Destruction and progress

Steve and I together filled out the Dognition questionnaire the other night, and much to my regret, I didn't take notes. There were a LOT of questions, and some of them were tough for us to answer. ("Does Dionne ALWAYS/USUALLY/SOMETIMES/

RARELY/NEVER show aggression when interacting with smaller dogs?" But... what's "aggression," we wondered. Growling when engaged in excited play? Sometimes. Hostility? Never.) 

We muddled through and did our best (and I can't go back to review the questions or our answers.) Next step will be to engage in the six play/observational sessions. We decided to wait until the weekend to begin that. And I will certainly take notes then.

In the meantime, it's one step forward, one (or two) back. The other night I heard an unusual noise, looked down, and saw that Dionne had chewed the plug off the lamp in my office. 

Who, moi? It cannot be! 

This is the very same plug that Dionne's predecessor, Darby, chewed off. (She was only three months old at the time, not NINE months, like Dionne.) The good news is that Steve already knows how to fix it. 

Also this week: I put my brand-new pair of shoes up on a counter specifically so that Dionne could not get at them. But apparently it wasn't high enough, because this is what I found:

There IS no good news about this discovery. I buy new shoes so rarely, it is galling to have one immediately savaged. It's particularly galling when I have not yet even PAID for the shoe. (That Citicard bill arrived two days later.

I do have one bit of progress to report. When Dionne's up in my office with me, she's begun very clearly letting me know when she needs to go out. She circles around my legs. She whines. If that doesn't get my attention, she barks at me. 

It may not seem like that much of an accomplishment, but she's the first CCI puppy who's ever communicated her needs so clearly.