We figured it would best to start with baby steps. Leave them out for an hour or so while we ran to the grocery store. Leave them out on Sunday mornings while we went to church. Over the past few months, the amount of time they are left alone and out of their crates has expanded greatly.
We learned early on that one of them did not like it when we left magazines in the magazine rack. It never failed, if an US Weekly or Carolina Country was left in the magazine rack, it would be shredded across the house when we returned home.
But in all honesty, I could handle that. We learned not to leave magazines in the magazine rack. And more importantly - they *never* touched any of the books/DVD's/candles/piture frames/etc anywhere else in the livingroom - in particular, our entertainment center that houses tons of stuff. They never messed with any of value, so I could handle a shredded magazine every once and a while.
Saturday we Steven and I were gone all day. It was the longest amount of time the dogs had been left on their own and I really didn't think a thing of it....
Until we walked in the door and found DVD's and books shredded in the livingroom floor.
At which point - I went through.the.roof!
Bauer immediately ran to the back door. Dixie took off to the office trying to hide from my fury. Steven had to wrangle them both into the kitchen so we could have a little chat about their poor behavior. It looked a little something like this....
Ears back - tails tucked.
You can see that Bauer is genuinely sorry.
Dixie has a more defiant resolve that she did absolutely nothing wrong.
Telling Daddy how oh so sorry they are.
Steven forgave them almost immediately and things returned to normal between Daddy and the pups. I on the other hand held a slight grudge and refused to acknowledge either of them for a bit. Yet another sign that I will be a complete failure as a mother.
I must admit, they did look awfully cute and pitiful with their sad "please don't be mad" eyes. Maybe next time they will think twice before shredding my Twilight DVD!
26 comments:
Oh no!!! I'm so sorry!!!! That's terrible!! So funny that you say that because me and my husband just last week started letting our dog stay in the living room/kitchen area during the day while we are at work too!! I got to thinking about how terrible it would be if the house caught on fire and she was locked in her crate! :( She hasn't done anything bad at all yet so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!! Are you going to try again with them?
haha! this makes me feel so much better because i TOTALLY hold a grudge when my dogs are fresh. I think starting with baby steps is the best way to go - thats worked best with all of our dogs.
What is it with dogs??? Ours shredded a mattress and pillow top on the bed last week! Then they try to blame each other. I definitely hold a grudge, even though they look at me with sad eyes and then hope I forget.
Our household is the same way, my hubby totally forgives our dogs before I do, it's so funny. If they make me mad I make them pout for a bit.
Oh my goodness... we just went through the exact same thing! I felt so bad leaving Charley in his "house" (as we call it) that, just like you, we slowly started letting him be in the living room/kitchen area while we were gone. He was doing great, so I figured we'd let him stay out while we were gone for nearly 6 hours one day. When I opened the door, he was sitting at the top of the stairs with a shredded magazine in his mouth (which, like you, I was okay with). As soon as I turned the corner, I found remnants of 4 DVD's, a hardback LSAT prep book, his crate bed, and a surge protector (which thankfully did not electrocute him!). Needless to say, that was his last time being home alone with free range. Whew! He was so cute though that I just couldn't help but laugh... sometimes that's the best option! :)
Oh goodness I would have been so upset.. Mine and B's dog chewed a brand new chair up that I had just bought we had to throw it away because the leg was literally hanging off.
That sucks! My Cocker Spaniel used to love to eat the crotch out of panties, her favorites were my mom's Victoria's Secret ones :)... you know, the expensive ones :) She had expensive tastes :) haha. But that picture of them in your kitchen is so dang cute!
Awww, I'm sorry about the books and dvds that were ruined!! I can't help but say, "awwww" in totally different way when looking at your dogs!
Oh my goodness! Sorry to hear that! They do look terribly sorry though :( With their ears back, so cute.
Thankfully, Snuggles doesn't get into ANYTHING and she's left home alone all day. I think she just sleeps the day away haha.
When I was younger though, my family had a german sheppard/chow mix and we came home, and he had destroyed my mom's entire collection of make-up, hair things, etc. He had gotten into the closet where she kept it and went to town! The bathroom floor was stained lol. Dogs will be dogs!
oh no! dogs mess up the craziest things!
Oh dear! Those naughty dogs! I had a bit of an "I'm not talking to you" moment (well a day or so) w/ our pooch after some particularly naughty behavior.- Hope your two have repented and all is well in the Rozina household now :-)
Oh, they *know* they're in trouble!!
Oh my goodness, that's awful about your books and dvds! Max did something like that when he was a puppy once and I was livid, haha!
Those pics crack me up though : )
Oh my goodness, that's awful about your books and dvds! Max did something like that when he was a puppy once and I was livid, haha!
Those pics crack me up though : )
OMG! I grew up with boxers and I just fell in love with yours-too cute!!! Sorry to hear about that...ours do that same sort of thing but its so hard to be mad at them.
That makes me feel better that you're just now starting to leave them out of their crates...we started uncrating ours a few months ago and have come back 3 separate times to chewed walls and a chewed through kitchen floor. I thought ours were complete failures but we've only had them about 5 months :)
Those pictures, of them next to each other getting in trouble, hilarious! I mean, given the situation not really,but still, how could you be mad with faces like those. Equally funny is how mad you were and you were able to grab a camera and capture the moment, a true blogger indeed. =)
Oh yes- the trusted pups who then destroy! lets see mine have eaten dvds (the actual thing), books, shoes, makeup and the grand of them all- my master bedroom suite! Gotta love em!
Oh my gosh your puppies are so adorable! That sounds like something my little Yorkie and my boyfriend's lab/bulldog mix would do! Oh, and yes, Ty is a HUGE Alabama fan! I, on the other hand, am a Florida girl all the way. It gets interesting around here during football season!
The best punishment in the world is not paying them attention after they have misbehaved. When we first got our little rat terrior, she would snap at Cam. In the kennel she would go with a sharp "bad girl" and I would put Cam on my lap and just hug and love on him. She quit snapping at him quickly!
Works on kids too....Send Cam to his room and keep your mad face for a bit, and he is full of "I'm sorry Mommy" "I won't do it again" "Please don't be mad mommy"
Works better than any other punishment!
Sorry about your DVD, and books. At least it was something you can replace, not like wedding pictures or unique frames! (looking at the bright side)
Aw man! Bad doggies! But I can't help but giggle at their super cute faces when being punished. So funny for you to capture the moment! I know it sounds a bit ridiculous, but I've been having to train my cat. His particular breed is super smart and they're almost like dogs. With that comes super curiosity and wanting to get into everything. The spray bottle is helping so far!! Oh, and the breeder where we got Dexter from also bred boxers! We took a look at a few of them and they are so cute/sweet. Definitely one of our first choices when we have enough space for a dog!!
Thanks so much for stopping by! I absolutely love your blog as well and your sweet fur babies remind me a lot of my Lexi (she's 1/2 boxer 1/2 pit bull and gets herself into a lot of trouble just like yours do, but she's ohsocute so she's quickly forgiven as I'm sure yours are)!
Oh my gosh the pictures make me laugh so hard.
Thanks for stopping by my blog!! Such cuties you have!! It's hard not to get upset with our doggies - especially when they leave messes for us to clean up! ughh
Oh my, LOL! And I SO recognise that "ears back, huge sad eyes looking sheepish and sorry" expression!!!
bahahaha I had to laugh at that picture because that's pretty much the way Ruger is when he's in trouble!
And my husband and I are exactly like you guys -- he will forgive so easily while I tend to hold a grudge and ignore Ruger's existence for a little while. I'll probably suck as a mom too -- we can be in a club together to support each other lol =)
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