed, did dishes, cleaned my bathroom and bought me groceries). Thanks momma!! Today and yesterday I put Charlie in the cage while I was at work. I'm not confident that he won't make a mess or get into anything and chew stuff while he's home alone all day. We are taking baby steps and getting a gate that goes across the hallway. He will be confined to one area but it's about 8 times the size of the cage.

He's lifted his leg to pee twice in the past week! I hope he doesn't do it in the house when he has accidents :/ too messy!!

I got home last night and he was still in the cage and all the bungee cords were in tact but the bottom lock was broken off. That little shit!

While my mom was at the grocery store, she left him out of his cage and be chewed one of the clasps for the gentle leader. So I've been walking him without it and he's not behaving very well. He's pulling and not responding as quickly. They aren't terribly expensive ($25) but I'd prefer to not have to replace it after only 2.5 months. But alas, I will.

Day 51: Wednesday

Charlie has been so doggie-like! He's running and jumping and gallivanting all over! We've been taking him for walks off the leash in the trails next to the dog run. Mark was saying that yesterday, Charlie would be sniffing something and Mark would keep walking and he'd get about 20 feet ahead and Charlie would notice he was too far away so he'd gallop 20 feet ahead of mark and sniff around. And it happened a few times. How sweet.

There is an area behind our building with a ramp coming down that leads to the sidewalk and along one wall is concrete about 4 feet high and a fence that rises above that. Along the other side is our building with an alcove that leads to the basement door. It's very well lit and we usually go in that way after a walk. We've been taking him off the leash while we are up on the sidewalk and he runs to the ramp and wait for us then we say "okay" and he takes off down the ramp at full speed and runs to the door. I usually run straight an he sees me and turns around to gallop towards me. He looks so crazy! His body is all wiggly and his tongue hangs out and he gets a huge smile on his face!!

He's been sleeping with us every night but doesn't stay on the bed the whole time. There is a spot in front of Marks dresser where we put his beddy (which is actually an old hoodie of Marks which Little Charles here decided to chew when he escaped from his cage one day!) I'll put it out for him and he goes right to it and lays down. It's pretty stinking cute. We also put it in his cage for him when he's in there.

He escaped from the cage the other day (Saturday) while I was out. Upon my return I found him chillin' on the bed. That little rascal!!! Fortunately, he didn't chew anything.

I got to hang out with a beautiful black Newfoundland doggie named George :) see photo below.

We went on an adventure to Harriman State Park on Sunday. Charlie threw up in the car in the way :( We found a nice picnic spot and Charlie was sniffing all around but wasn't coming back when he was called so we put him on the leash while we ate. The spot was near the water and we walked around and met a beautiful 4 year old golden retriever who was having the best time fetching tennis balls from the water. Charles looked very interested but he wouldn't go for a swim. That's fine. He will under the right circumstances. We don't know if he's ever been swimming! His little legs probably get tired out too fast. Hehehe. But man, it would be pretty adorable to see him in action.

Photos: Georgie, handsome boys, family photo, little rascal

Day 41: Sunday

I woke up at 9:30 this morning because Charlie was throwing up :( Just two little spots, but it sounded much worse. And just as I caught him, he was squatting, so we both got up right away, brushed our teeth, threw on some clothes and bolted out the door.

We took a leisurely walk to the dog run. He pooped and peed along the way. Hesagudboooyyyyy!! He was all excited at the park, running all around and sniffing everything. Gosh, he's adorable. We took some video of it so I'll post a link to it if I ever get around to uploading it to youtube.com

We walked up a trail through the woods and kept him off the leash. He was so good. Going off sniffing then running back to us when he was called or noticed we were too far away. We ran into Dove, a beautiful black lab and chow mix, and her owner. She's so friendly and well behaved.

Day 40: Saturday

This morning, we woke up around 10:30 and sort of took our time getting ready to take the puppers out and boy did we pay for it! He peed in the living room when we weren't looking. I made made Mark clean it up because I blamed him for taking his sweet-ass-time.

We went to the dog run and Charlie could not have been cuter. He was digging at the dirt for a few seconds then he'd jump up and turn around and plop down again and look at us. He was all frantic and playful about it. The sky was getting darker and darker until finally it broke and started pouring on us. We moved the bench under the huge tree but it only prolonged the inevitable soaking of our clothes. We decided to grin and bear it and walk home. It's about a 10 minute walk. Pouring rain the whole time, but it was still so hot outside that it was refreshing! I haven't been out in the rain like that in years. And it was also incredibly romantic :) We had to take a few kissing breaks. We took refuge under some scaffolding for a few minutes to see if the rain would let up, but it didn't.

We got home and took warm showers (and nice change up from the cool showers I've been taking lately because it's been so damn hot and humid!). Then Mark went to work. I played with Little Charles for a bit. Oh, he knows "paw"!!! It took him about a week and a half to learn it. Such a lil smartie!!

I cut a penny-sized hole in a tennis ball and put treats in it. I read on a doggie blog how to get your dog interested in toys that way. I started off putting treats in the hole so they are sticking out an he could grab it. Then some pieces fell in. But it actually works out for the best, because now it smells like treats, and every so often they fall out of the hole and he is rewarded! Who's the smartie now?!

He picks up his orange toy and his ball to play with!

