Batata training update #2

I am very busy watching out for toads, but I thought I should fill you in on the latest exploits of the little Batata.

First off, she has already learned (on her own) she can jump the gate between the kitchen and the living room. This is a good thing to have learned but I did not teach her, because she is not ready for this kind of knowledge. What she needs to remember is that the gate is there to give the humans that illusion of control that I talk about so much. She has missed her chance to lull them into a false sense of complacency that she is "secure" in the kitchen. Now, they are more vigilant about putting the extra screen across when they are not right there to keep an eye on things. This means she has lost some opportunity to freely roam throughout the house at times when they are not at home.

She is not a real fan of the pen. In a way, this is good for her, as I found out the hard way. I never minded going in the pen all that much. Well, what this led to was me being put in there, night after night, not just when they were out of the house. Batata yaps and cries when they put her in there, so much that they don't have the heart (or the guts, I guess) to put her in at night. Good for her! They still do put her in during the day when they are at "work," but at night she is free.

One of the prime lessons I like to teach my students is the pure delight in chewing on three things: potholders, sponges, and "good towels." Potholders always taste like food because the humans are so sloppy using them. Sponges soak up all sorts of interesting flavors, and they are easy to chew. And good towels... words cannot describe the pleasure of the feel of terry cloth ripping between one's teeth and one's paws. Well, Batata last night stole her first potholders, and today, while my favorite human was down with a bad migraine headache, she chewed up almost an entire sponge mop head! She got that idea herself. I knew she was a smart one.

She has also tasted the table legs, chair legs, and the gate on the deck. And, if one of the big dumb wolfhounds opens up that gate for her, she delights in getting the recyclables out of the toy bins on the deck and playing with them. I never much cared for the recyclables but I guess I can see the attraction -- many of them did once hold food, of course!

Speaking of big dumb wolfhounds, I am a little disappointed in the young female one. She is trying to prove my theory wrong. I know she is jealous of the little Estrela girl, but she is really cranking up her "naughty" behavior. Batata does love playing with her, though.

Well, back to toad duty. Keep an eye out here for updates as they happen.