For many years, my two dogs have lived outside. Their entire existence, except for the rare dash into the house, was the backyard. For dogs, they had a good life. They got fed each day, could explore the yard, bark at passers-by and chase a ball once in a while and got regular belly rubs.
But something was missing.
After my divorce I started thinking about maybe, just maybe letting them come inside more. My daughter moved out to live with her mother and took her border collie with her. The border collie was an indoor dog. So I already knew what to expect—some shedding (vacuum cleaners need jobs too) and the occasional muddy paw print on the tile floor.
The oldest dog, Pongo,, somehow sensed that she belonged inside. She would try to go into the house whenever she was near the door. Nah—she could not really “know” I was thinking about bringing them in.
Besides they have lived their entire lives of 13 years outside. Conventional wisdom said they were not house broken and as soon as nature calls, they would take care of business wherever they are, including the living room.
Then a trip the vet forced me to rethink this. Ariel, the middle dog, tested positive for heart worm disease. The treatment requires that the dog is kept very calm for many weeks, as long as three months. Okay, I reasoned, calm I could do. I could keep her confined to one part of the yard and she won’t have a chance to exert herself. Nope—not good enough according to the vet. She had to be inside, out of our extreme summer heat of 100 degree temps.
Well, that was it—she was going to move in if I wanted her to survive the treatment. This is not a problem—I could confine her to the kitchen area. If she made a mess, it would be easy to clean off a tile floor. Strangely, she never once made a mess.
The first night she was very confused. A lot of crying and pacing. Then she laid down. That was it. As soon as she was able to fall asleep on the “comfort” of the kitchen floor, she was an indoor dog.
As the weeks went by I felt really bad for telling Pongo, the oldest dog, that she had to stay outside all night while her “sister” could come in. Slowly I started letting Pongo come in too. Her acclamation to indoor life was much slower. She was very hyper every time I let her in, so much so that I could only handle about 20 minutes of this hyper dog before I put her back outside.
But I did not give up. I kept bringing her in and tried to let her get used to the space at her own pace. She would explore, sniff and find her way in this new world.
Then one day, it happened! She calmed down enough to actually lay down. Of course, as soon as I noticed this, she noticed me noticing her and got right back up with renewed energy.
Again, she and I were making progress, but she could still be a wild dog that had a habit of knocking things over. Back outside she went. I would tell her as she gave me the big puppy eyes (what other kind of eyes can a dog use on a person) that she could eventually come inside. Yeah she understood zero of that but liked it that I was talking to her in a calm voice.
Meanwhile Ariel was loving her new existence as an indoor dog. She had a bed and slept soundly through the night.
Then I tried giving Pongo her own space too. I put together an old blanket and a sheet. That was the step she was waiting for. Once she knew she had a space to call her own, just like the other dog, she was calm. Well, she was calm-er.
Okay we just lost several readers who closed the browser or headed back to Google to find a less crazy article to read.
Yes I said that Pongo realized Ariel had something she did not.
Now both of them are indoor dogs. Neither one messes in the house. Of course common sense is still needed. I cannot leave them in the house for many, many hours unattended. And I have to keep certain items out of their reach or behind a closed door.
As a writer, I despise clichés. I think a cliché is a lazy way to make a point. But I approached this whole situation with an old cliché in my mind—you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. These two old dogs either were never told to abide by that, maybe they’re not that old, or the saying is not true all the time.
I also learned something about myself. I had a desire to have indoor dogs. I wanted the dogs to be near me more hours in the day. I knew it would be good for them and for me. So, even though I was skeptical, I had a desire to make something happen. I acted on it. I planned. I tried some tactics that did not work. I tried some new tactics until I found something that did work. I did not give up. Now I have indoor dogs.
I wonder what else I can accomplish? Hmmmm.
