Last month, serious training had begun. She was starting to think she was in control and it was becoming unacceptable. Boundaries had to be set and it was now time to establish myself as the alpha.
But traveling to Reno for the second time has helped. She depended more on me more and a few obstacles brought us together. I loosened the reigns and gave her more freedom. She responded with better behavior.
She began to see that she was able to do as she wanted the majority of the time. I had to intervene with discipline and scolding at times, but she responded to this well. Just like a child, she would need a talking to in order to remind her and she felt the harmony was disrupted.
She loved Reno. It is a large home with two stories, a deck and a third of an acre in a park setting. The weather is warm in summer. Since I work from home, I do not leave her and I am always around.
My family is there so there is a lot of attention and so many new things to explore and so much fun to be had.
Returning to our smaller home, to our quiet situation, she has to stay in her indoor enclosure 3 days a week.
She is rebelling abit. If don’t lock her in, she gets out and finds a cold dark place to hide and her temperature is just too cold. This is unacceptable to me. Not only will her health suffer, it is frustrating to hunt for her after a long day at work.
Because the weather is starting to warm and if I leave her outside if I can. This requires an early lunch and racing home before it gets too cool. I think the short time of her cooling down is better than the stress of being locked in the indoor cage all day.Her nose is running abit, have to keep that in check.
When I return, she rebels of being back here, but after a week, she accepts this as her home again. A lot of attention is needed .
Sometimes I question, why I adopted her. She is a lot of work and takes so much of my time.
But then I remember my depression and my mental state before I brought her home. Caring for her a healthy alternative to prescription medication and the anxiety brought on by depression.
She is my medicine. I guess a lot can be learned from this, that depression can be treated by getting your mind off yourself and caring for others. Perhaps the root of depression is focusing too much on yourself. By caring for another, you have little time to dwell on the insignificance of yourself and the problems you face.