Bella Pupdate:

You may recall I had posted in the past about the trouble we were having getting Bella house-broken. Here's the latest.

A big part of the problem was probably that we adopted her in June, and she was growing up during the summer when the doors of the house have to kept closed to keep the cool in. Once fall arrived and the temperature abated, we could leave the door open more often.

I was concerned that we had somehow reversed the house training. When her siblings would go outside, Bella would be so excited that she would go out and play with them, and forget to do her business, so she would do it when she came inside.

I was curious to see, once we were able to leave the door open, whether she would actually go outside or inside. My fears were allayed, she apparently knows she is supposed to go outside.

Keeping the door cracked and rewarding her with treats seems to have worked. She has learned to get mom or dad if she needs to go outside and the door is closed.

Now, if for some reason she can't get our attention she hasn't learned to bark or scratch at the door. But the incidents of accidents has gone way done, I think she has gone inside once in a week.

So things are much improved