General Discussion & Chat: Best/Worse and What did I learn today? Friends pt.37, 1 by Gardengirl1204

Gardengirl1204 wrote:
Day Two: Doggie Door boot camp! DH decided to build a small platform on the outside of the door because it is a big drop when coming out of the doggie door so he figured maybe Murphy is afraid of the distance. I hit the yard early and decided to work on my cobblestones again. Left Murphy on the porch with the doggie door flap up and all he did was bark, bark, bark! Ran around the yard like a complete idiot and called him and kicked the ball and threw the frisbie and all he did was bark, bark, bark! DH finally decided to plat football in the yard with DS cause Murphy goes completely balistic - but all he did was bark, whine and whine somemore. DH said the only other thing I can think of is his "girlfriend" Savannah Jane from down the street so I called down there and using Murphy's "voice" ask Savannah to come down and play and help me learn to use the doggie door.

Well 20 mins later, Savannah's mom called and they were on their way. So we put Murphy on the porch and when Savannah got in the yard he whined and whined and whined - but stayed on the porch. Then Savannah saw him and she FLEW through the doggie door I'm sure not touching any of the sides! They said their hellos and then She was like, 'hey, I want to play' so she flew back out the doggie door and Murphy no more paid attention to a doggie door being there and flew out it too! We cheered him on! So we played a little game and put his lease on and since Savannah had no probs going thru we coaxed her with a treat and then Murphy - the person on the other side of the door grabbed the leash and "led' him thru! It worked!!!! He went back and forth and back and forth with no problems. We even put the flap down and he followed Savannah out.

So Savannah leaves after an hour and we put Murphy back on the porch and he just stays there. ARGH! DH sat on the deck coaxing him and he'd stick his head out and just stand there. So since I was in my garden and Murphy goes crazy for dirt clods, I tossed a few towards him and he finally came thru the door - for dirt clods! He has actually done great with it since then. He tip toes thru it when the flap is down but will go thru if we are on the other side. So we'll keep working with him so he will feel comfortable going thru it even when no one else is around. DH was just so excited. He thought he'd spent all this time and money on the door and Murphy wouldn't use it. I said "Ye of little faith"!

Anyway, got 3 more bags of mortar mixed and 4 stones down. Did I mention on my post last night that I have taken some of my herbs like lavender and rosemary and pressed them into some of the stones? I did a piece of fennel today and it looks awesome. I'll have to take a picture of it once it's all cured. So I have 4 bags left and that will probably finish off the stones going around my center herb garden. Next I will try and do the paths out from the center to each corner. I think I'm just going to lay crushed paver stones all along the outer sides because they are too narrow for the cobblestones. Hopefully, I can get the rest done tomorrow.

WHEW!

Dawn, beautiful landscape! Such vibrant colors!

OK, off to bed for me!!

I'll chat with ya again tomorrow! Hugs to all!
Jeannine

This is Murphy's girlfriend, Savannah