Or in this case, the kid's fundraiser they're doing right now for karate. GGGRRRRR I'm SO mad at that dog. I am cooling off (after he spent about 20 minutes outside so I wouldn't beat him!--jk, I'd never hit him but BOY do I want to sometimes!). He was home alone for about 30 minutes while I took kids to school. We make sure things are put up, but he sometimes pulls things off the breakfast bar if something's too close to the edge. Last week he shredded a paperback book Robin had just gotten from a book order. A week before that it was a board book. He's shredded newspapers before when dh left him on our bed to take a shower! SO, after talking to dh on the phone this morning, little Lucky won't be so lucky anymore when we're gone. I've got his kennel out and he'll be confined instead of having free roam of the main level. He hates his kennel, but I'm not dealing with this anymore! Thankfully he didn't shred any checks, but I did have to tape a $10 and a $20 back together. Randy will need a new order form, but that's not a big deal. Ugh. Thanx for letting me vent. Lucky's laying in the dining room eyeballing the kennel. He knows...

By Kaye on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 12:59 pm:

My dog has a liking for school work. She get s the breakfast room to roam while we are gone, and we empty the bar. But about once a month my kids have to test out her ability to smell lead and leave something out...ugh...i love my dog, really i do..lol

By Amy~moderator on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 01:53 pm:

Ohh, that's terrible. I would be furious. See, that's why I can't have a puppy dog. I don't have the patience to train. I have 6 cats now, and am thoroughly happy, lol. But, I think the pup should be confined to the crate for now, until you can come up with a way to keep him from shredding paper.

By Missmudd on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 03:30 pm:

I actually did have a dog eat my homework, I brought the slobbered on chewed on binder w/ the evidence to school so that I could get an extension for the project. My teacher told me that either the dog had indeed eaten my homework or that I had used enough brains to make it LOOK like the dog had done it so he allowed the extension

By Cat on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 05:19 pm:

Well we need a bigger kennel. This one works, but he can barely turn around in it. Dh is going to check on a bigger one on his way home. Lucky's a smart dog. When we had out Husky/Wolf hybrid she was kennel trained, so all we had to do was say, "Nakita, Kennel" and she'd go without argument. Lucky can learn. Maybe someday we can leave him out again, but for now this will have to do. I'm really tired of him destroying things. He'll be a year old the 25th. I guess we've got about another year of this "puppy stage" left.

By Tink on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 07:06 pm:

Ditto Amy. I do NOT have the patience for a dog right now! My cats keep me more than happy and I'm not sure I could have refrained from smacking the dog just once. Luckily, the cats hide when they've done something they know not to do.

I'm glad that nothing irreperable was destroyed but I can see why you were so frustrated. Schnauzers are very smart so he'll learn but until then....ugh!

By Dawnk777 on Wednesday, March 16, 2005 - 10:20 pm:

I'm so glad Jasmine doesn't wreck stuff. She isn't even bothering the Girl Scout cookie boxes that are still on the floor in Emily's room.

We crate her when we are gone. Otherwise, she has free reign of the house. Sometimes, I leave her out, when we are only gone a short time. She has been fine. We say Jasmine Crate and she goes right in. She spends a lot of time in her crate, by her own choice. It's a cozy place.

By Heaventree on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 10:56 am:

The kennel is a good idea, sounds like your pup may have some seperation anxiety if he's only doing this while you're away.

Our pooch is two and still has problems sometimes, especially now that I'm at home with her all day. If I leave her basket out that has all her leases in it I usually find her seatbelt and lease on the floor when I get home. Poor thing, it's like she saying "Wait - take me with you please!"

Good luck I know they can be frustrating creatures at times, but try to be consist with the kennel for a few months and then slowing start with a little bit of freedom and see how he does.

By Cat on Thursday, March 17, 2005 - 02:44 pm:

I put him in it this morning while we went to playgroup (gone 2 1/2 hours). He really didn't want to go, but didn't fight me as much as yesterday. I think he'll learn quickly. Shoot, this is the dog that goes to the bathroom on command (different words for #1 and #2!) so I think "Lucky, Kennel" will be easy for him! lol He was much calmer when we got home, too.