The Chair

Everyone knows that Labs are notorious for chewing. We found that out the hard way. When Cody
was a puppy he "ate" a leather couch. He chewed a spot on every door frame inside our house. He destroyed an entire shelf of books. He ripped apart the chaise cushion from one of the outside lounge chairs. Anyone every seen the movie or read the book, "Marley and Me"? That's Cody. He's even the same color.

You would think after all that, I would have learned. But noooo...I thought by buying Cassie lots of toys and chew bones she would be satisfied. Of course, I bought two of everything so Cody would have some. Couldn't do that when he was a puppy because Candy would take them away from him. She just didn't want him to have anything. So, he found other things to chew on. Again, I digress.

Cassie seemed satisfied with her toys. She played and chewed like crazy...entertaining herself for hours. Then she started bringing them to me, but not letting go. I would take it from her, throw it, she would go get it. We did this for just a little while when she figured out letting it go meant I would throw it. So, she started dropping them in my lap. This is now a regular nightly routine.

Since she was so pleased with her toys, I decided to test the waters and I left her to roam the house with Cody while I went to the store. Since she was still rather young, about 6 months old, I closed the doggie door for fear of her getting in the pool and not being able to get out. I closed the doors to all the other rooms and off I went. I purposely wasn't gone long just to see how she would do.  I figured with Cody around and all her toys that she had enough to keep her busy until I returned. And, she did great...this time.  How foolish of me to think that would last!

To give context to this story, I must explain how spoiled my dogs are. They each have their own recliner...no, really, they do. We have 4 recliners: one for each of us and one for each of the dogs. That's where they nap during the day. They never get in our recliners, only in theirs. They're old recliners but they still look good. And I vacuum them regularly and cover them when we have company.

Since things had gone so well with a couple of short trips out, I decided to try one a little longer. Well, apparently, Cassie had a sense of how long I was gone and thought to herself, "I'm bored with my toys, what can I do to entertain myself?" Well, she had herself one big time! I returned home, entered from the garage, through the laundry room and proceeded down the hall toward the family room. As I was walking down the hall I noticed white and yellow bits of foam scattered on the floor like bread crumbs. As I got closer to the family room my heart started pounding faster and the bits of foam started getting bigger. I turned the corner...well, you can see from the picture what I saw! Cassie had pulled the footrest up on her chair; pulled and tugged her chair across the room rolling up the rug in the process;  tearing the fabric and foam off the footrest and ripping it all to shreds all over the room! What shocked me was how strong she had to be to accomplish all this! She was 6 months old and dragged the recliner across the room!

As she headed for the doggie door, I knew that she knew she was in trouble. Of course, the doggie door was closed! Gotcha! In my deep, loud voice, I yelled, "CASSIE! WHAT DID YOU DO? BAD GIRL! BAD GIRL!" Behind my  chair she went, head lowered, trying to hide, all the while peaking at me from around the chair as I cleaned up the mess!


Again, you would think I would have learned my lesson....but, again, noooo. I thought it was a one time thing. She was scolded, learned her lesson, and would never do it again. Wrong! Let's just say 3 times is the charm, as they say!  Yes, it took me 3 times and her ripping the fabric and foam off the footrests of her and Cody's recliners before I got the message!


Now, when I leave, she goes to "her room". The laundry room. It's at the end of the hall and leads to the garage. She has her pallet, toys and water. She didn't like it at first. But as I've said in earlier posts, she's one of the smartest dogs I've ever had. First time, I had to drag her, all the while telling her, "Sorry Cassie, mama has to go and you have to go to your room." The biscuit she got made it easier to accept once she got there. Second time, I only had to guide her while telling her she had to go to her room. The biscuit helped again. Third time, I only had to block her from going the other way down the hall while telling her to go to her room. Biscuits always help. Fourth time, before I got the words "Go to your room" out of my mouth, on her own, she headed down the hall and was in "her room" waiting for me! I know the anticipation of getting a biscuit helps, but I was amazed!  Still am! Four times and she knows that the laundry room is "her room" when I leave! And she's not a year old, yet!

Mischievous? Yes! But, SMART! Maybe a little too smart...show her something just a few times and she's got it! She also seems to have a knack for figuring things out all on her own.....sounds like another story, huh?