Since Alex arrived four weeks ago, she and Smooch have been getting along great;

however, I never leave them together in the same room or the yard unless I am there

to supervise and separate them if I think Smooch needs a break.

Sometimes when I'm multi-tasking (puppysitting/listening to a book/drinking wine),

I keep Alex on a leash beside me so that I can be less vigilant...

...and also prevent the occasional sneak attack.

All of which is to say, even though Alex and Smooch are friends,

I don't yet trust them to be together without me around. In fact,

I may never trust them to be together without me around because I have issues. 

Maybe some day. Maybe not. We'll see.

On Tuesday, I had to go to town and couldn't take Alex with me.

 It would be my first time leaving her at home, and I spent considerable time

trying to figure out arrangements so that she would be comfortable,

yet confined and separate from Smooch, for the six or seven hours I'd be gone.

I decided the best place to leave Alex would be the sunroom.
I moved out all the chewables (pillows, wooden chair, rugs, etc.)

and moved in all her toys, a crate to sleep in if she desired, and bowl of water.
I adjusted the shades so she couldn't reach them.

I even moved the daybed away from the wall so she couldn't use it

as a ladder to grab stuff off the shelf behind it.

At 7:30 a.m., I put Alex in her new room, 

closing the doors that separate it from the rest of the house and Smooch,

and went to town, reasonably confident that all would be well upon my return,

with the likely exception of a puddle or two on the sunroom floor.

At 2 p.m., I drove into the garage, very glad to be home and anxious to see

how Alex had fared. I opened the door to the house.

Surprise!

There was Smooch and there was Alex, standing right next to her,

both wagging their tails and smiling.

Me: OMG! Smooch and Alex are alone together and both are still alive! 

Also me: OMG! Will my insurance cover all the damage I'm going to find?

 I ran from room to room taking inventory.

Three puddles in the sunroom and five more in various other rooms,

but that was the extent of the damage, and concrete floors can probably withstand 

a nuclear attack, so who cares?

Not a cabinet was opened, not a cord was chewed, and Smooch was no worse for wear.

How can I be so lucky? And so stupid? In all my preparations, I didn't consider that Alex

would be clever and strong enough to jump up onto the handle of the French doors and open them.

Another Lesson Learned the hard way.

I'll be replacing this handle with one that locks.

The more important lesson learned, though, is the one that
Alex and Smooch taught me – that I can trust them together.
Maybe. Sort of. I still have issues.
But I'm making progress. I'll post a video of it tomorrow.