Sunny's Stairs, Pappy's Bravery

Background for why Sunny has stairs and why the mattress was on the floor is here and here.

When we first got the doggy stairs, I put them next to the loveseat where I sit with my laptop and the little dogs snuggle in next to me. I was right there to make sure Sunny used the steps. There wasn't an alternate way for her to get up and down because the steps were in the way. She quickly learned to use them but it took a few weeks for her to like using them.

Last week we put the mattress on the bed and moved the stairs into the bedroom. It took just a little bit of training for Sunny to understand we wanted her to use the stairs to get up and down from the bed.

I'm very pleased with the Ultralite Pet Stairs from Discount Ramps. They only weigh ten pounds so they're easy to move around, yet they're sturdy enough to stay in place. I ordered a second set for next to the loveseat.



Our neighbor has a goat. Glory, our big old dog, does not like the goat. We've been teaching her not to bark at the goat and she knows she's not supposed to bark at the goat, but when she thinks she can get away with it she sneaks in a bark or two (or three or four).

Yesterday I went out for a dog walk with Glory free and the two little dogs on their Flexi leashes. Glory barked at the goat. The goat came running to the fence that divides our property and Glory ran over to bark in the goat's face.

Lady, a large dog that lives with the goat, took exception and ran over to the fence growling to protect the goat. Glory and Lady had a dog fight through the fence. It is farm fence with squares about 4 inches by 4 inches, so they couldn't really do harm to each other, but it looked and sounded violent and I ran over to pull Glory away.

Twelve pound Pappy, who is little enough to get through the farm fence, did. He attacked Lady just like he was a big dog and got his head bitten. Fortunately, Lady's owner arrived on the scene just then - probably because I was screaming - and pulled Lady back.

It was an ugly, scary incident. Pappy is a gentle, calm dog, but he thought he needed to defend Glory. Now he has a hole in his head. You can see it over his left eye.