I’m not so much in the dog house as way out in the unsheltered cold. I’ve been a bit on the naughty side and to be fair as I sit here with a lot of time on my paws to reflect, I might just have gone too far. It was dog training, isn’t it always. I’ve progressed from getting a bit overexcited at all the new dogs to being an uncontrollable wild thing. I know that I look as though butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth, but I’m ashamed to say I went for a Labrador. I’ve developed a bit of a complex, having been bitten by one and verbally abused by others, I’ve reached the conclusion that I don’t like Labradors and I just decided to get in with an attack before they did. My Mistress has tried to explain that I must treat dogs as individuals and just because two dogs don’t like me does not mean that the whole breed doesn’t like me.
All of that was after I have already spent the night causing bedlam and chewed through my Halti for good measure. It was quite dark by the time we finished and my Mistress couldn’t see that I’d got it in my mouth. Well what would you do if you had a piece of nylon in your mouth? You’d chew it. And that’s exactly what I did, only I forget I’ve got bit sharp teeth and I chewed a bit hard.
The upshot of all this is a fairly rigorous regime of discipline. I am finding myself under instruction at all times of day and night. The problem is that I do what I’m told at home anyway and don’t misbehave when there isn’t the distraction of other animals. I have also been bought a half-choke collar and threatened that if I don’t work nicely with that I shall be facing a full-choke collar. I realised at that point how seriously my Mistress was taking this as I know she doesn’t approve of choke chains on a normal basis. I have also been told that she will be consulting an expert who may be able to help. I suppose really that I hope it all works. I do hate it when I know my Mistress isn’t pleased with me.