Experiment

Dottie has been staying behind a baby gate instead of crated when I go out.  She has the small bathroom and a small hallway to stay in.  Nothing has ever been destroyed.  The shower curtain is not torn down, the bath rugs are not chewed or even nibbled, and there are no claw marks on the walls.

Therefore, when I went to church on Sunday I left her loose in the house for the entire hour!  Very daring!  Nothing was chewed, destroyed, broken, gotten into, or in any way distrubed.

So, I took an even bigger chance.  On Tuesday, I lever her loose in the house for the entire day.  Yes, the whole day.  The results were the same as on Sunday.  Is my puppy growing up?

Friends have suggested it is a fluke, she is just luring me into a false sense of security, she'll regress when she hits 8 years old (why is 8 the magic age) and/ or that now I should get a new puppy.  I prefer to think she is growing up and maturing.  The dogs hardly ever stay home these days- too much training to to do to waste even 1 lunch hour.  But next time they do, I'll leave her loose again and report the results.

Here is a short (true) story for your enjoyment.

Tracking with Dottie- I fell in a hole, onto my hands and knees, dropped the line, and she kept going. Not even a glance back. Shouldn't be surprised about that, but the funny part was me chasing after her tying to grab the line and it kept slipping just out of my reach. I got it eventually. Luckily there was an article coming up so if I was unable to catch the line, that hopefully would have stopped her.  But as I chased after her, futilely snatching at the line, wI must have made a pretty amusing picture.