Being Ostertag

I know some of you could care less about our dog and how he's adjusting. But he's a Kandt, so here's his Khronicle.

I already mentioned how happy I was with how Tag managed the trip here. And I can't say he acts stressed out about the move or anything. In fact, at the moment, he's in his usual position -- sleeping lazily on the couch. (No, he's not supposed to be on the couch, but we moved his blanket that usually covers "his chair" to his new bed, so he doesn't know where to go anymore.)

And that kind of sums up Tagger right now. He doesn't know where to go. Or where to "go". I'm cleaning up some kind of dog pee or poop in the house about every other day. It's getting quite old and very frustrating to have our newly cleaned carpets so quickly desecrated.

I'm not sure yet what his problem is. Some of it, I'm guessing, is that he just doesn't know yet how to signal to us that he needs to go out. The doors to the outside aren't as prominent in our living area here, and he hasn't developed a habit for that yet.

Part of the problem, also, is the lack of fencing. We had an electric fence in NJ, so he we could just let him out and leave him until we heard him scratching to come in. Now, somebody has to take him out on a leash whenever he has business to do -- and "leash" to Tagger means "oh boy, oh boy, fun, fun time running around the neighborhood!", not "do your business and get your mama inside out of the cold and wind". We did buy one of those stakes to attach him to in the yard, but he's pulled it up twice now. Stubborn mutt.

The cat that used to live in this house may be a factor as well. Maybe he's marking his territory. My room. My carpet. Stay away, nasty feline.

Plus, he's thirteen. He's old. He doesn't have as much control as he used to. And now he's got stairs to climb up and down when he has to pee, which is cumbersome. And I'm not ruling out the possibility that he's just letting us know his opinion on the recent disruption in his life. I can relate to the sentiment some days.

Any dog-lovers with great tips for us are invited to comment. We love our puppy, but I'm starting to wish I'd left him with the house in Sturbridge. Those carpets already needed to be replaced . .