The good news: Kaline has generalized his open command to all the cabinets in the kitchen. He's mostly caught on that if a door is more resistant, he has to grab the tug closer to the handle. (Juno just pulls harder. It's fun to see what different techniques they have.)
We started on the fridge, and of course that is a little harder. It's a totally different door, a different tug (a rope toy, because knotted strips of old-t-shirt material won't work on that heavy of a door), and requires a much harder tug. He's gotten it open a couple times, but isn't getting it consistently yet. I've been playing tug a bit with him, which helps him realize that he's supposed to really pull on that toy.
Best part of working on the fridge is that Juno constantly peers over Kaline's shoulder, judging. "You're doing it wrong." And then if I really need something out of the fridge now (we keep working during dinner preparations), she gets to shoulder past her little brother and yank the fridge open on the first try. Gets her cookie and swaggers off.
Today it was rainy, and I had a burning desire to remain in pajamas all day, so Kaline had his first two sessions on the treadmill. Juno saw me get the little slip leash out (used only for the treadmill) and hopped up. I had Kaline go first though because I didn't want him messing with Juno while she was on. I figured once he had a go, he'd be too tired to bother her when it was her turn.
Originally, Juno and the treadmill were not friends. The first time I put her on, I had a massive protest on my hands. The trick is to just stay calm, ignore the protests, and keep them on the treadmill until they chill out and realize no one is going to die. So, as expected, Kaline threw a fit when I first put him on, and gradually settled down. I helped him out by putting a foot on either side of him, on the rails, to keep him centered—he kept drifting to the right. After he calmed down and walked nicely on the treadmill a while, I let him get off and Juno got her turn. Kaline wouldn't take treats from me until all four paws were on the carpet again, funny little man.
He stood very close as Juno trotted along. She loves going on the treadmill now—trots along happily, tail waving about. Kaline whined when she first got on—"Dude, that thing's evil! Don't you know it's going to try and kill you?!"—and then realized, like I said, that nothing bad was happening. He sniffed all along the machine carefully, licked the near rail very thoroughly, and constantly checked in with Juno, who ignored him studiously.
Kaline's second time was easier. He got going a lot more smoothly, and gradually I started moving to one rail or the other, so he could figure out how to keep himself centered without a leg to lean on. When he was okay with that, I got all the way off the treadmill and stood on his right side. Slowly I moved around to the front, where I sit to supervise Juno. Actually sitting was not really in the cards, but I was able to stand in basically the same spot. And when he was finished, I convinced him to eat treats from me before he got off. Win.
The bad news: Kaline's still barfing. He has been getting 10 mg of Pepcid every night with dinner and we were clear for a few days. Then this morning he had a nothing-vomit, and then he brought up half his breakfast later. (And tried to eat it again. What a boy.) Perhaps we will be back at the vet on Monday. Argh.
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