So this afternoon our main drain got clogged and stuff started to come up in the house. It was an emergency! Not fun, but usually manageable: call the plumber and get it fixed. Well that is if the plumber can access the drain cleanout which is located in our backyard... in Skye's backyard...
We had workers in the house in the past, and we would close the backdoor so Skye would stay outside. And Skye was okay with that because she feels the safest in the yard. But now we had to do the opposite, lock her in the house.
When the plumber texted us that he was on his way, we tried to get Skye inside. Today was a beautiful day and we were all hanging out outside. She wasn't very keen to come inside, but we kind of tricked her by ringing the bell, then once she was in the living room we closed the kitchen gate, and finally we were able to close the door to the backyard. Okay we had her inside! Now let's pretend nothing special is happening... Skye of course went to the back door, saw it was closed, and without much fuss settled down with us. (Sometimes I wonder if it's not some form of learned helplessness where she realized that there is nothing she can do...)
Now the bell rings, the plumber is here. Peter goes to meet him through the garage and I start tossing treats on the floor. After a moment of hesitation, she starts eating them. With a series of "yes/treats" and nose targetings when she was less worried, we got through most of the plumber's visit. At some point, it was a bit too much, especially when the drain augur was on, and she wouldn't take any treat and just went into a corner by the back door. But she eventually came back into the living room with me and even laid down a bit.
It was a stressful one hour for both of us, but I am really proud of her. I had expected more fuss or shutdown, but we did interact positively for most of the hour long visit! That meant lots of treats and she probably won't be hungry for dinner.
Also we didn't ruin the house for her, she is now peacefully sleeping on her bed with us in the living room :)
