Dexter is now 8months old... he sleeps without a kennel, but when we leave the house he usually stays inside his kennel during those hours. We have been doing our best to work him out of the kennel completely. Our other dog, Kodi - 8 years old - does not use a kennel. We let him chill in our bedroom or wherever he likes while we're away from the house. So our desire is to have Dexter do the same.
A couple days ago we left Dex out of his kennel while we ran a few errands. We were gone for about 2 hours. We came home to find everything still in it's place, minus a piece of paper Dex got hold of - but that's small potatoes.
So today we attempted to leave Dexter kennel free during our church outing. We left at 920am, went to Sunday School, Church, lunch and a quick visit to South Campus to finish off a couple details about the Men's Soccer Team Equipment. We were home by 2:30pm... so Dexter had 5 hours of testing time. On our way home we were optimistic but still realistic about what we would possibly find on our return home.
The result was far worse then a I imagined.
See below:
One image is torn up carpet. Yep. We have carpet (old, nasty carpet, nonetheless, but it's still there) in between our kitchen and bathroom... Dexter devoured it. The second image is what hurt the most... this is what is left of my pillow case. My Hotel Collection pillow case! Not Kelly's side... nope he took on Mom's pillow case. Thankfully the pillow itself was left in tack, he just somehow took the pillow case to town, while it was still on the pillow.
Here you see a picture of our back living room coffee table. The dog chewed it raw. What the heck!? And the final picture is where I put Dexter after giving him a "telling to"... he knew mom was upset.
I find myself being overly disappointed and also a little heart broken. It hurt so much to discipline him so, but MAN did he deserve it! What a little punk he was during our absence! I guess the most disappointing part is the feeling of: "Will we ever be able to leave him out alone like Kodi? Will we ever get rid of using a kennel?"
Ahhh, the joys of puppy ownership.
8 comments:
I guess you shouldn't have named him after the Showtime series. That guy likes carving up people, so it's only natural that your dog does to.
Oh My goodness.. the pics say it all!
Oh I feel your pain. Keiko used to do that to the baseboards.
She tried that on the carpet but we caught her before she got too far. Sounds like Dex has some separation anxiety.
Seriously Britt, that could be it, "seperation anxiety"! I have never met a more affectionate dog. He always wants to be all up in my grill, and not to mention when it's bed time, he has to get 10min of full on cuddling in: laying on me with his head laid right under my neck, before he'll go laydown on his own bed next to ours.
Reminds me of a dog aTerri and I once had. (highlight once). That dog ate the carpet, the mattress and a window sill in our old spare bedroom. A couple days later, the owner of the dog's mother came by and said that our pup's mother had died and wanted to know if we would consider giving her pup (our dog) back. The YES!! answer was given within a heartbeat.
So remember that 1) the dog is still a pup and will probably grow out of it, 2) Your pup's mother might die soon and you will be given a guilt-free opportunity to unadopt, or 3) All dogs have things they do better that others. Your dog's strength seems to be the ability to recycle food until all nutrients are removed. This strength can be leveraged when you and Kelly take trips. Just fill the food bowl and let the recycling commence. love, uFrank
So of course I am a nerd and I read " Dog Training for Dummies " when I got Bailey, but it really helped. I kennel trained him for 2 years bc they suggest that to get through your puppy stages. It is partly normal for them to chew becasue thats how they are in the wild - and they get their new teeth in. The separation anxiety is the other reason. Bailey actually still does this ( shred paper out of the trash) if we leave him alone for too long.
Our babies get spoiled by us :)
You're not a dork Tabitha. Just a good momma that does extra research. Thank you for the reassurance! I often forget that things with puppies TAKE TIME!
Tab,
I think I can speak for Mike when I say that you are a nerd.
Trust me...I'm married to one as well.
We know them when we see them.
- The guy that married a nerd
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