Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Where was Orent when the power went out?

In the hot, hot apartment!

Orent had a lovely evening, despite of the power failure. Shortly after dinner the air conditioning, internet, lights, refrigerator, stove, etc. ground to a halt on the whole block! For a while, we soaked up what was left of the AC but then Orent started to whine. I had him drink some water and soon he was splashing it all over, which is cooling but not cool. So I put his leash on, grabbed an "ice muffin" from the freezer, and we went outside.

We actually had a great time outside, chasing the ice and sniffing the neighbors who came out to listen to our landlord's hand-cranked radio. Orent wanted to run around so we actually ran for about a block just for the fun of it. Then he clearly announced, "I'm hot, let's go in!" I tried to explain that it was now hotter inside, but it's a tough concept when you don't speak the language or understand electricity.

So we went upstairs to have another drink and check on things. Things were hot. I told him, "you don't have a choice, we're going outside 'til the power comes on." He fussed a little on the stairs but I held firm. I mean, I wasn't about to spend the rest of the evening in a 3rd floor apartment with no fans and very little cross-breeze.

I tethered him on the landing and got some work done. At first he played with his toys, dug up some weeds, and explored. He began to get impatient and was whining on the stairs when suddenly I heard it... the buzz of the neighbors' air conditioner. Sure enough, our porch light was on too. The power was back!

When we went back upstairs, Orent had a big drink and then splashed a little in his water before flopping down in the "shade" of the bed right in front of the AC. I didn't have the heart to send him to his kennel, and he didn't look restless. In fact, he ended up spending 20-30 minutes outside his kennel playing with some plush toys, getting stomach rubs, and being reminded not to gnaw on the underside of the bed. He even went to get some water and walked right past the towel on the floor, the sproingy doorstop, and the puddles of water he'd made earlier. I sang his praises and rubbed his belly for that one!

Interestingly, when he began to get restless (spronging the doorstop, chewing the towel, etc.) and I tossed his bone into his kennel, he followed it right in to the kennel and fell sound asleep immediately. I guess he was doing that toddler thing of getting "over tired."

Prior to this adventure in the hot dark, he had another couple of milestones (and an accident on the stairs and a 5:30am wake-up, lest you think puppy raising is all snuggles and learning):
  • he did a "Down" without cuing 4 times in a row. He's not at 80% but he's expanded his repertoire of "things that if I do them I get pets and treat." Not sure if he knows "down" or if he knows, "if putting my rump on the ground doesn't get a treat, I better put my elbows down too," but it's a start!
  • he learned how to ask for a belly rub. Last week, I think we were food machines, rides to the outdoors, propellers of toys to chase, and openers of doors (when he was thinking well of us; on the flip side we could magically close doors, cause tension on his leash/collar, and take yummy things out of his mouth). This week, he's been looking to us for more kinds of play, affection, and especially belly rubs. He seems to notice coming and going a bit more and want companionship in addition to treats and toys. It's kinda great!
As I was telling a friend who's the mother of a three-year-old, he seems to be in a nice preschooler stage where he's not going through independence/assertiveness stuff and is just soaking up learning. I hope it lasts!

1 comment:

  1. I'm in the "if putting my rump on the ground doesn't get a treat, I better put my elbows down too" camp, since that's what Luke does. If he doesn't get a treat when he thinks he should because he's sitting, he tries lying down to see if that helps. (Usually it's the case that we don't actually have any treats at all, but you can't blame him for trying. And this from a dog who knows exactly what "sit" and "down" mean.)

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