Playful night

Bayou is in bed. She tired herself out playing. I let her out of her pen, put a blanket down on the floor and put some of her toys out. She had a ball. She finally got sleepy and napped in my lap before I put her to bed at 8:45pm. She went into her crate without a problem. She's such a good girl (most of the time lol). I made her pen into a rectangle earlier today and put it up against the kitchen/dining room wall. I can see her better from my chair now. It also seems more organized. I like this set up better. Now I need to get the rug cleaner and clean up the carpet. I'll go out tomorrow once David is home from work and get one. I was thinking about getting another pen for outside but I'm not sure it would last long because she'll be able to get out of the pen before too long. It would be good to have a pen though so it limits her bathroom area and keeps her from going under the deck or under the fence. Our neighbors dog came under the fence today and actually came in our house because the back door was open. It was kind of funny. He was shy but didn't do anything bad. Mike next door had to come over the fence to get him. With a pen even if another dog got in the yard Bayou would still be protected. We'd have to stake it down though. A new one online costs about $70. I think I'll keep looking on craigslist before I buy online. I'll check on Amazon too because I got $25 in Amazon Gift Cards from Swagbucks today. That could pay for 1/3 to 1/2 of the cost of a pen. I'm so glad I found Swagbucks before we got Bayou. It's really helped out with getting things for her.

Here's a picture of the new pen set up:

I have a towel in there for her to sleep on and a blanket in the rest of the pen. If she has an accident I can wash the towel and blanket which is easier to do than cleaning the carpet. I also have her little bed but it's in the dryer because she peed on it again. I need to be more vigilant about getting her out every hour. She was letting me know when she needed to go but she's not always doing that now. She's been pretty good with the potty training and always wants to go outside to do her business. It's only when we don't notice her need to go out that she has an accident.

We (Bayou and I) did take a nap today. I was exhausted from being up so much the last 2 nights. I'm hoping that she sleeps through the night tonight, well, at least until 4am or so. I think that I can keep her up more in the evening so that she'll sleep later in the morning. She's only 9 weeks old so she does need to go out quite a bit at this point so I'm not looking to get 8 hours of sleep out of her. She's been doing great though. I'm so glad that she is feeling better today. I was worried about her yesterday. She has almost finished the bottle of Pedialyte. I've been giving it to her today instead of water just to boost her electrolytes. I think it has helped a lot.

I'm going to see if David and I can take her for a ride tomorrow. She enjoys being in the car. I'd like to use the tie down but it's way too heavy for her. Maybe I can find something more light weight for now. I don't want her to have to always be in the crate when she's in the car. I think she will definitely be a "head out the window" king of dog.

David told me earlier tonight that Bayou was getting nippy with him so he put her in her pen. We must stop this behavior. I've done some research online and watched some videos that were helpful. She needs to get a timeout, away from us, when she bites. I may have to get a gate for the bathroom so she can go in there for a timeout. I don't want her to bite me like Harley/Watson did. That was a terrible way to live. I don't want a dog that does that. David is on board with whatever we need to do to get her to understand that biting is NOT okay.

Every time I look at Bayou I can't help but think of how beautiful she is. I love her coloring and markings. She is such a joy to have.

David will be home soon from hockey so I'm going to quit blogging for now. More later.