If your Dog is exhibiting odd behavior, there is almost always a good reason.

My first dog was a Newfoundland/Golden Retriever Mix named Sport. We adopted him when I was four years old. He was the SWEETEST and smartest dog I have ever known and everyone who ever knew him says the same. Best Dog Ever though he may have been, he definitely had his weaker moments - eating the garbage, getting stuck in the neighbor's beloved pear tree after chasing a squirrel up into it, chewing the legs on one particular kitchen chair, and one or two sneaky bad habits. My dad always left first for work and came home first, so he assumed that my mother put away the butter on the kitchen table before she left and she assumed that he put it away when he got home. We went through a lot of butter, and no one in the family was the wiser. One day my mom came home early and Sporty was STANDING on the kitchen table having just finished that day's stick. Admittedly this was after I stole a stick of butter myself when we first adopted him and hid behind the Lazy Boy in the living room sharing it with him. I guess I got him addicted. Not leaving food on the counter is easy enough to figure out as an owner of a young dog, but butter is a CONDIMENT and less obvious as a dog target.

We inherited a lot of antique furniture from my grandparents and one very tragic day Sporty tore through the seat cushion of an antique sofa, ripped all the stuffing out, and continued to try to tear through the bottom. My mom assumed this was your typical anxious bad dog left home alone behavior, and he was punished accordingly. The next day he did the EXACT same thing - or at least he tore through what sad repairs my mother was able to make. A quick look under the sofa showed that his favorite frisbee was stuck behind it. I had been telling him the afternoon before that I wanted him to go get his frisbee so that we could play with it outside. Being only six-ish years old, after he didn't find the frisbee in the first 30 seconds, I forgot I'd even asked the question. He did not. And after he got his frisbee, he never went near that sofa again.

Maisy has been licking the floor in front of my stove for the last few days, and today it because a bit of an obsession. I figured whatever I spilled there must have tasted REALLY good, and was a little surprised that it hadn't all been cleaned up by her, yet. I sat down on the floor to try to distract her and play with her but she pushed my hand away and then started CLAWING at my marble floor in front of the stove. Obviously, at this point an investigation must be made. One of her extra special Scooby Snacks was stuck just about an inch under the front of the stove.

Moral of the story? If you give your dog a command (take it, here eat this, go find that frisbee), make sure you follow through, because the dog may keep trying even if you don't. And keep your butter in the fridge with the other condiments.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

thanks for the call out haha. still a fat though :P