the main hard parts:
1) He's now figured out the whole I'm-in-the-crate-while-she's- at-work game, and we have to literally physically struggle to get him in the crate. and then, even then sometimes he pees in the crate. Friday Ivan was dropping off his dog for me to babysit this weekend while he was out of town, and when he came by at 2pm, Elzar had alread peed in the crate, despite only being in there since 8am and having peed prior to going in the crate. Maybe I have one of those Savage Love dogs that just LIKES sleeping in pee?
2) Elzar's main form of communication is whining. Not just to signify "let me out to pee" or "I need more water", but also to communicate with the cats. half the time I hear this sorrowful whine, go to see what he needs, and he's staring at the cat as if to say "Play with me!" (the cat, of course, is having none of this). He'll also whine at other dogs, at me when I go into the bathroom, at the mailman...maybe it's his form of some meaningless social nicety, equivalent to "Have a nice day". But I hear it and think that something's actually wrong and needs my attention, which means I keep getting up only to find him whining at an uninterested cat.
Other than that, he's okay. But I'm beginning to think I'm not up to the task of parenting anything less self-sufficent than a cat.
