Yes, I caved in...

Last fall I read the book Racing in the Rain: My Life as a Dog, by Garth Stein.  It was an entertaining book narrated by a race car driver's dog.  The story really made me think about what dogs really do know and understand.  Dave and I have owned two Spring Spaniels over the years.  Our Springers were great dogs, but by the time our second Springer died,  I had four messy kids and was losing my mind from dog hair, messy foot prints, and accidents in the house (Millie suffered a lot at the end and we spent a lot of time cleaning up after her.)   After Millie, we decided to try a new breed.  That's when we got Rex-- a Chesapeake Bay Retriever.   But, I banished him to a kennel behind our house.  It's a nice kennel, Dave puts a new bale of straw in it every fall (and in past winters he has put in a heat lamp, too); normally Rex is perfectly happy, after all he has never known any different.

Until last Sunday night.

With the temps so far below zero, we knew it would be unsafe for him to be left in the kennel.  So, Sunday afternoon when the temps started to plummet, we dug out an old blanket and gave Rex a talking-to.  We started by letting him out every 45 minutes and after he went to the bathroom, we'd call him back in.  He figured it out RIGHT AWAY!  Such a smart pup!











He must feel like he's hit the jack-pot.  Sunday night Dave and I made Steak Diane out of Sirloin with a nice big bone--for Rex!












He's gotten more attention than he probably ever dreamed possible because it has been fun having him around and we've been REALLY bored.

Today we were off of school again and decided to go into town for lunch.   We left him alone for about an hour and a half and he was a perfect angel!  We baby-gated him in the laundry room with his blanket (where he has been sleeping like a rock ALL night for the past 2 nights)!  I was afraid of what we'd find when we got home, but he just took a nap I guess!

















The bad news is tomorrow he's going to be kicked out to his kennel again because I don't trust him THAT much...        (By the way, this is a picture of Holly brushing Rex with a Barbie brush!)