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December 18, 2014

Still Room on the Naughty List?

As a well-behaved child, I often wondered when Santa’s final Naughty and Nice lists went to print. Surely if I got into a bit of mischief when my gifts were already loaded on the sleigh Santa wouldn’t just toss my presents overboard into the Atlantic? My parents quickly put the kibosh on my logistical
As a well-behaved child, I often wondered when Santa’s final Naughty and Nice lists went to print. Surely if I got into a bit of mischief when my gifts were already loaded on the sleigh Santa wouldn’t just toss my presents overboard into the Atlantic? My parents quickly put the kibosh on my logistical musings. I believe their refrain was, “There’s always time and room for one more name on the naughty list.” Well Santa, I know you’re busy but I think I have one more name for you. Penny. Rhodesian Ridgeback, puppy, chicago, marking our territory, dog, photos

What? Little innocent Penny?

Yes, Penny! After we emerged from crate training, housebreaking and teething relatively unscathed I felt pretty good. So good in fact that I began to give Penny less and less crate time while I was out of the house. Recently however we’ve had a serious regression.

Rhodesian Ridgeback, puppy, chicago, marking our territory, dog, photos

Penny’s never eaten a shoe before, but I guess my slipper was too tempting

Rhodesian Ridgeback, puppy, chicago, marking our territory, dog, photos

Over a couple days Penny completely eviscerated the blanket she never once bothered with before. How am I sure it was her you ask?

Rhodesian Ridgeback, puppy, chicago, marking our territory, dog, photos

Just a hunch

The slipper is still usable, as is is the blanket, so I gave Penny another shot. This time she went after the ottoman.

Rhodesian Ridgeback, puppy, chicago, marking our territory, dog, photos

“What, no I didn’t? Look, there’s nothing here…”

Rhodesian Ridgeback, puppy, chicago, marking our territory, dog, photos

“Oh yeah…that.”

Rhodesian Ridgeback, puppy, chicago, marking our territory, dog, photos

The joys of puppyhood

Alright, Santa, time for a confession. The name you need to add to the list isn’t Penny’s, it’s mine. I know all about developmental stages, and I know Penny is entering the punk-adolescent stage. I saw the signs but looked the other way. I’m just thankful Penny is a shredder and not an eater. Puppy adolescence means we’re back to square one in a lot of ways.  But we’re there together and we’ll have plenty of time to work on positive reinforcement techniques.

Put this one on my tab, Santa. Penny’s a nice-lister for sure.

Comments for Still Room on the Naughty List?

  1. meANXIETYme says:

    They’re like sharks at that age…they just gotta take a little taste so they know what it is!

  2. Ouch!!!!! You ARE lucky Penny is a shredder! Dakota was an “eater” in his teen years (sometimes he still is!) I am glad Penny is back on the “nice” list though, after all, who could RESIST that face???

  3. Victoria says:

    she is too cute to have been such a mischief maker – we have little regressions from time to time as well and its usually because i leave something tempting out for Rigs or Muff to chew on (usually my slppers or my son’s socks) – so if we are good so are they!

  4. dashlilly says:

    Oh NOOO. I have a beautiful wooden blanket chest that is missing a corner. Been missing that corner since Dash was Penny’s age (about 5 years ago…). Chest still works and the rough chewed up corner just reminds me that yep, there was a puppy here once and a human who was very silly and trusting. I think Santa will allow for these transgressions–for both of you. Lilly’s transgression was a down filled comforter. The house looked like an indoor snow storm had hit! Happy Happy!

  5. It has to be tough to look at that face and be upset at anything she does even blanket nibbling and shoe shredding…..HAHAHA…..well, it’s nice that you’re making a case for Santa keeping her on the NICE list…….but what about you? Does this mean you’re on the NAUGHTY list?????

    Hugs, Pam and Sam

  6. Oh that takes me back to my first dog, Shadow as well as some puppy fosters I’ve had. You are right, the silver lining here is that Penny doesn’t actually ingest any of those things! And of course, I think it’s great when someone realizes it is usually human error when our dogs do something we don’t like! Happy re-training to you!

  7. Emmadog says:

    Congratulations on living with the same type of teenager we do…Bailie! Hope sweet Penny outgrows it faster than Bailie because Bailie can’t seem to give up being a problem child.

  8. KarenS says:

    Teenage dogs! Just can’t help themselves they just do bad things right? Love the look on her face. “Me? You love me even though I do bad things right?” Saw that same look on my dogs faces as they went through that stage.

  9. Aww the Ridgeback frowns on Penny look SO cute 🙂 sweet girl! I am happy that she is a shredder too and not an eater.

  10. wait… that was a design study to make the one and only PENNY LOAFERS for you … even da vinci failed sometimes and Mr. Einstein too :o)

  11. nerdgrl (Kim S.) says:

    Steffi had her Dr. Destructo phase not in her teen years but as she moved in to old age. OMG! Even the wooden gate my husband built across the kitchen to keep her penned in is gnawed on pretty badly. And, she pulled a Houdini several times. Got the garbage slot pulled out so she could go under it and out through the recycle bin on the other side of the gate. My husband would come home at noon to let her out and go into full mode panic when he couldn’t find her…until he looked upstairs on our bed. “Who me? Couldn’t possibly be ME you’re looking at with daggers, Daddy!! Really, I’m too cute!” Ah, we miss her soooo much.

