Things our pandemic puppy has eaten
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Anonymous
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Like many people, our kids had been lobby for a dog for years. Last May, two months into the pandemic lockdown, we finally brought home a puppy, a mix between a golden and a labradoodle. He is a great family dog, and we all absolutely adore him. We walk him, train him, feed him - we really try to be good dog owners. But there is one area where he is totally awful. When he turned one last week, we sat down as a family and made a list of everything he has eaten that he wasn't supposed to eat.
6 Socks (that we know of, three trips to the vet for this) 1 Rug (only about 6 inches into the corner, but it was previously a very beautiful rug) 1 will (that my husband was helping to execute) at least two Latex gloves 1 N-95 and several cotton masks $7500 check (from client) 3 remote controls 3+ computer or charging cables 3 christmas ornaments (wood or hard plastic, not glass) 1 couch corner (I wanted to replace it anyways) 4 dining room chair legs (of four separate chairs, of course. just ate a few inches off a wood leg, not the whole chair) 1 bathing suit (small child sized, trip to the vet for this one too) 2 headphones (just the soft ear parts, not the part that goes over your head) 1 entire pepperoni and sausage pizza (including part of box) 1 door dash order from gringos and mariachis (including boxes, left plastic tubs of salsa untouched) 2 plates of christmas cookies roll of unused dog poop bags 1/4 of his leash the door latch on his kennel 3 pairs of really nice shoes and probably 6 others (mostly chewed, not totally eaten) Probably 1/3 of the cat s($* that our cat has produced this year (we now clean the box immediately) dozens of ear plugs and hair ties 1 toothbrush (kid sized, with timer) several homework assignments 1/2 of my sons birthday ice cream cake 1 pound butter (including most of the paper) 1 package hot dogs (including plastic) I'm sure there's more. Oddly, he does not eat his own toys - just our stuff. And yes, we are working with the trainer and the vet. We've stopped leaving anything out and pick up dishes/food orders/books/etc right away now. But we have three kids and a lot of shoes/hair ties/birthday cupcakes in the house and it's hard to be perfect. He's so sneaky and fast that he can open drawers or go from innocently sitting at your feet to downing a plate of cookies left on the kitchen counter in about two seconds flat. Anyone else having this kind of fun with a pandemic puppy? |
Anonymous
| Stop leaving those things around and supervise better. |
Anonymous
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Ouch. I'm cringing at all of the vet bills and hassle. I'm glad they haven't eaten something that has killed them-yet.
It sounds like you could really use a puppy pen or maybe just use a child gate to block them off into a puppy-safe zone. |
Anonymous
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Wooo boy that is hilarious. Thank god that is not us.
We also have a pandemic puppy. Have never had a puppy before - usually we go for young rescue dogs. Ours is a terrier, so destruction on a massive scale is not happening. Puppy has finally figured out that she can, indeed, walk down the basement stairs, so cat litter is now in play. UUUGGGHHHH. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
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This is your fault. Get your shit off the floor, train your kids not to leave things out or on the floor, and train him to not jump up. Put childproof locks on drawers if you need to.
This is not funny. This is unhealthy for your dog. |
Anonymous
| Train your three kids to stop leaving stuff on the edge of counters, etc. Our 9yo has grown up with a dog and has always known never to leave stuff where dog can get to it (although our dog isn't a lab mix and isn't the type to eat everything). How old are your kids? |
Anonymous
| OP here. Yes, we are containing him when we can't watch every move. (He did eat his way out of his first kennel). And we have locking trash cans, laundry bins, etc now, and we don't leave things on our desks or bathroom counters anymore. It's definitely getting better - both our attention to detail and his temperament - but it cracked me up to think through the whole list. Vet and trainer both assure us that he has seen far worse, for what it's worth. We have hope that year two will be smoother. |
Anonymous
This list would not crack me up. I would be very worried if my dog ate this much stuff (he hasn't eaten anything in 10 years--we're sticklers about keeping stuff out of reach, but also don't have as many kids). |
Anonymous
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Yes, our puppy. A bag of potato chips, a couple of cords, magnet of a picture, 3 pairs of shoes, socks, several stuffed animals and many more I can't think of. He just destroys them, doesn't ingest that we know of. He also chewed up the corners of a wooden crate. We now close up the doors of rooms so that he is never unsupervised except in rooms where there is nothing he can reach. He seems to be getting better as he gets older.
He's good with not stealing food but someone (that would be me) left them unattended on the sofa for approximately 3 minutes. We do our best but in our case it means he isn't getting enough exercise. We have work/school so we resorted to daycare a few days of week. He's calmer the next day. |
Anonymous
| Just wait until you all go back to work and school. That dog’s separation anxiety will be through the roof and a lot more will be destroyed. |
Anonymous
This. A trainer once told us that 80% of dog behavioral problems is due to lack of exercise. We made sure to exercise our dog a TON in the early years, and haven't had any chewing problems. |
Anonymous
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Wow! To all those saying to contain better... we're in a similar boat but our puppy can reach almost every part of our kitchen counters, can jump gates, and can open drawers. We have very few places we can stash things anymore. We do eyes on her at all times but it is hard with trying to work, especially with lots of meetings.
OP, for all those vet visits -- were the objects surgically removed? |
Anonymous
| OP here again. At this point, he gets a run with my husband and a long walk with me and a kid every day, as well as a trip to the dog park, a playdate with a dog buddy, or doggy daycare every day, so I don't think exercise if the issue. I totally agree that return to work is going to be an issue. We're trying to address everything we can before then, and make a point to leave him alone and leave the house regularly (limited area), even if only to walk around the block without him so that he has some time to get used to being alone. |
Anonymous
+1 A good dog is a tired dog. I opened this expecting to laugh a commiserate a bit. We have a Rottweiler puppy (now 14 months old). They are notorious chewers with very strong jaws--can chew/eat anything. Your list OP, is nuts. We've gone through two remote controls and a few plates of food we (my kids) left on the coffee table. A sock here or there. The dog is exercised a lot, and also was contained prior to learning to leave things alone that don't belong to her. Maybe a wire crate would work for yours? And more exercise? That's a scary long list of things the dog ate. GL |