Originally posted on G+ December 8, 2013
Congratulate me, I've finally got Fussy convinced that I should be committed to the criminally insane. ~headdesk~ ~sigh~
Fussy and the saga of the butt harness continues......
I did have a tiny breakthrough with her, she didn't try to play "broken dog" when I put the harness on her for the second time. But as they say "one step forward, two steps back."
It was time to put the butt harness into action. I tell the dogs that we are going out, I get my coat on, grab Fussy while she is excited to be going out and strap the harness to her buns. So far so good. Send the younger dogs down the stairs and out the door while Fussy waits patiently for me at the top of the stairs. Still going smoothly. I go back up to help her down, but this time instead of just guiding her down I grab hold of she new handle. Ok, no longer going smoothy. She gives me a funny look and very reluctantly goes down the stair with me. Outside goes well with the harness still attached, now to bring the dogs back inside. They young ones fly up the stairs and Fussy once again waits patiently at the bottom of the stairs for help. I grab hold of her handle and life as we know it comes to a screeching halt. She flips out and manages to twist back around and out of my hand pushes the screen door open races out into the yard. Hmmm....I get the sneaky suspicion she doesn't like the harness. I let her cool off in the yard a moment before bringing her back in for another go.
Going up stairs - round two. I bring her in and this time make sure the screen door is shut tight. I grab her handle but this time instead of bolting she decides a new tactic was called for.....activate mule mode! She digs in an refuses to move. I try to gently nudge her up the stairs but as I push forward she pushes backward with stick stiff legs. Seeing as how we were not getting anywhere it was time to fight stubbornness with with stubbornness. I lift and push her handle just enough that if she doesn't want to fall on her head (not that I would ever let her) that she is forced to step forward. Stiff and stilted we inch our way up the stairs. I can see this thing is going to take time for her to get used to, short brief sessions for the time being.
Wait there is more! When I bought her this harness I also bought a single raise dish for her to eat out of. I didn't want her to have to keep bending so far down to have to eat anymore and I thought this would be a big help. Dinner time rolls around and I hand her the new dish. Have you ever been talking to someone and they out of the blue say the most asinine you have ever heard of in your life? You remember the look on your face when they said that to you? I swear to you that is the same face Fussy gave me when she stood in front of that "strange" dish. It is a good thing that dogs can't speak English or dial a phone or she probably would have had me carted off for being insane.
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