Chew, Bite, Crash: That's a Lotta Dog

Original post date: Dec. 2008 I have to post this picture of the dog we're hosting for two weeks. He's sweet, but he is a handful! He chews any small item not tied down (socks and shoes are obviously favorites) and today I caught him gnawing at our oriental rug. So far he's destroyed my husband's iPhone earpiece and ripped down our curtains. I actually think it's hilarious. I have to admire his spunk.
This picture is one of the rare moments he stopped wandering around looking for things to chew on. At first, when he leapt up into the bay window, we told him, "No! Get down!" But when he kept getting up there, and staying still... well, we let it go. At least he's lying down; at first, he'd just stand there and look at us, like, "See me? See me? Yeah. I'm in the window." (Say that in a Stewie voice, from Family Guy.)

I obviously can't leave him unattended, which is a problem. Everything I do, every second of the day, has to take into account where he is. It limits my movement in the house, so it's taking me longer to get things done. And, having to keep all the bedroom doors shut is causing a heat imbalance.

He has a lot of energy, which he takes out on my dog. He chews on her ears, bites her ears, puts his jaws around her entire head, and leaps on her and bites her neck. I think he's just playing, and when he first got here, she barked and snarled and bit him back pretty impressively, but at this point, she is just defeated. She's older than him and can't match his athletic attacks; he's taken to flinging all 65 pounds of him at her, full force. She's 50 pounds, but she's mellow. She can't fight him off all day. We have to keep them separated because he won't leave her alone.

He's strong. He ran into me full force once, when we were chasing him down to retrieve something, and whoa. That's a lotta dog. I think it was by accident.

Oh- he also starts whining and yapping as soon as the sun comes up, so forget about sleeping in. Point in his favor: his energy makes it necessary to walk him at least once a day, so I'm getting exercise. I'll miss that when he's gone... in 8 days.