Heart Like a Dog

The Good, the Bad, and the Oh My God of living with dogs!

Chewer or Tearer Upper?….Day Three Hundred, Sixty Five

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Sampson wasn’t much of a chewer when he was a puppy, mostly he chewed on his own toys.  If I CAUGHT him chewing something he shouldn’t, I would tell him “No” and give him a toy that he was allowed to chew.

One time I caught him plucking at the loveseat, but he stopped when I refocused his attention on a toy.  He never touched that loveseat again, except to lie on it.

He did have a tendency however to chew wood.  I had to use bitter apple on my antique coat rack in order to deter him, though truth be told I didn’t really care that he had chewed it, because it needed to be refinished anyway.

There was one time though that I came home to find he had chewed the end of the foot rest on the breakfast bar.  I was scared to death to tell Hubby, because I was afraid he would want to punish Sampson.  Imagine my surprise when I told Hubby and he laughed and said, “I didn’t like it anyway.” 🙂  We took that foot rest off and threw it away.

Sampson was never much of a counter surfer either.  If memory serves me he only went on the counter once when there was some steak up there, but we were going to give it to him anyway.

Oh and butter, he would go up on the counter for butter as often as he had the chance.  In fact, he loves butter so much, that my sister calls him, “Butter.”  And he answers to it.

It’s fairly easy to puppy proof your house when the puppy stands about 10 inches tall and is easily redirected.

It is quite another when the ‘puppy’ is 75 pounds and her head just about comes to your waist.

Delilah is not so much a chewer as she is a tearer upper.

I’ve been giving lots of thoughts to why she tears things up, and I don’t believe she’s stressed.  Nor do I think she’s suffering from separation anxiety.  And she’s certainly not doing it out of spite.

I think she MAY  be bored, but it is more likely she is looking for food.  Most of the items she has chewed have or had food in them. I was reminded of this when I used my 1/3 measuring cup this evening and saw all her bite marks.

She certainly keeps me on my toes about putting things away, because I can be quite lazy at housekeeping sometimes, then there are times when I think I have picked everything up and lo and behold she finds something.

What do you do?  Do you have a chewer, or a tearer upper?  How do you handle this issue?  What creative methods have you used to deter your little tearer?

Communicating Part 2….Day Three Hundred, Sixty Four

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About a month ago I read a post called Friday Fun With Phraseology at Rescued Insanity. 

Kristine was sharing phrases her dog Shiva has picked up such as “Ahem” (Hellooo I’m waiting.)   Kristine asked if her reader’s dogs had picked up any words they hadn’t been specifically taught. 

At that time I commented with “Sometimes I just say, “Eh.” Other times I suck in my breath and make a little “huh” sound; this would be your version of “Ahem.” Lately I just throw my hands up in the air in frustration and look at her and Delilah sits.”

Tonight I discovered that Sampson and Delilah have picked up some words I wasn’t aware of.

First I have a confession.

I love video games.  I get in phases where I play video games, a lot.  Lately Hubby and  I have been playing Donkey Kong Country on the Wii, (something about the Holidays that just scream video games to me.)  In this video game there is a little pig stationed in various places in each level.  When you reach the little pig (I call him Porky) he waves a flag, this is a check point in the level so if you die and you still have more lives you can start from that point.

Tonight while dinner was cooking Hubby and I snuck in a few minutes on the game.  We were at a particularly hard screen and I had just commented to Hubby how I wished we could get to Porky while we still had some lives left, and then I made it to Porky and I said, “Well look who’s here.” 

And both dogs jumped up and rushed to the door, and stood there tails wagging, patiently waiting for the non-existent visitor.

The moral of this story is your dogs are learning, even if you think they aren’t. 😉

 

When She Is Good…..Day Three Hundred, Sixty Three

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There was a little girl who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead.

When she was good, she was very, very good, and when she was bad she was horrid.

That’s how I feel about Delilah, like there is no in-between, she is either good or she is bad.

There is no gray, she is either black or she is white. (Stop it, I know she’s chocolate.)

I mean figuratively speaking of course.

Tonight for instance, I didn’t get the opportunity to come home at lunch and take them for a quick walk, so it would have to be a quick around the block after dinner.

I started dinner, but knowing Delilah’s penchant for sticking her face into a pot of pasta water, I covered it and went into the living room, and still the distinct sound of slurping resonated from the kitchen.

Yes, she decided she would drink the dirty dish water from the kitchen sink.

Then after dinner I dropped the container of pumpkin and it spilled all over the bottom of the refrigerator. Since it’s being used for the dogs, I scooped up the bulk of it and plopped it back in the container.  Delilah came over to see what had fallen.

 “Out” I stated firmly and pointed with my left hand.

She tried to lick the pumpkin off.

Flash forward to our walk when she practically ripped my arm out of its socket trying to get to the dog on the other side of the road and just a few minutes ago she practically tore poor little Bob up just for coming up on the bed.

And then five minutes later, there she is sleepily resting her head upon my knee while I write my blog.

When she is good, she is very, very good and when she is bad….well she is horrid.

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