Welcome to Brad's online memory archives.

Sitting Stella

My co-worker Josh’s birthday was Friday, and so was his son’s, so the whole family went to the West Side to stay at a resort.

Josh’s son’s dog Stella needed babysitting over the weekend, and a Josh asked me. Stella would stay at Josh’s house in Paia, and I would stay with her.

When I first got to The house, Stella was very scared. She barked and growled a lot.

I tried lots of things to calm her, but she stayed scared. I was worried, because to let her outside for a potty break, I would have to clip a tie-line onto her collar.

I tried everything I could think of, and things the internet said too. I couldn’t get her out before bedtime. She went to bed without peeing.

Yesterday morning, I thought she would be used to me. She wasn’t. Now I was worried she would pee on the floor or get a bladder infection. I tried and waited and tried and waited. I swapped a few texts with Josh, and he said to be firm. I raised my voice and told her to stop when she was running from me. She sat down! I clipped the line on her, and sent her outside. Yay!

It was really counter-intuitive. To calm a nervous dog, I should bark orders at her loudly? I think for pets of my own, I’m going to stick with cats…

She’s calmer now, but still very skittish. She won’t let me touch her at all.

1 Comment

  1. Lauren

    You are a good friend, and to be fair – Stella is a good dog. That strange man must have kidnapped her family! She will only trust you when they return. 😉

    (I agree about dogs, though. Cats are so much easier.)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

© 2024 bradaptation.com

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