Holiday Cleaning & The Ghetto Scat Mat

Ginko reigns as the undisputed sofa captain at Chez Champion of My Heart, but last week, in preparation for holiday guests, I washed and hung out the garage sale comforters that typically cover our furniture while Tom did a thorough upholstery cleaning. That meant our big boy suffered an entire day without piloting the love seat. Check out our ghetto scat mat (as Elayne at Days of Speed is fond of calling homemade solutions). Two words: Bubble Wrap

{photos missing from blog glitch. sorry}

Tom simply tipped the cushions up and covered the flat surface with bubble wrap. His thought? Big dog butts and pointy Ginko toes would pop the bubbles and make enough noise to keep him off for the day while everything dried.

Loyal readers know I’m not a fan of aversives in general, but it really did no harm. And, it worked, and even if a couple of bubbles popped (I didn’t hear any), it didn’t seem to freak Lilly out.

Me, however? Well, that’s a different story. Ginko paced. He whined. He fussed. He harumphed through the day like the worst doggy diva on the planet. He didn’t sleep a wink all day, and that’s saying something for a big dog who sleeps all the time. We had a rough day.

When things were finally dry, and after I returned the protective comforters, Ginko hopped up and sacked out for hours and hours. He looked so tired. I felt terrible, but a few times of year, we do enjoy seeing our furniture in its natural state.