Liam and I

Well Dave had to go back to the states and guess who’s here taking care of his puppy!  Yep, me!  I’ve had some good days and some not so good days.  Now I know as I write this everyone will probably have suggestions for me to break some of his habits.  That’s fine…I’ll try what I can.

I found out that Liam is a stone eater, yes the gross way – and the only place we have close to the apartment for him to go potty is covered in stones!  And don’t even go on the internet to see how to break the habit – all you read are horror stories of puppy's and dog’s consequences of eating stones.  So he had me worried for a day or so.  I think we’re in the clear for now since I am keeping him away from those areas.  Since that is the case, I have been taking him to the closest grassy area, which is about 3 blocks away, every morning about 6:45.  That would be fine if he would walk on a leash!  I am having the darnedest time getting him to walk on a leash so half of the way I am carrying him – aaannnddd he’s not supposed to go up and down stairs and we live on the third floor – yep, more carrying!  I guess I won’t have to lift weights for a while.  When we get to the grassy area I drop the leash and he’s pretty good at coming to me or following me but once we get back on the sidewalk, yep, sit down and watch the world go by.  Yes, I’ve tried treats, I’ve tried using a stern voice, I’ve tried just “good boy” – the only time I can get him to follow me on the sidewalk is if I let the leash go and he walks behind me and then there has to be treats every block or so.  I only do this on the back streets where there is no traffic!  If someone has a miracle answer, let me know!

One of my friends here suggested that I put his potty pad out on our balcony so he relates going potty with outdoors since I can’t rush him out of the house every half hour to go.  I was hesitant at first because we weren’t letting him in the bedroom but then thought I might as well give it a try – better out there than in the house.  I tried it a couple days ago and he seemed to really like it out there – I decided I would feed him out there and then leave him to do his business since that is usually when he does it.  It went well and when he got done he lied down and took a nap.  Yesterday wasn’t quite as successful.  Today has been really good.

Today, after the morning walk, breakfast and a little play time, Liam and I went out onto the balcony – it was cold out, still ice on his water, but the sun was beating down onto the balcony, there was no wind and it was just delightful to sit out there.  Liam had some toys and a chewy that kept him occupied and I started a new book.

The new book I’m reading – I’m not sure why I chose it when I downloaded it onto my Kindle, I think because I like stories set in England and Scotland – but just getting into the beginning of it made me think.  It’s called The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.  It’s a book of letters written in the 1940s mainly between a young writer and her publisher with other letters in between.  What fascinated me today while reading – mind you on a Kindle – is her fascination with books and bookshops.  Now I really enjoy the compactness, the ease of reading and all the “extra” features that my Kindle offers me but I don’t want to lose that fascination and inspiration you get from a real book or a real bookshop – the feel and look of both.  Reading this writer’s letters and her deep love of her books made me really think.  I have a friend in the states that always amazes me with her knowledge of varied subjects and I know she is just one of these people that loves her books.  I’m sure there are many of you out there with this same love of books or maybe of some other medium but this is just one that I hope we never lose.

Hugs to all.

P.S.  Oh yeah and I think he has doubled in size in the past week!