AA #9 – I Figured Out the Potty Thing

Agatha is 15 weeks old in this adventure. She is learning how to tell her people what she needs, discovering that machines can fly, and finding out that some new friends are really good at chase.

I am a puppy, and I know many things now. I know where my food lives, where my Kong lives, and where Charlie likes to sleep. I also know Charlie does not want me helping him sleep. I know “outside” too. Outside is grass and smells and bugs, and it is where My People want the potty to happen.

This potty thing has been hard. My People have very strong feelings about it. Potty outside gets, “Good girl, Agatha!” Potty inside gets no happy voices, and then we go outside anyway. People have many rules, but I think I finally figured this one out.

Charlie already knew what to do. Charlie knows lots of things because Charlie is very, very old. Sometimes he walks up to one of My People and puts his paws on their leg. They look down at him and ask, “Do you need to go potty?” Then Charlie gets excited, the door opens, and he goes outside.

I watched him do this more than once. Charlie puts his paws on a person. The person says “potty.” The door opens. I thought about that for a while. Maybe paws make the door open.

So one day when I needed to potty, I walked over to one of My People and put my paws on their leg. They looked down at me and asked, “Do you need to go potty?”

YES! YES YES YES! That was exactly what I was trying to say. I bounced and wiggled until my whole body was saying yes. The door opened, I ran outside, and I went potty. My People were very happy, and I was very happy too.

Later, I tried it again. I put my paws on a person. They asked the potty question. I got excited, the door opened, and I went outside. It worked again!

Now I can tell My People when I need to go. I do not have to wait until they remember or hope somebody understands puppy. I have a signal. Charlie knew the signal first, so maybe I learned it from him. Do not tell Charlie that. He already thinks he knows everything.

Something else happened this week too. There was no potty in the house. Not one accident. My People noticed, and they seemed very proud of me. I am proud of me too. I think I finally understand this rule.

But potty was not the only thing I learned about this week.

We went for another long ride in the big white machine. I like the big white machine now because it means we are going somewhere. Sometimes somewhere is fun, and sometimes somewhere is strange. This somewhere was very strange.

There were giant machines there, much bigger than our big white machine. They had long things sticking out on both sides. I watched one move faster and faster until suddenly it went up into the sky!

I did not know machines could do that. Birds go in the sky. Machines stay on the ground. At least that is what I thought.

Then the Daddy Person got out of our machine. The Mommy Person stayed with Charlie and me. We waited, but the Daddy Person did not come back. Finally, the Mommy Person took us home without him.

That was strange too. I kept expecting the Daddy Person to be there, but he was not in his chair. He was not walking through the house, and he was not outside. It was just the Mommy Person, Charlie, and me. Home felt different. It was still home, but something was missing. One of My People was not there, and I did not like that very much.

Then I met somebody new in the woods.

It was big, much bigger than me and much, much bigger than Charlie. It had four long skinny legs and a brown body. Its ears were huge and stood up high like it was trying to hear everything at once. It had a long face, a black nose, and big dark eyes.

My new animal friend stood very still and looked at me, so I stood very still and looked at it. I like this staring game. My tail wagged and it took off running.

Oh! It wanted to play chase!

I ran after it, and it ran faster. So I ran faster too. Then it went even faster. I have very fast puppy legs, but this thing had much faster legs. It jumped through the woods like the sticks and bushes were not even there. I could not catch it. Not even close.

Maybe next time.

I learned a lot this week. I learned how to tell My People when I need to go outside. I learned that giant machines can go up into the sky. I learned that sometimes one of My People can leave, and home feels different until they come back. I also learned there are big brown animals in the woods that are very good at chase.

The world keeps getting bigger, and I think I am getting better at understanding it.

Even the potty rules.