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Acts of Dog and other disasters.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012
(Don't forget about the contest!)

We always joke that in our house we don't have acts of God, we have acts of Dog. Everything from destroyed linoleum and walls (yes, walls) to the minor, everyday stuff like chewed computer cables. Scudder, our oldest male black Lab was the linoleum destroyer in his puppy-hood. He also ate the handles off several pairs of kitchen shears and is a counter-cruiser extrordinaire. When my son was in diapers, he snarfed several dirty ones here and there.

Apache, our goldador mix, is another counter-cruiser.

Bubbles, our bulldog whom we lost last year to cancer, destroyed part of a kitchen wall, pulled down blinds, and shredded more than one pillow in her day. Among other things.

Gidget, my little one, was the cord chewer, and even one time dragged Christmas ornaments, hangers, and lights into her crate in an attempt to decorate.

I have so many stories that I can't even remember them all. Fortunately, with the exception of the occasional counter cruising that's as much our fault for leaving something out, our dogs have outgrown the worst of their ways. It's kind of nice.

Well, Grimmy the kitten is still in cord-chewing phase, but he's a kitten, and he gets a pass. For now.

Now, I have a new nemesis. BW, the old cat I inherited from my grandparents, has decided that he is bound and determined that my bounce ball chair (that I use as my desk chair) is a scratching post. Yes, I trim his nails. (No, I'm not getting him declawed.)

(You can also see him on my Facebook profile, he's in the banner pic of my desk.)

Yesterday, he punctured the THIRD balance ball. Grrr. I order them from Gaiam.com (they have nice colors and it's where I got the chair from in the first place) and despite them being burst-proof, apparently they're not BW-proof.

So today, Hubby and I went down to Sports Authority and picked up a *blech* grey one and I once again have a chair. This time, I trimmed his front and back claws down and wrapped a sheet around the ball as well as draped a towel over it. Hopefully, that'll put an end to it. (Yes, he has more than one scratching post that he usually uses within three feet of my chair. LOL)

So my question today, dear blog readers, is do you have any good stories (you, family, friends, anywhere is fine) of acts of dog/cat in your household? Let's hear about it. :)

(Don't forget to add your comment sooner rather than later for a chance to win!)

23 reader comments:

  1. SheriV said...:

    Oh my. I have so many stories. TK (my old Australian Shepherd) likes to get into the trash, that's his bad behavior. Which really isn't that bad and he's a counter cruiser too but usually with help of the cats. Gray my youngest fat cat likes to head butt you and scratch the bathroom door if you don't turn on the faucet for him. My favorite thing with TK is his quest to play fetch and never able to actually catch the ball. His newest cute thing is if my newborn son is crying he must investigate and give kisses. :)

  1. My one and half year old, St. Bernard mix Zeke has chewed up part of the railing on the front deck, the carpet in my bedroom, the foot of an expensive entertainment center, one of the lenses off my camera, the mattress on my bed, and who knows what else. I understand all about Acts of Dog.

  1. Ratatosk said...:

    Several years ago we adopted a basset hound from the humane society and he would grab things off the counter -- entire loaves of bread would disappear. Chewed on cords, carpet, wood trim... He also would open up the cupboards while we were out and help himself to cotton balls, toilet paper. The yellow cake mix consumed in the middle of our bed was a nightmare and led to our installing childproof latches on all cupboards.

    But his shining moment happened when he was only a few years old. We were in the middle of refinishing our hardwood floors and I was horrified to find him drinking Polyurethane from a paint pan! Called the vet, who advised us to make him vomit. So we hauled him into our lower level bathroom and my husband poured peroxide down his gullet. The dog emptied his stomach and was perfectly fine. But apparently held a major grudge because for weeks afterwards, anytime I entered a room, he'd turn his back on me, as if to say "you are DEAD to me"! :) Liza

  1. Bobbie B said...:

    We had a pitbull that chewed up a pair of my glasses while I was in the tub. Our beagal/chihuahua mix, Peanut, likes to steal anything from my neighbors and drag it across the yards and chew on it. Toys, clothes, you name it. I have a hoarder dog. LOL My cats sit on both sides of our porch, looking in the house, meowing like they don't have the better part of a 7lb bag of food out. LOL

  1. SusieJ said...:

    Max, our lab/collie cross is a cat chaser - he's never caught one yet but has had his nose scratched several times. He loves playing fetch but at nearly 10 he still hasn't mastered the fetch bit. He'll retrieve and bring the ball but you have to chase him to get it back - he thinks it fun! One way of getting exercise I suppose! xx

  1. Pat said...:

    Gert, our lab mix, is a chow hound (chow the food, not chow the dog type). One evening i put a huge bowl of leftover chili at the back of the counter to cool (by the way, the bowl did have a lid on it).

    I was in the next room on the pc when I heard something that sounded like licking. Gert was on her hind legs, front paws on the counter with the chii bowl pulled over to her, the lid off. She was definitely enjoying her chance to eat the still hot chili.

