Winston, Home Alone...!!

Winston has, thank goodness, returned to being a normal dog.  I still have no idea why he was so un-nerved, but he was for about 16 hours.  He has calmed down and has actually become more affectionate and likes keeping himself at my feet.  I have started leaving the bedroom door open.  I figured if he needs to go under the bed, then he needs to go under the bed.  And now that he can, he still goes in for a while, but most of the time he is under the foot of my recliner or under the computer table on his designated area.  He even has begun to jump up into my lap for some petting time and each session gets longer and longer.

Today I had visitors from my Banker's Life guys and he welcomed them with  few barks and then wiggles and requests for petting.  He went from person to person for attention and got what he wanted.  I cannot even imagine how totally spoiled he is going to be after coming back from the Outer Banks and having 8 women to spoil him.

Up until today, I have felt it necessary to lock Winston in his crate when I would leave the house to go shopping where he cannot go.  I had planned to be away for only an hour, but today it ended up being more like 2 hours.  Since he was being so laid back and just resting under my feet and not being nutsy, I decided to see what he would do if left on his own in the house.
I had him out earlier so I took advantage of that to sneak my keys, pocketbook and a package I needed to drop at UPS out onto the outside porch.  I have to sneak out of the house because once Winston hears the keys, he knows something is happening and it includes a car and he is at the door trying to go wherever the car is going.  So I put the stuff out so he would not know what was happening.  I got ready, said goodbye to Winston (who had no idea what I was saying) and went out the door.  

I had four places to go... the bank, Home Depot, The UPS Store and Walmart.  The bank was quick, Home Depot a little longer as I was getting prices on the stuff I need for the floor in the basement sewing room.  Dropping off the little box at the UPS Store was fast... Walmsrt was longer than I planned as I was looking for something I had seen in the past but could not find.  

So, I pulled in the driveway and wondered what I was going to find.  Had Winston gotten up on the couch and punished me by digging into the couch with stuffing all over the living room?  Had he decided to scratch at the back door, trying to get to the last place he saw me going?  Did he go into the bedroom and rip up carpet??  What was I in for?

I opened the door and peeked inside... no couch stuffing on the floor...Good!  No splinters in the kitchen, back door in tact... Good!  So I walked in farther and called for Winston..... and where did he come from???  His Crate!!!  Silly dog, he had the whole house to himself, but he went to his comfortable place which was his crate.  I am guessing that I will be leaving Winston out of the crate more often!  He must be finally feeling at home!!!