Nearing the end of our free pass

Remember that dog whose house manners I raved about? Yesterday she dragged the pillows to another room, ate the top off a tube of benadryl itch ointment (thankfully she didn't seem to chew the tube itself) and got the lid off a jar of salsa and took it into the office. I am glad we have wood floors. I'm also glad we decided to wait just a few more days before leaving her uncrated when we're gone. It could still be a heck of a lot worse, but I'm thinking the honeymoon may be over. The cats behavior has been amusing too. Initially, Fuu was a jerk, and Mickey couldn't care less, then about a week and a half in, Fuu decided to get over herself, but Mickey apparently realized that she *wasn't leaving* and decided to register his opinions on that matter. i.e. yowling at her and hissing. He's still doing it. On a better note, the walking continues to improve. She is almost to the point of a decent heel* without a constant stream of 'no' 'heel' 'no' 'heel' 'good' 'no' 'heel'... which is a darn good thing since I was starting to dread walks a bit. I'm not sure if there's a way to go from this to even less formal loose leash walking since I don't really care if she's right next to me, or if she pauses to sniff something then catches up, but it seems so far this is the only way to keep her from going straight to the end of the leash and pulling. It's not a big deal to keep her at heel, but it seems something else might be more pleasant for all parties. Or maybe it wouldn't She's starting to get the idea of stays and down. We need to come to firm up a decision on a release word. 'lets go' works for going out the door, or walking on leash, but doesn't make sense for regular old 'ok, you're done' I don't want to use 'ok' since that's soo common in conversation, I heard 'at ease' suggested and while it's amusing, it's awkward to actually use. Maybe I should try 'that'll do' like in Babe. I need to call and check on the obedience classes the shelter mentioned. I thought I would have heard from them by now, and can't 100% remember the date among all the other things I was remembering then. Fence should be done today, which will be good. *not an obedience-style heel, but a 'walk next to me' style heel.