esrosedotblog

COMING OF AGE

We took down Franklin's crate today.

He quit using it about two months ago.

It was almost as though a curtain had come down.

If we told him to go in he would do it but he wouldn't stay there for very long and we have not seen him enter on his own for a very long time.

Well, he is five years old.

At first, the crate was for potty training and night time hours.

When he was able, he started sleeping in our room on his big bed.

Then the crate became a place of comfort. If he didn't like what was going on he would go in there to find solace.

Our rule was that we would never bother him when he was in there. He figured that out very early and we stuck to our promise even when, occasionally, we would have liked to go right in there and grabbed him to play or pet him or, much more rarely, given him a swat for some misbehavior.

The crate was also a place for him to stay when we would leave him alone in the house. It got so that he would just go in there when he saw us 'dress up' or plan to leave together without obviously taking him along.

But we gave up that use of the crate some time ago. He became a trusted guardian of the house with full run of it and he has never, ever violated that trust. No fooling with toilet paper or anything else that we hear other dog owners talk about.

He is a really good guy.

He even quit using it for naps. It had been a long favored place to stretch out and take a snooze. No more.

So, the crate is coming down. The bed will stay in the corner in case he wants to use it for naps and to take the sun in winter.

We are keeping his puppy toys in the bed just for old times' sake.

Franklin watched the whole disassembly operation with more than the usual curiosity but he didn't seem to disapprove at all.

He followed John to the storage closet to see the flattened crate put away.

Then he came into the house, walked around on the bed that remains and went to finish his breakfast in its slightly new location.

Over and out. Done. Another life phase completed. A grown up dog.

Labels: Franklin