Thursday, April 9, 2009

She’s Got It

I think it is safe to say that Sol has the routine around here pretty much licked.  It didn’t take her long, but I think she had a little bit tougher of a time than Luna since she doesn’t pick up on any verbal cues.  Not being able to hear was just a little speed bump for her though.  She learned in her own way and now she knows pretty much as well as the rest of them when it is feeding time, when it is time for me to get off work, when we are going to go for a walk and most importantly that she needs to stop by the kitchen to pick up her good night treat before we go to bed.

When she first arrived, I would frequently have to wake her to let her know it was time to eat.  She would be snoring away in her little bed and wouldn’t hear everyone else run off to the kitchen or me clanking around in the kitchen with their bowls.  This was a total culture shock to me as I can’t even walk through the kitchen without grabbing the attention of the three fawns.

But she never missed a meal.  I would just go gently wake her and she would trot off to the kitchen.  One time, I brought her food dish with me and I just held it under her nose while she was sleeping.  It took her a few seconds, but her eyes sprung open after she caught a few whiffs of her food.  It was quite a hilarious sight.

I think the thing she learned the quickest was that going potty outside usually gets her a treat or a meal.  Before I feed the pugs, I take them to the yard to go potty.  After everyone has gone, we come in and they get to eat.  Before they go to their crate I take them out to go potty, stop in the kitchen to pick up a treat and then give them their treat when they go to bed.  Sol knows that going potty in the yard gets her good stuff, so she is forever running out towards the yard to go potty.  It’s funny, because, she frequently gets confused when going to her crate.  All the pugs will go potty in the yard and as I am walking from the kitchen to the crates, Sol will stand at the door thinking she has to go out to go potty again to get the treat.

It has been a long time that I have had to wake Sol up for a meal.  Her internal clock has synced with the rest of the pugs and she just knows what is going to happen next.  It is quite amazing how these pugs have my routine down pat and sometimes know my next move before I even do.