    She managed to eat about three quarters of the leftovers before I intervened. Fortunately she has a pretty darn cast iron stomach so all the beans and chili powder didn't phase her a bit - lol

  1. Kimberly said...:

    Oh I have so so so many stories. We have 2 dogs that like to claw the crap out of our wall so much there is now a doggy sized hole there. Then we have 4 kittens, and they will chew anything in they're path, even stuff that isn't in they're path. I have had kittens literally stuck under my bathroom door, because there is a nice gap between the floor and the start of the door, they think they can pull that forever, and have to learn the hard way.
    My back yard looks like it was bombed in a war or something as we have a digger dog...gah....I could go on forever.LOL

  1. TTN said...:

    The kids' dog likes chocolates. Too much. If left alone in the house, he'll find all the chocolates in the house. We would come home to a messy house full of wrappings. Can't he at least clean up the mess and put away the trash? (oh, while he's learning to do that, put "potty-train" on the list)

  1. sarenan said...:

    I went to my parents house to meet their new puppy who got a hold of my glasses and destroyed them. I had to drive two hours, at night, with my perscription sun glasses so I would have some chance of seeing. When I finally got home my two cats let me know I was the worst cat mom ever for cheating on them with a dog.

  1. Jilly the masked Bean said...:

    Growing up I had two scotties. Bayley (the older of the two) would go through the house and steal one per person and hide them. He also ripped up carpet, stole raw veggies, ate wood and more than one bowl of sugar.

    Parker would eat ice cream, but yet would turn his nose up to yogurt LOL!

  1. Ladycelt said...:

    Great stories, all! We are now a "pet-free" household, after many years...Our Mr. Kitty and Sugarbear have both crossed the Rainbow Bridge, but in their old age, they refused to drink anything but "freshly killed" water (dripping from my bathroom faucet - and heaven forbid I turn it on the least bit too fast!) Of course, since they were too old to jump up on the counter, we had to lift their Highnesses up, and then get them down when they were finished...I'd love to do that just one more time... :(

  1. Toni said...:

    I am at a total blank. I have two small dogs and a chinchilla. I do believe that Charlie the chinchilla lives to torment the girls, but nothing as exciting as some of these posts.

    We did adopt a rescued elderly dog that had kidney problems that basically destroyed my carpet and even to this day one of my girls still rebels and piddles if I piss her off. So I had to rip out all my carpets.

    Nope my pets are perfect angels *snort*.

  1. Vanessa said...:

    My children's dog doesn't get into much mischief as she is the size of two bits of nothing. The story of how she came to be in our family is interesting. My husband was on an interstate bike ride with his brother and our oldest daughter. They stopped in a rest stop in the middle of nowhere to have a walk around and a drink when they noticed what at first seemed a fox but on closer inspection they discovered it was a pomeranian dog... she was starving and terrified. They tucked her inside one of their motorbike jackets and rode 40 miles to the next town, bought some dog food, gave it to her plus some water. Tried to find a vet not one available so back inside the jacket she went and they brought her home, a further 120 miles. A hurried trip to the vet to fix her back legs which were dislocated and give her injections for whatever. The vet siad she was about 5yrs old and would not have survived another night outdoors. She said it appeared the dog had been tossed out of a moving vehicle. The children named her Lucky because she was lucky to have been found and they were lucky to have a dog! The dog didn't bark for the first year or so she was with us... and at first we wondered what the noise was... but now when she hears keys in the front door or someone knocking on it she barks until someone tells her it is okay. She has been with us about 3 years now.She is probably about 12 -14 inches long... as I said two bits of nothing!

  1. sarah said...:

    My cairn eats only my right flip flop when mad at me. Never the left. She jumps up on the coffee table and eats anything on there. Last week she ate two hershey bars and found in her house belly up smacking her lips. Six months ago she ate half a bag of mini peanut putter cups that she individually unwrapped. She's always fine after her eating adventures. The vets just shakes their heads at her.

  1. I've got countless animal stories, especially since my sister is a veterinary nurse married to the vet! I used to work part-time at their clinic which was attached to the house, so we'd often get lots of unusual wildlife in.

    Perhaps the most exciting was the time my brother-in-law fixed the leg of a tiny dwarf chameleon. He used a match stick and super glue. I also got to see stuff like otters or porcupines. The most memorable pet was their meerkat, Rikki, who used to play with their standard poodle Nushka, who was always gentle. The meerkat would get back at her by biting her on the nose if she got too rough. Rikki used to follow my brother-in-law all over the garden and help him by catching snails and bugs.

  1. These are great. :) Keep 'em coming!!

  1. redjuliet said...:

    I have many dog/cat stories as my family has had many animals over the years. I will never forget when my sister brought a friend for my cat Indigo who was doing fine on his own. Pita like to destroy things but his ultimate act of destruction was when he pulled down the Christmas tree! I think he had help but I could never prove it!

