Charlie Bear Here with “Something to Chew On” #11

Did I mention my foster home had two other dogs? Tanner and Rowdy were okay dudes, except they slept on beds or blankets while I had to sleep in a cage. Okay, it’s not a cage. The foster mom calls it a crate, a place for me to go when I want to be alone, and also the place where she wanted me to sleep.

Foster Mom: It’s a good thing for a dog to be crate trained, especially if they are young. Sometimes you have to travel with a dog or need to be sure they are contained around other dogs, children, and even some adults. Face it, not all people love animals.

So my foster mom throws treats into the comfy crate to entice me to go inside. I do love those treats, so sometimes I scamper in, grab the treat, and then run out. If she closes the door on me I emit a piercing bark she can’t stand. And of course, I know she hates it.

Foster Mom: After the first few nightly attempts, I admit we gave up on trying to crate train him. It was too stressful for all of us. We confined him to the kitchen where he slept on a blanket, and during the day he was allowed access to the doggie door to go in and out. We had to have Tanner show him how to use it. And then we had to throw treats from the inside out and from the outside in to get Chucky (at this point he had taken on the attributes of that monster doll from the movies) to move from Point A to Point B.

Did I tell you I’m smart? I waited until she got out the good stuff before I let on I knew how that dog door worked. And even after I had it down, I pretended I didn’t. Hey, food is always welcome in my book.

After a number of weeks, we were moving along nicely. That trainer guy came over, taught me the basics, my foster mom practiced all the things the guy said to do (using a plentiful amount of treats), and I got what I wanted for sleeping arrangements: the kitchen. Then, all heck broke loose when my foster dad and I went for a hike.

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Want more to chew on? Click on the Category to the right called Charlie Chat. All my posts will be there starting back from #1. And they’ll be there forever, just like I hope to be in this new home forever.

And P.S. Don’t tell my female peep, but if you want a secret sneak peek at what I’ll be chewing on, check out the Charlie Here box above.