Mario Adjustments part 2

We've had Mario since Sunday and each day brings on a new set of circumstances. Today I had to go to work. There was just no way that I could skip today and keep everything up to schedule. So I put Mario in the yard while I drove J to school. That worked out fine. Then I thought I will put him in the little pen behind the garage. There was no way this dog could jump over the fence. As I placed him inside, I noticed a place where he started to dig frantically.

So I placed a lawn chair and part of a log over that part. Then I left for work. I caught up cleaning projects out there and decided I should get home. I parked the car thinking that Mario was probably in the yard. I called for him no dog. I walked over to the pen, thinking that maybe he was still in there. No. He had flown the coop, AGAIN!!

Panic settled in as I shouted, "MARIO!!! MARIO!!! HERE MARIO!"

I called L and told him to help me look for him. Then I went into the yard again thinking to myself about how he could propel himself over a 6 foot wooden fence. Then I looked at the fence sticking his head from the other side it was Mario. He had somehow gotten his body over to the other side of the fence to "play" with the neighbor's dogs. But the neighbors dogs weren't playing with him. They were "dominating" him.

I knocked on my neighbors door. Nothing. Then I opened their door and rang the doorbell several times. Nothing. I was VERY aggitated. I wondered how I was going to get Mario out of their yard and into out yard. Meanwhile the other dogs were roughing up Mario. I shouted at them angrily, "STOP IT!! Quit doing THAT to him."

Well that woke the neighbor up and she comes running out, robe and all. I feel bad that I woke her up. But feel anger toward her dogs and my new little charge. I tell her that my dog got into their yard and she asks about my collie. I tell her that she has died. So she called to my dog as she let him out and kept her probably un-neutered males at bay. I grabbed him telling him he was a BAD dog. L comes over and I tell him, "I Had to go to work today." Then I told him the rest of the story. I apologized to the neighbor and tell her that we are trying to work on the fence.

The neighbor's dogs are constantly getting against our fence. Once while L was working on the fence the dog split the slat in half and broke it. I hope we can get this fence fixed and fix a fence for Mario that he can't dig under or sail over.
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Today my cat sat on my lap while I watched TV. He is such a great cat. He loves to feel the heat from the space heater. I turned that off and started working around the house. I turned my back and then I looked in the living room. Sitting in my place on the couch next to the space heater was Mario with this goofy grin on his mouth. Needless to say, Mario is in my doghouse, so to speak today. He IS in need of a lot of training!! I am sure learning a lot about him everyday. Hopefully he will learn not to get into any more trouble!!