Bentley & the Dog Door

I'm working from home today because my backyard is being re-landscaped. I am covering up the grass with rock because I live in the desert and keeping grass is stupid here. Let me list the reasons having grass in Phoenix is stupid. 1. You have to re-plant it once a year - regular grass dies in the winter so you have to plant winter grass. 2. Water. In the desert. There's never enough so why waste it on grass? 3. Mowing. Rocks don't need to be mowed. Plus, I'm allergic to grass so it's not like I ever laid down in it. Neither did Bentley. He doesn't seem to be particular about where he uses the bathroom either so goodbye grass!

Speaking of Bentley, as I'm sitting at my desk working, Bentley has fallen asleep in my lap. He's snoring ever so slightly. It might be the cutest thing ever. Except that he's making my lap really, really hot. Anyhow, I wanted to tell the world that Bentley is finally using his dog door!! Only now, a month and a half after installing it, has he finally gotten the hang of it. I was telling people that I had the stupidest dog in the world, because after three and four weeks he still hadn't figured it out. No matter how much pushing him in and out, he was still quite timid to use it or waited for me to encourage/push him through it. I was frustrated but decided to continue being consistent with my behavior. Afterall, encouraging him through the dog door is easier than opening the people door for him every time.

Eventually, my consistency paid off. Bentley was still waiting for me to get him out of the house, but he was coming back in on his own. It probably helped that he often received a treat once he made it back in on his own. Last week I finally got the hint that maybe he was going outside on his own too; though I hadn't seen him do it. I came home from work one evening and he wasn't anxious to go outside like he normally would be. I thought maybe he had let himself out during the day, but couldn't confirm it. It wasn't until this weekend that I confirmed Bentley is using the door on his own. It was Saturday morning and I wanted to sleep in. Bentley on the other hand, wanted me to let him out to use the bathroom at the ridiculous hour of 8am. I told him to let himself out and simply rolled over falling back asleep. A short while later, in a half-awake state, I heard the dog door click as he was coming back inside. I almost hopped out of bed and did a happy dance! It was so exciting that he's finally doing it on his own. Now I can stop worrying about working late or leaving him alone for too long. Thank goodness I decided to be patient. It just shows that given enough time, an old dog can learn new tricks.

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