Day 39: Friday

Charles slept in his cage last night. He started whining around 1:30 am. We were NOT happy about it. I get really cranky if I don't get enough sleep and I've only been getting about 6.5 hours of sleep for the past few weeks. I woke up and thought he would stop but he didn't. We whispered about what we should do... yelling at them is only rewarding them - giving them attention, but we couldn't have him whining all night if that's what he chose to do. We did eventually yell at him and it didn't make him stop, so I put earplugs in and went back to sleep. Mark eventually let him out of the cage (he opted to not wear ear plugs).

Charlie did not escape from his cage today. After the debacle yesterday, we were pretty worried about leaving him along again. But it looks like we won! In your face, dog!

Mark worked in the evening. I got home around 7, so Charles was only alone for a few hours.

I was designing some logos on the computer and Charlie was laying behind me on the floor. I sat with him for a little bit and gave him some love. I love spending time with him like that.  It's like I'm in his world when I sit on the floor with him. I see things from his perspective. He's so little, we have to bend over to pet him, but taking he time to be down on his level puts things in perspective. He usually rolls onto his back and lifts up his leg to show us his little white belly. Hehehe. It's frigging adorable. I love that he's so comfortable and trusting of us to do that.

His stumpy little tail has been wagging so much lately. And we've learned what his triggers are!! He gets really excited and giddy when we slap our legs and use our excited voices, talking about going for a walk, or how happy he is, or whatever (it's not like they can understand us! we can say whatever we want, but the tone is what's important!). I get excited about it too. haha. I mimic his actions. His body gets all wiggly and he prances around and rocks his head from side to side and he uses his little front paws to playfully bat at me. It gives me butterflies to get him that excited. hahaha!!

Photos: Charlie sticking his head under the bed to get the orange toy, which he picked up and started playing with without any coaxing from me!

Day 37: Wednesday

Slumber Party Charlie

Mark took Charles out this morning and tired him out. He didn't make a peep in his cage yesterday. He was home alone for about 8/9 hours :( I watched him for a while and he was either sleeping or moving around to lay in a different position.

Mark went to his sisters to visit for the night, so Charles and I had a slumber party! He slept in bed with me all night. See photos below.

Day 38: Thursday

Bad boy, bad boy!

Woke up with my furry 4-legged friend on Marks side of the bed. Since it was just the two of us this morning, he was more focused on me than usual, so when I put his food down he took a bite of it then followed me back to the bedroom. I wouldn't let him into the room with me. I kept trying to shoo him out into the front hallway to eat but he just looked at me like "derrrr why you so mad?" I wasn't mad but I was annoyed and I was using my stern voice. I know he's going to be home alone for a while again today and I wanted him to eat quick while I got ready so he could have a longer walk to tire him out.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I didn't hear my alarm and I woke up at 7:15. My alarm is set for 6:30. So I lost 45 minutes of leisurely getting ready for work. I was in a rush this morning! Why didn't he understand that. So I decided to get dressed in the front hallway while he was eating. He's spoiled. He finally ate all of his food and drank some agua then we were off. He went #1 & #2! Hesagudboyyyyyy. After he peed, I got the brilliant idea to jog with him to the next patch of grass. Although I don't have enough time for a lengthy walk with him, at least he got more exercise than just walking 3 blocks. We actually jogged around 6 blocks! He doesn't need to exert much energy to be tired because of his short little legs. Hehe. So I hope my method worked.

We got home and I was finishing up on getting ready and he was being stubborn about getting in his cage. But he finally got in. The iCam is on him and I left a bone in there for him. It was in there yesterday too and he didn't touch it. Weirdest dog ever!!

So with the iCam, I get notifications on my phone when there is movement. I ignored them for about an hour at work but once I checked it, I noticed that the camera had been moved. I figured, although highly unlikely, maybe the lap top screen had readjusted and fell forward a little bit. I continued listening to a podcast on the computer and watching the camera on silent. This went on for about 10 minutes until I saw a shadow in the room and blur of something to the left of the screen. I plugged in my headphones to my phone and waited for more action and then I saw it. Charles Houdini struck again. That little bugger managed to escape from his cage once again!!

I texted Mark about it and he grumbled a bit but went home. Charles had pulled everything down from the back of the door (robes and hoodies) and pulled all the clothes off my dresser. He chewed one of my hoodies to shreds and there were tiny pieces of it all over the comforter, which means he was up on the bed!

Mark couldn't stay home for very long because he had dinner plans with his family, so he took Charlie for a walk and fastened him in his cage. And whaddya know, he got out again.

Mark went to Home Depot after dinner with his fam and I was on my way home from work. He bought the bungee wraps with the plastic balls on the end. They are typically used to tie up tent canopies. We fastened those around the "problem area" and went to the grocery store. And 10 minutes after we left, he had chewed through the bungee and escaped again.

...

And he peed in the cage.

We were at a loss for words.

When we got home, we assessed the damage and divied up tasks. Mark made dinner (home made tacos!) while I cleaned up Charlie's mess. I disassembled his cage and washed everything really good in the bathtub. I had a plan. I decided to shake things up a bit by binding the door shut and using the other door, on the end. The door he was used to getting in and out of is now bound closed and placed up against the wall.

He also got a bath because he smelled bad. Spoiled!! This is his 4th bath in 4 weeks...

My iCam is set to record all motion events so I reviewed the videos and there is no evidence of his escape. It's like he apparates (http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Apparition) out of it!

Mark will be home with him for the majority of the day tomorrow and Charlie will only be home alone for a few hours, I hope he can handle it.

Photos below are screenshots from the iCam of him being a naughty boy out of his cage!! And a photo of him before the third escape-with the elastic ties around the door.