what a sweet little girl

I can't believe I talk like this to a dog

     If I had praised my kids half as much as I praise the dog for not peeing in the house, I would have been the world's greatest dad instead of just grumpy dad.
     We wake up in the morning and greet Corki with a sing song Hey, how are you?  Did you have a good night?  Are you hungry?  Do you need to go potty?
     Then we look at each other and grunt hello.
     What is it about a dog?
     This mutt has been here about a month, and our lives have changed.
     First off, I am a little poorer for putting in the invisible fence, which she from time to time leaps over or just runs through.   The little white flags are still up, but I do remove some every other day so that eventually I can mow the yard.  Last week she leaped through the air and took off west, toward Skare Road and the park.  Luckily she found a gopher hole and got to sniffing it and I was able to grab her.  I was really afraid she would keep going and we would never see her again.  Jackie would never forgive me.
     There is hair all over the place.  Under the couch.  Under the chair.  Under the table.  On my sweatshirt.  I dust the floors and two minutes later there are little bitty hairs all over the place.
     She is stubborn.  For a small dog, she can be strong.  If she does not want to come along when I walk her on the leash, I practically have to yank her head off to move her.  She won't come in until she is ready to come in.  Usually that means she looks at me, takes about 10 steps, sniffs the air, then comes in because she has come on her terms, not mine.
     The first week she went right into her crate.  Now she just lays on the floor and looks at me.  I try to bribe her with a treat, but it no longer works.  As long as I am near the crate she won't even go for the treat.  Now I have to move four steps away and quickly close the door when she goes in for the treat.
     She is training me.
     Jackie complains about her dog odor.....I don't have the heart to tell her she rolled in something when we walked yesterday.
     We were told she was an outside dog when we adopted her.  And she does love being outside.  But today I went out with her, took her for a walk, set her down in the back yard and did some errands.
      She must have been out there about 10 minutes by herself and I swear, when I went back out she acted relieved.  It was as if she was afraid we put her out and were abandoning her.
     As I sat on the deck enjoying my tea, she kept nudging my hand, as if saying, "thank heavens you came back."
     I wish I could read her mind.  I would love to know what her life was like before coming to us.
     And one other change:  We walk about a mile a day.  I've lost 5 pounds.