Last week we agreed to dogsit our friend Renee’s dog, Alvin. And if you read my posts and/or Facebook rantings at the end of last week, then you know I was about to murder Alvin because he isn’t house-trained and was supposed to be going to the bathroom on training pads but was instead using our entire house including walls and furniture as his training pad.

You will all probably be glad to know that Alvin is still alive. After I wrote that blog last week, Alvin began to get a better idea of where he should be using the bathroom. In the three and a half days that have passed since the last blog post, Alvin has pooped on the bathroom floor only once…and peed on the bathroom floor only twice…and all of the other times he has managed to hit his pad. He did throw up on the kitchen floor today too…but doggie vomit aside, this is encouraging. Though I have ruled out any hope for Alvin learning to go to the bathroom outside the house where he should be going, I now have regained hope for my floors not permanently looking and smelling like dog poop. And that is encouraging.

And even though the potty situation is getting better, he is still the most emotionally needy dog I have ever come across. We can’t do anything-eat, watch tv, sit on the couch and talk-anything-without him hopping in one of our laps, licking our face, and demanding our attention. This was endearing the first day or two. Now I’d rather him just go sit in a corner and chill out for a couple hours. Without going to the bathroom there.

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