Welcome Back Kotter

October 16th, 2012

I had not been able to pick up Drake on Friday as planned because Machelle was out for the day.  By Monday I had worked up a migraine headache from hell worrying about starting all over again.  I tried to get on top of it, I had missed Drake so much and wanted him back.  However, for what ever reason I couldn't seem to move without wanting to throw up.  So by eleven yesterday morning I had called Machelle and taken a xanax.  I was out of migraine medicine and just wanted to sleep. woke

When I woke up, I was ready to get Drake.  I had analyzed the past month and knew several things.  One, I had been too soft on him, shown my pity and showered him with too much affection.  Two, pushed him way too fast.  He had picked things up so fast, I just kept introducing him to new things.  The plan that I had for his arrival had quickly dissolved.  Three, the ocd part of his brain had to be switched off.  I did not really need to know why he obsessed, he just needed to find a different way to live.  Four, he definitely needed more supervision than I had been giving him.

I had promised to do errands before I picked him up and it was almost noon when I got there.  The reunion was exciting.  He was very happy to see me and I was thrilled to see him.  So much more excited than when I had brought him home.  I had his cage opened to the front of the car and he went right in.  He played all the way home.  The rest of our pack was so happy to see him.  Don't know why, just the way dogs are.  He even seemed happy to see them.  I took him through the house, into the yard and then upstairs.  Part of my new approach was to limit how much of the house he would be allowed to go into.  Also, to not use the cage for correction.  I had to put him in it when I leave.  In the past I have put him in as a correction and many times I was frustrated when I did it.  I knew that I would have to tap into more patience. 

I didn't know that I would need so much patience, so soon.  He had only been home for a couple of hours when he started back, spinning, out of control.  I corrected him all day by putting him in bed and not allowing him to bark or get up.  I didn't think it was the best thing to do, but I was trying to try different methods.  I only knew the definition of crazy, which is doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.  It was a hard afternoon.  Drake went to bed early and I was relieved.  I did not give him his pill, but I had decided to cut drugs way back on all pills.  I had mixed feelings about today.