Jerk.
Laughing was not useful advice. He said to keep her contained in a small area, then laughed again when he’d told her he had to go.
Asshole.
And then the whole housebreaking thing? How many trips outside to pee could one pup make during a twenty-four-hour period?
And the crying at night. Agatha did all right in her crate, but Erin felt kind of bad about abandoning her, when all she really wanted to do was cuddle her. Though she knew crate training was the right thing to do for her, especially while she was trying to housebreak her.
The whole thing was frustrating. And she was so damn tired she wanted to lie on the ground and cry.
But right now she was walking with Agatha, who bounded ahead like the happiest dog ever, oblivious to Erin’s plight. The cast on Agatha’s leg didn’t seem to hinder her ability to maneuver at all, which was both a good and a bad thing.
At least they had the property. Agatha liked being around people so she never wandered too far, fortunately. After the first few days Erin already knew where her puppy was headed.
“Buongiorno, Agatha,” her dad said as Agatha found her father in the vineyards and limped over to him, her tail wagging furiously. “How’s the beautiful girl today? Would you like a treat?”
Her father had absconded with one of the bags of treats Erin had bought and kept some in his pocket at all times, giving one to Agatha every time he saw her.
“You’re going to spoil her, Dad.”
“Puppies should be spoiled. Like babies.”
Erin rolled her eyes, but watched as her dad spent some time with Agatha, using treats to teach the pup how to sit. Agatha was a free spirit and conveniently ignored anything Erin asked her to do. For treats, apparently, she could sit on command. Erin made a mental note about that one.
“She likes you.”
Her dad laughed. “She likes treats. And people who pay attention to her.”
“I pay plenty of attention to her. I’m walking her right now.”
“Your mind is scattered and puppies need your full attention. She knows it, which is why she gets into trouble. You need to sit on the floor and wrestle with her, tire her out some so she won’t be so rambunctious. And carry treats with you for training. She’ll follow you everywhere.”
“Okay, Dad. Thanks.”
Her father handed her the treat bag. “Try it.”
“Sure. Come on, Agatha.”
The pup had planted her butt on the ground and stared up lovingly at her dad.
“Agatha, come.”
“Rattle the treat bag,” her dad suggested.
Erin lifted the bag and shook it. It worked. Agatha bounded over to Erin, and when Erin took off, Agatha stayed in step with her.
“You will never be a success in life if you’re motivated by food, Agatha. You need to find your purpose.”
Agatha looked up at her with a happy puppy smile as if to say, Yeah, my purpose in life is getting what’s in that bag you’re holding.
She rounded the side of the house toward the front, surprised to see Jason’s truck pulling up. When he got out, Agatha dashed over to him.
Jason crouched down and rubbed all over Agatha’s furry body.
“Hey, Agatha. You’re looking very cute today. Are you out for a walk?”
Erin caught up. “She’s taking me for a walk.”
“Maybe too much freedom for her,” Jason said, examining her cast. “This might be a good time to start leash training her.”
The last thing she wanted was more advice from the men in her life, but since Jason was a veterinarian and knew better than she did, especially about Agatha’s injury, she supposed she had no choice but to listen to him. “Okay. I’ll go get her leash.”
“I’ll hang out here with her and help you, if that’s okay.”
She looked down at him. “You don’t have to do that.”
“Hey, I came here to check on her. And you. So I don’t mind if you don’t.”
She definitely didn’t mind him spending time with her and Agatha. “Sure. I’ll be right back.”
She went inside and fumbled through the bags of things she’d bought at the store, grabbing the harness and leash that she had yet to figure out how to use. For someone who prided herself on being able to master anything, she’d been a mess about taking care of Agatha’s needs. Sure, she’d fed her and taken her on walks around the property, and she had her crate set up in her bedroom, but other than that, she was kind of useless.
She went back outside and handed the items to Jason, who cocked a brow at her.
“These still have the tags on.”
“I was going to figure them out soon.”
“Uh-huh.” He dug into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out his pocket knife, sliced the tags off both the harness and the leash, then handed the tags to her.
“Come here, baby,” he said to Agatha, his voice softening and making Erin melt in the process.
She wondered if that was his bedroom voice, or if that was deeper, more demanding. Would his hands be gentle, or rough as he explored her body?
And why was she suddenly so damn hot? She blew out an exasperated breath.
“What’s wrong?” he asked as he stood, holding the leash in his hand.
“Nothing. I’m just . . . frustrated.”
“About?”
Because a very hot man was standing only a few inches away from her. Among other things. “I guess because I should be doing all these things for Agatha and I’ve never had a dog and I have no idea what I’m doing. Why did I think I could raise a puppy, Jason? She cries all night in her crate, and runs around all day and I’m worried about her little leg and I feel like I’m doing everything wrong.”
He put his arm around her, which did not help matters at all.
“It’s okay. Puppies are hard. She’ll get used to her crate. Where do you have it set up?”
“In my bedroom.”
“That’s good. She can see you and hear you, and that’ll comfort her. You don’t let her out of it at night, do you?”
“No. But I’m tempted.”
“Don’t be. She’ll adjust. Make sure she has a soft toy for comfort. Take her out for a walk before bed to tire her out, and then be firm with your training. It just takes a few days. Eventually she’ll learn to see her crate as her safe space where she goes when she wants to sleep and when she needs comfort.”
She sighed. “If you say so.”
“I do. And eventually, once she’s fully housebroken, you’ll be able to leave the crate door open at night and she’ll still want to sleep in there.”
She tilted her head back to look at him, unable to believe the truth of that. “Seriously.”
“I would never lie to you.”
Which was the truth. As long as she’d known Jason, he had never once lied to her. “Okay. I believe you.”
“Now let’s work on the leash training.”
The one thing she had learned about Agatha in the few short days she’d had her was that her puppy was stubborn. Jason was gentle, but firm, and had way more patience than Erin did. Eventually he coaxed Agatha into walking on the leash. Treats definitely helped, and Erin began to see the light. They took a walk around the perimeter of the house, Jason showing her the pace she should set with the pup for her leg.