He's so damn cute

It took me 3 months of daily kvetching to finally convince Ass-hat to crate train the damn dog. I even brought a crate home, plopped it in the kitchen and said "It says or I go!" I want my kitchen back! Tahoe will soon be big enough to jump over the baby gate which is the only thing keeping her confined in the kitchen. Ass-hat still doesn't want her outside when we're not home or overnight. GAH! I think the dog is old enough. She's 45lbs now and is still a puppy who likes to jump up, nip and tackle. I've been bowled over more than once by the over-exuberant beast.

I need to be able to put her somewhere when we have people over and are in/out of the house. Little J's party is in 2 weeks and with 40 people/children running around in and out of the house through the kitchen we need her crated.

It's taken a few days but she did sleep inside it last night {with the doors off} and hopefully we can work up to closing the door and not have her freak out and try to chew her own leg off trying to escape.

So Little J has taken great interest in this process. He's been peppering me with a million "whys" and "how comes". I'm trying to explain that it's not to punish the dog but to give her a safe place to be when she can't run around free.

Earlier tonight he asked me how to spell "Puppy" and then how to spell "only". I didn't think anything of it as the child tends to ask the oddest questions. He shut his bedroom door with a stern "Don't come in!" and I was just happy to get a few minutes of slience. At bedtime I walk into his room to read stories and discover that he has made Puppy his own crate!

Puppy is a stuffed dog that my Aunt gave him for Valentines day when he was 2. Puppy goes EVERYWHERE with Little J. There is much strife and trauma in the Schmoochie household when Puppy goes MIA. Poor Puppy has lost his tongue several times, his tail is sewed on backwards {oops] and his hind leg is held together with a safety pin. Puupy is Little J's most prized posession.

Little J took one of my 'junk' tote-thingies, decorated it and drew a sign that says "Puppy Only" on it. "Now Puppy can be safe when I'm not here too Mommy" And he did it all by himself.

He makes my heart happy. :)

Now to find out where he put the stuff that used to be in the crate.....