  1. My boxer Tonka was so mischivous as a puppy that he would chew on anything and everything he could find. Therefore I decided to crate him at night to keep him out of things. I felt bad that a little puppy had to sleep on a hard crate floor so I went shopping for a nice soft pet bed for him. The pet store insisted that the bed was "chew proof" so I bought it and he looked so comfy when he went to bed. However when I came downstairs the next morning I couldn't even see the dog. He had chewed the entire bed apart and the stuffing was everywhere. He was sound asleep buried in the fluff. The best part was when I said his name and he poked him head out from the white fluff. He started wagging his tail and bouncing around. He looked at me and the fluff and looked so proud of what he had done. He now sleeps on a blanket that has no fluff because it was a horrible mess to clean up.

    He has eaten everything including shoes, mp3 players, computer cables and even a cell phone, but his favorite "chew toy" seems to be our cat, Pistol. He is constantly "playing" with the cat and by playing I mean tormenting. The cat however has gotten even. He sleeps on top of the dogs crate and swings his paw down into the crate to tease the dog.

  1. Nikki said...:

    When I was about 7 years old, my black lab had a litter and they were so cute I just wanted to hold them. My mom wouldn't let me hold them until they were older, so I would sneak in to see them as often a I could. One time I was sneaking a peek at them when my mom called me to dinner. I thought I was in trouble so I went racing up the stairs & fell. I ended up cutting my chin open, but it was worth it because I got to keep one of the puppies.

  1. Tgavin said...:

    Our dog Taz is a mix that we got from the pound when she was 3 months old. My kids were 6, 4, and 2. She is now 6 and my kids are older as well, thankfully. Taz has always been spoiled and I will admit that we feed her people food along with her dog food so she is always looking for things to eat, her food bowl being her last resort. About 2 years ago, I came home from work and to my utter dismay, I had a hole in my hallway. Not a door or even a window, but a hole about 1 foot around by about 6 inches deep. It also had a dog's head in it. Of course, after the cursing subsided (and the onslaught of giggling as I tried to remind my kids that they were not to repeat what mommy says), my oldest told me that my youngest had been running down the hall with her sippy cup and some had shaken out on the wall. Her favorite drink of choice was....chocolate syrup. The dog had licked the chocolate off the wall but did not stop there.

    My husband of course had no idea this was going on (He has not been in charge since).

  1. Hello Tymber,

    OMG "Acts of Dogs & other Disasters"...wow do I know ALL about this. I have had dogs for as long as I can remember. At one point in time, all leaving in the same house & trying to fit on the same King size bed lol, were a male & female Rottie, a male & female English Golden Retriever, a female Akita & a male Belgian Malinois (which was the Police K9). They all had their little quarks. LOL I laugh now. The Belgian Malinois was my trash picker, I don't care how good I secured the trash can, he would ALWAYS find a way get into it. One time I came home & found the lid of a swinging trash can lid around his head, caught like a lamp shade, looking at me with those innocent eyes trying to convince me he didn't do anything. My female Retriever had a fascination with the toilet tissue roll, she would find the end & unroll the entire tissue all over the house & I'd find her laying in the biggest pile, happy as a pig in sh*t, of course with those innocent looking sweet eyes. LOL My Rotties liked to work as a team outside & bring Mommy presents into the house, they would never eat the presents, just bring them as gifts that they would drop at my feet upon entering the house; birds, moles, rabbits...Oh Yes, Fun times. LOL I found my male Retriever LOVED the taste on newly spackled drywall, Hmmmmm you ask how right?? LOL...well I was having my house remodeled & the contractor would put up dry wall, spackle it, come, but when he came back the next day, in the middle of the night my handsome cutie would have licked the spackle so much that he licked holes right through the new dry wall. Ohhhh Yess "REAL" fun times LOL that cost me extra money since the contractor had to do the work over several times, so cutie got locked in the bedroom at night for cost effective reasons. LOL ...& last but not least naughty least lol was the female puppy Akita....her little quark was to completely terrorize ALL the other dogs & they would ALL come to me, as if to ask, PLEASE MOM, Make Her STOP!!! LOL
    Now I have downsized dramatically, I have 3 Miniature Pinschers; 10 yr old male, 9 yr old female & my lil' baby, a chocolate 1 1/2 yr old female who is the terror now. LOL

    Well that's just a tiny bit of my "Acts of Dog". LOL
    Take Care & Give your Doggie a Big Hug because they Give You Unconditional Love & Devotion,
    PaParanormalFan (Renee’ S.)
    paranormalromancefan@yahoo.com

  1. kitten said...:

    i have always had animals but the crazest one would be my kaoz. she was a short hair dark calico mix, as spoiled as can be. kaoz had two bad habbits, one thing she would do is when i had a hambuger she would eat the lettuce and tomatoe out of the bun, never the meat. the other thin she liked to do was catch live creatures 'birds, lizards, mice and even squirrls' and bring them to me on my lap or my feet and when i would relese them she would catch them and bring them back. i miss her so much

  1. LOL These were all great stories! I have used a random number generator to pick two winners. Remember, enter on every blog post for a chance to win the final drawing for the Sony e-reader!

    This post's winners are... *drumroll!*:

    Kasey Dean
    PaParanormalFan