Yes, dogs are still teething at seven months. Just ask Talos. Those are travel books. From the library.
I was away from the house several hours and gave the dogs just one food-stuffed toy each. As I left the house, I glanced quickly at the books on the living room table, but thought to myself "Nah, those books have been there all week. He won't even notice them."
Boy was I wrong. Apparently the books provided Talos with a chewing opportunity that was much better than the toy I left him with. Totally my fault, I'll accept the blame for this: I should have had the books out of his reach.
Both Tango and Talos are confined to the living room where (I thought) there wasn't any trouble to be found. Lily's crated in the kitchen and Nemo has free run of the kitchen. For a big dog, Nemo's not a counter surfer or trouble maker. Lily is crated because she's both a counter surfer and a trouble maker!
Clearly, I'd left Talos for too long without providing him enough entertainment. And those books were nice and thick and really felt good on his gums…
That’s a familiar sight! Before Haiku I had an Akbash with a fondness for paper, especially library books. Let me tell you…that gets expensive! Haiku has a fondness for the printed page too, but it’s mostly limited to nibbling on our books, which is way our bookshelves are usually covered with an ex pen. No wonder our friends think we’re weird!
That’s a familiar sight! Before Haiku I had an Akbash with a fondness for paper, especially library books. Let me tell you…that gets expensive! Haiku has a fondness for the printed page too, but it’s mostly limited to nibbling on our books, which is way our bookshelves are usually covered with an ex pen. No wonder our friends think we’re weird!
Oh Talos!!!
I’m curious why you don’t crate the younger dogs? Not critiquing your choices, just wondering why, given that you’re OK with crating Lilly? I’m 100% comfortable with crating, and think many dogs actually benefit from learning to love their crates, but probably 50% of my clients resist the concept, even when their dog has demonstrated they’re happy in the crate.
Hoping your answer to the above might help me better understand their motivations. Thanks!
Hi Dee, Talos is fine with the crate, but he’s outgrown it. We have Labs and he’s way to big for a Labrador crate. He just won’t fit! 🙂
I encourage my clients to crate, and I obviously crate (Lily would be dead without a crate – literally – but that’s another blog post). I strongly believe in crates and introduced Talos to his crate on Day 1. But he’s just too big now.
He will only be with us for another 8 – 12 months (poor us!) and he usually goes everywhere with us since he’s a service dog in training. The few instances he has to stay home, he’s been very good.
It was my fault – I left the books out at the prime chewing period. Stupid me!!
Beth, we make good use of gates in this house! Tango and Talos are gated in the family room. Nemo and Lily are gated in the kitchen.
Nemo is 100% good and could have free roam of the entire house.
Tango’s good, too, except in the kitchen. Lily’s no good anywhere and must be crated. Talos is, well, Talos, and could use a Dane-sized crate! 😉
LOl its ALWAYS the LIBRARY books….and not the stack of your books! LOL
My last trainee taught me to clear all surfaces, and floors before leaving. And than go back and triple check that!! I finally gave up and decided she couldn’t handle freedom while I was gone.
Hi Erin, thanks for the comment. Yes, that’s what happened to get Lily back in the crate on a permanent basis. Tango would be in a crate, too, if we had an open floor plan. Thankfully, I can contain him in the family room where there isn’t anything of interest (to him).
Several years ago, Lily had free roam of the kitchen. She managed to get the pantry door open and helped herself to 1/2 pound of raisins.
5 days in the emergency hospital (and several thousand dollars later) convinced me that a crate was the safest alternative for my way too smart dog. She loves (loves!) her crate and can very often be found napping there.
We may wind up buying a gigantic Dane crate if Talos continues in this manner. They’re just so big and we won’t be able to use it after he’s gone (too big for the Labs).
Oh, I love crates! Wouldn’t your adult labs be able to use a dane sized crate though? I put my pups in the biggest crate I have to keep them contained (when necessary) once they’re reliably potty trained. Maybe if you have to get a gigantic crate for Talos it can be Lilly’s 😉 We all make mistakes in puppy raising and have “Doh!” moments! Thanks for sharing yours with all us amatuers, makes us not feel so bad 😀