You've heard the old bad-cop-good-cop routine. Well, apply that to dogs, if you will. I have a 4-year-old Doberman bitch that couldn't be more perfect. Nova is so well-behaved and inobtrusive that when I'm invited to visit friends and family, they tell me to bring her along.And then there's Asterisk, my 7-month-old Boxer pup. For the past several days she has been trying my patience to the limit. If there is something to get into, she's gotten into it with a vengeance. A few days ago she flipped an entire bowl of kibbles with her foot, just like tiddly-winks, and shot kibble all over the kitchen floor. It was like someone dropped a bag of marbles. She has utterly destroyed her very expensive high density foam crate pad & cushy afghan I'd placed on top for extra comfort. That's the picture, above.
She knocked over a potted plant and it smashed to smithereens. Dirt and pottery bits all over the place. Then she had the audacity to steal the little plastic dish thing you put under plants to protect furniture (picture on left). She has chewed a piece of plywood into oblivion, leaving it hanging in strips. She has pulled the bark off a small decorative log I was using as plant stand on my deck. She is still not housebroken, and must be let out every 15-20 minutes or I'm cleaning up accidents.
My exasperation with her is at an all-time high. And just about the time I wonder why I thought it would be fun to own a puppy again, she comes into my bedroom where I'm working at my craft table, creating cards, and lies down at my feet, just to be near me. And my heart melts as she puts her chin on my foot and sighs happily.
Puppies. They're as bad as children.
5 comments:
Oh, but Asterisk has such a sweet face, and those cute floppy ears . . . you just wanna hug her. I'm thinking Nova is destined for sainthood, though.
Jacquie
Tell you what, Jacquie. I'll let you "borrow" Asterisk for a couple of days, and let's see how long you last. (evil grin) That sweet face and cute floppy ears hide a devious mind. In other words, she's all puppy. *g*
It took 9 months to housebreak our Boxer. We found we had to go about the whole process differently than our other dogs. We fussed when he had an accident and just got sneaky.
DD started rewarding him when he went outside and did his business with 10 minutes of big playtime. Took 3 days and he hasn't had an accident since (and we don't have to do big play time anymore :)
In my experience, the only "safe" puppy is an Exhausted Puppy - too tired to get up to mischief! We had to hault our golden retriever pup for at least a 3-mile walk every morning and another mile in the afternoon to keep her out of trouble.
Connie, I probably need to start doing that again--praising Asterisk for going outside. I did for a while, until she got the hang of it, but she still hasn't made the connection in her brain that you don't squat in the house.
Louisa, you're right--at her age, she needs lots of activity to wear herself out. The problem is, I throw her outside with Nova, and then forget about her for a few hours because I'm cleaning house or working for a client. Then, when I go to check on her, I discover she's gotten into trouble. Like the time she pulled the laundry off the clothesline and scattered it all over the yard. *g*
Post a Comment