  12. nerdgrl (Kim S.) says:

    Oh, and when I saw the title of your post all I could think was “Goodness, what’s Penny done now???”

  13. About teenage pups and tunnels: My first dog (Beagle & Border Collie- Mix) tried to build a tunnel, when she was at Penny’s age. INSIDE my flat, underneath the doorstep. After one day of hard work (and an impressive hole) she decided to do something more scientific: She ate two dictionaries “german-english”. So I never had the chance to complete my conversation skills.
    From that day on my impression was that this crazy dog was barking with a really distinguished Oxford accent

  14. Mindy Cromwell says:

    We call that the “Tornado”, and it is released every so often. After several months of cute and sweet and cuddly she reminds us that she is still an adorable terror. I think it just gets pent up in there and then…BAM!!! and then we are fine for a bit longer. Ours has seemed to be hateful of a fan (on off switch and electrical chord), a plant and the only puppy bed in the house without her slobber. Good luck to you, ours has gotten much better, but there are days….

  15. Cathy & Banjo says:

    Penny is very lucky to have such an understanding and patient human who loves her!

  16. derrycats says:

    Ah yes, puppy adolescence. That time about 6 months or so in when they forget everything they have ever learned. I’m a pet sitter and I have clients who are new to dogs who think their six-month old will calm down any day now…yeah. Big surprise.

  17. coastingnz says:

    Penny, sweet, sweet Penny – butter wouldn’t melt in my mouth sweet Penny……. We had a function to go to once when Ziggy was still quite young and when we cam home you couldn’t see the floor of our room for all the stuffing – pillows, cushions, mattress – yes mattress. They – and I do say they, had pulled the sheets off the bed even to get to the mattress, pillowslips off pillows to get to the pillows. All we could do was laugh and start the cleanup. We always thought Ziggy was the main culprit until another day I found Nico happily dissecting one of their larger toys – oblivious to the fact I was there and totally in the zone. The look on his face when he saw me was priceless – the cat was out of the bag! Thankfully the room mess was a one off but they still love nothing more than getting an end of a toy each pulling, pulling, pulling until something comes off so they can then spread its “inners” all over the lawn. For all their little naughty moments we love them just the same – they’re our babies and any problems are definitely our problems. Good luck with yours…… 🙂

  18. Nothing a little duct tape can’t fix…or hide. We have a leather couch and love seat that are held together by purple blue tie dye tape; evidence of Neeka’s manic moments when we left the house. Khoi is being deprived of this type of fun.

  19. Love your positive attitude! There’s an angel in there somewhere!

  20. Uh-oh…Penny you don’t want to be on that naughty list, believe me. Glad dad is taking some of the blame 😉

  21. Marcela says:

    Lol. Will, you are a great and funny dad. Alex did the same years ago when she was about 2 years old, so I crated her again, and tried leaving her out when I was not home once she was about 3 1/2 years old, and I never had to worry about it again. But, every dog is different. Just give Penny some time. She has such an adorable face. Kind of hard to stay mad at her, don’t you think?

  22. raisingdaisy says:

    You can’t possibly get mad at a face that cute, especially with those super-adorable ears! (My daughter absolutely LOVES Penny!! She checks your Instagram pictures every day!) Daisy went through the same phase after she had proven herself trustworthy. I guess they like to keep us on our toes. Maybe Santa will bring you a some new things to replace the shredded ones? I gotta say one thing about Penny – she does a thorough job! 😉 LOL Have a happy holiday season!!

  23. Sue In FLA says:

    Just makes you love a crate all the more. Usually, the magic “calm” age is 42 months, but my Yorkie is 7 years and has never been allowed to stay uncrated if we leave the house. I think he and the house are safer.

  24. Raud Kennedy says:

    Yep, a shoe and a couch corner for me too. Tasty stuff.

  25. Nikitaland says:

    Naughty naughty Penny!

  26. Whee can’t stop giggling! Oh dear Penny, you little mischief maker!

    xxxx

  27. Oh no!! Sometimes I wonder if they ever lose certain puppy tendencies. At age 9, Sam is still chewing up (only very expensive or sentimental) leather items. Sigh. But like you, I still keep him on the nice list because not of us are perfect and he really is the sweetest (if not goofiest) pup ever at the hospital. 😉

  28. T&S says:

    That sweet little girl with inocent face 🙂

    My male destroyed dining room chairs on last Christmas eve. 🙂

    Will, I wish you a good repairman to fix that. 🙂

  29. ozeepee says:

    Yeap! That s them…someday you will miss these moments. I hope not for the time being!!!

  30. Oh yes “second” puppyhood was what I called it! Oskar’s brother went through it and I lost the front of a couch, all the legs of a teak wood table, had a hole in a trundle bed matress….*sigh*…..

  31. isn’t it something when they start doing something that you think they should of done before? Glory is 3 now and just started jumping on the counter and table, not sure what has gotten into her either.

  32. […] Penny to staying outside of her crate when I leave the apartment. She lost her free-range pass due to a torrent of destruction I’d like to avoid this time around. Rather than sweating it out when I leave Penny for the […]

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