Socialization

The girls had a jolly holiday season with a parade of loving, understanding house guests. Alli weighs 37 pounds and Abbi is at 33. They turned four months old this past week.

In the commotion of entertaining and serving drinks, Abbi figured out a new trick. Much to our surprise, she dispensed herself an ice cube from the refrigerator's in-door dispenser. I witnessed her mom, Dana pulling the same stunt when I visited the puppies in October, so this is an inherited trick and not entirely unexpected. Luckily for the shiny finish on our fridge, she has not repeated the trick...yet...

Alli presented us with a challenge. While Abbi has a very clear "tell" regarding her need to go outside for elimination, Alli has no "tell." This was making house-training a real guessing game.

Just for grins, I hung a small brass bell from the doorknob on the back door and guess who rang it first? Alli was very curious and very nosy about the new shiny thing. As soon as it rang, I opened the door, and then every time it rang after that, I opened the door. Now we have a pretty good understanding about the bell.

So Abbi has a "tell" and Alli has a bell.