Loki used to love our couch. It was his couch. He slept on it all the time. He guarded it from Jujube. If we didn't force him to be in the same room as us by shutting the door, he'd be on that couch. The pet behaviorist recommended that we keep both dogs off of all beds and couches. We did this for awhile. We crated both dogs at night, so no one could sleep on the bed. We kept the dogs off the couches. And we also blocked off Loki's loved couch with the coffee table and other items, so that he couldn't jump on it. With the improvement of their behavior, we've stopped these preventative measures. We no longer crate both dogs at night. Instead, Jujube sleeps on our bed, while Loki chooses to sleep in the open crate. They seem to have no problems with this arrangement. And interestingly, Loki's previously loved couch is no longer blocked, but he seems to have forgotten about it. He doesn't jump on it and lay there anymore. Now he lounges at the top of the stairs, in our bed, on the basement couch (a different couch), and the dog beds in the dining room. All sorts of different places, but not on his previously loved couch. What used to be a very strong association seems to have been lost.
Edit: Yeah, okay, nevermind. I spoke too soon. I just caught him on the couch today. I guess he showed me!
Forgetting my underwear
Jujube's favorite chew toy when she first arrived was my underwear. I don't know why. She didn't care for Yun's underwear, only mine. She ruined many pairs before I started putting my dirty laundry on a high shelf. I did this for almost a year. Then one day a couple weeks ago, I decided to try putting my underwear in the laundry basket again. I thought, "Let's just try it and see what happens." The laundry basket sits on the floor in the master bathroom. It's easily accessible. So far, so good. All of my dirty underwear appears to be untouched. Interesting. She seems to have forgotten.
I guess that dogs can forget. And that is a good thing.
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