Readjusting

This is more of a plea for help/advice post. You may recall from my last post that I was most worried about the Scarecrow and Toto adjusting to the new flat. Turns out that it's Maybelle that I should have been concerned with. She has NOT been adjusting as well as I thought she would have. I thought that she would have been happy anywhere, as long as she was with us. She'd been pretty mopey apparently when she was left at our previous residence. But now she's developed all sorts of nasty habits.

For example, the first night we brought her over she whimpered, whined and barked in the living room from her bed and wouldn't relax unless I was in the room. So I spent her first night sleeping on the couch. I've had to do it one other night as well. She's gotten better about that the past few nights so I've been able to enjoy the comfort of my own large, luxurious mattress.

Next, Scarecrow walked in and found Maybelle chilling on the sofa that is not strictly ours. No good. I went into town today and experimented with the good ol' tin foil on the couch trick. And I can verify that it did indeed work. So for extended trips outside the house there is now a long strip of tin foil that will be gracing our sofa. So there's 2 bad habits knocked out of the sweet pup.

Bad habit #3, taking food off of the counter. She has a track record with this from her half-starved rescue dog phase. She once ate an entire loaf of bread and half a tub of butter. No wonder she's on a diet now. But today Toto forgot her breakfast on the counter and let's just say it wasn't there for long after. I think the only thing to really do here is for us to not leave appealing foods for her on the counter.

The habit that is currently distressing me the most is her inability to do her business outside during her walks. She's had a couple of major accidents inside and it seems as though she's just holding it in until she can't wait anymore. And that seems to generally occur when we are out of the house and she can't be taken outside. We walk her at least twice a day, generally along the same route in order for her to get comfortable. She has done the deed in the pebble half of our patio and so I was hoping that it would become her "spot" where she could smell her territory. Today I even took some of her, ahem, presents and put them outside in the pebbles in the hopes that she would realize that this is where it should go. I generally think that she'd much rather be inside with us or walk with us that she's putting off this basic function.

So besides getting her to go where she's supposed to go I am also wanting to find ways to keep her entertained during the day. Between Scarecrow, Toto and myself we are generally out of the house anywhere from 6-8 hours a day. I feel terrible that all she's doing is lying around all day long. And so I'm trying to research ways to keep her somewhat occupied during the day.

I'm sorry if this seems like rambling, but I am really worried about this sweet girl. I don't see the point of having a pet unless you're going to responsibly take care of that pet. And so, dear pet owner friends, I'm appealing for any tips, suggestions or advice. How can I help my country dog become an apartment dog and be happy about it?

Maybelle was a great comfort to me when I first moved here. She gave me someone to love when I felt alone during the day when the Scarecrow was at work. I want to be a comfort for her now.