Meeting Maddie

Choya's nearing the completion of her 12-Step Human Socialization Program. (Yeah, I mind-mapped a program for her, with KPIs. Ha.) We've taken her to dog cafes, and also restaurants that welcome dogs; there're always plenty of canine acquaintances met on walks. But she hasn't visited a home that has a dog. We saved J and L, and Maddie to the last. Choya would need to learn how to behave and be polite in other people's homes.

While I demand for Choya to respect Maddie on her turf, I'm pleased that she totally acknowledged that this was Maddie's territory. I was surprised that Choya accepted Maddie as pack leader almost immediately. Whewww. No matter how amiable, it was only prudent that the dogs were separated at meal time. It left the humans free to enjoy our wines, pizza and gorgeous cheeses of Gouda and Beemster lovingly supplied by L's mom.

There was a tiny maltipoo that the friends were dog-sitting. He barks at everything and anything. Oh my. Choya seemed a tad annoyed by it, but she followed Maddie’s lead, which was to generally ignore the maltipoo. The dogs seemed to be okay with one another’s company. Although it was hilarious that Choya didn’t quite know how to play ‘chase’ the way Maddie wanted, she tried pouncing, which confused the other dogs a little.

I was absolutely mortified when towards the end of the visit, she saw Maddie pee in the tray (correct spot) in the kitchen, got excited by the stairs, skipped upstairs, into the study, and promptly pee-d on the carpet. OMG! Choya simply assumed she could do that too. Walaoeh. Well, she assumed wrong and the moment she did it, she knew it. The carpet had to be hauled downstairs to be thoroughly disinfected. The friends insisted that they didn’t mind, and were really kind about it. Arrrrrgh. Dog, I need you to behave better. 😵😑🤦🏻‍♀️