TRAINING A DOG

Page has a sense of humor, and she's very smart. Yesterday she had some extra time outside to enjoy the sunshine and lack of snow. She also took some time to, well, "clean up" the yard a little. We had agility class last night, and we were about 10 minutes away when I heard something in the crate behind me ... then I SMELLED it!

Yep, Page had thrown up in her crate. Even though it was cool outside, I instantly cracked all the windows. I thought, oh great! How am I going to clean this up and will the smell ever come out of my car!

I glanced back at Page, and she was contemplating her situation. Gross poop puke in her crate. I thought, oh great! She's going to be a mess and the car will never smell the same. We were sitting at a red light and I looked back again to check on her. Page was taking her nose and flipping her crate blanket over the puke. I watched as best as I could as she systematically nosed the blanket over the mess and even took her paw to give it a pat. Once it was completely covered, she laid down in the crate giving herself a couple of inches distance from the blanket as if everything was normal. You could almost read the thought bubble over her head: "Momma will NEEEVER notice!"

I wondered where I could stop to clean up the mess and was scoping out a Walmart when I saw a Goodwill store. Perfect! I went into the store, looked for the "color of the day" (it was yellow), found household goods and grabbed two twin sheets and a small baby blanket. The total was $5 and I asked for a large bag for my items. Out in the parking lot, I realized what a great job Page did in cleaning up and keeping herself out of the mess. I cleaned up the crate using just the small blanket I purchased. I stowed Page's stuffed animal, crate blanket and soiled blanket in the bag and tied it up tight. I put one sheet in Page's crate and had one to spare! All that and I was only 5 minutes late to class! And the bonus: my car doesn't even smell!

Thanks, Page, for cleaning up for me! What a funny girl!