Reba Rocks It!

With our big trip to High Prairie looming in the not too distant future I wanted to get Reba ready. Reba while not ready to actually compete she'll be travelling with Tessa and myself to get used to being on the road. As High Prairie is a bit of a jaunt we'll all be staying in a hotel Friday night. With Tessa this is not a big deal. She's a seasoned traveller. With Reba I was a bit concerned. You see Reba lives outside in a dog run. She is not a house dog and has spent very little time in a building of any sort. To prevent major trauma I thought it would be best to do some preparation with her.

So yesterday I drove into town, visited PetSmart and bought a crate. I have two at home but one is too small (I use it in my car for travel.) and one is canvas and too large for a first overnight experience. I put her crate together, put the freshly purchased foam bed in it, layered towels over top, and placed a toy for her chewing pleasure. Tessa of course was watching this process suspiciously. Experiencing mild anxiety I fretted over how she'd do. Being an outside dog I was worried she'd get too warm. But Reba rocked it!

At 10pm, I went out to discover she had freshly eliminated - this of course made me very happy as I wouldn't be out there trying to get her to go before her stint in jail. She was slightly freaked when I brought her into the house, skittering on the tile down the hall to where I had her crate set up, diving into it when she saw it. Poor little girl. She lay there so nicely with her front paws crossed and not even a squeak.

Off to bed I went. I of course had a rotten sleep with one ear cocked anxiously listening for any sounds of distress from Reba. At about 3am, she started panting pretty hard so I got up and offered her some water. Normally I wouldn't do this due to toileting concerns but with the alarm going off at 6:30 I thought she could make it. And like a true champion she did.

I was so impressed with how well she handled her first house experience. Each night this week I'll bring her in so she gets used to house sounds. Thursday night I'll move her into the bigger crate (the one I'll be bringing) to see how she handles it. Based on her attitude so far I should have no worries.