Destructo Dog

I love my cats, living and deceased.  They're tempermental, aloof, and mysterious, but so am I.  We sort of cancel each other out, in the grand scheme of our household routine.  But my son wanted a dog, and so we adopted one from a local animal shelter.

Isn't she adorable?  Of course, that was last year, and precious little Maisy is no longer tiny.  Maisy is sixty pounds of love and still growing. She's happy, she's friendly, and she is the perfect companion to my son.  They will chase each other through the house, laughing and barking, until one or the other falls asleep. 

Maisy does have a few quirks, however.  She can't leave the trash can alone, for example.  One by one, bits and pieces of the trash end up spread out all over the living room, which is quite a spectacle when I walk in the door after a long day.  Maisy also likes to chase cats. She's not sure what to do when she catches them--it's all about the chasing with her.  The cats, understandably, are less than happy about the disruption to their strict sleeping routine.  Those personality quirks can be endured.
But Maisy has an alter ego. 

Destructo Dog.

This dog will chew up or eat just about anything.  Paper, plastic, rocks, stuffed animals, books--you name it, and Maisy has destroyed it.  She chewed a hole in our couch.  She chewed up an ice tray, and ate half of one of those freezer paks.  Empty water bottles?  Chewed to shreds.  She's eaten crayons, and markers, and chewed up toys.  Remember that Rainbow Sock Monkey from the Pier 1 commercials?  He can no longer feel his legs, because they are gone.  Poor Rainbow Sock Monkey!  Maisy chews off the eyes and then pulls out the stuffing, spreading it all around.   We've scolded Zane for leaving his toys on the floor, but Maisy is very capable of getting what she wants off of the bed, the table, and the couch.  This week we came home to find that Maisy had destroyed...a shin guard.  A Lionel Messi("The greatest soccer player on planet Earth", they tell me) shin guard.  This was a calamity, because Zane wears shin guards to soccer practice, and now he only had one.  

We yell.  We know yelling doesn't work, but it's more of a venting thing, anyway.  Maisy doesn't even look upset.  To her it's all fun and games, and she sees our yelling and gesticulating as part of the play.  We could crate her, but she'd be in the crate for 8 or more hours a day, and then in the crate all night.  That's no life for a dog.  We could make her an outside dog while we are gone, but there are bad people around who a)steal dogs from yards to be fodder for fighting dogs; b)steal dogs to sell to labs for medical research; c)steal dogs so they can collect a reward for their return. I would hate to have to tell my son that Maisy was stolen from our yard. 

I am hoping that this is a phase, and that Maisy will outgrow this destructive habit.  We all like her much better when she is not destroying everything in sight.   That's my son's job. 


4.) Your pet's least likable character trait.

Semi-Random

I hope that everyone had a wonderful three day weekend.  My Friday ended on a bad note, but the rest has done me good and I'm hoping to keep my attitude as positive as it can be for a pessimist such as myself.  My goal for this week is to remember that while other people may be all about the drama, I don't have to respond in kind.  I never really was that great of an actress, anyway.

It just so happened that I got to come home in the middle of the day this past week, and as I stepped into the door, I had to take a picture.  Little Maisy, who isn't really all that little anymore, found something to occupy her day while we were out earning our paychecks.  She was so proud of her accomplishments!  If there's ever a need for a cardboard shredding dog, she is definitely in the running. I have absolutely NO idea where the rabbit ears came from, and I've been scratching my head about it ever since.  I hope this doesn't mean that she ate the Easter Bunny. 

Zane came home from school Friday talking about cake.  Great--I am all on board with discussions of that particular treat.  Except Zane wanted ME to bake a cake.  Upon further conversation, I learned that Zane's class read a story about cake that Friday.  His teacher, being unaware of my firesetting skills, sent home a recipe for a Piglet's Poke cake and frosting, with a note that we could make the cake "together".  I was game, until I looked at the recipe.  What the heck is baking powder?  Is that the same as baking soda?  I wasn't sure, but I knew that we did not have either in the house at the moment.  The frosting was going to be iffy as well.  Zane was so disappointed. 

And then...

I remembered that I had purchased a cake mix last year!  A cinnamon cake.   Who cared that the cake was made by Duncan Hines?  Cake is cake!  We did have the eggs and water and butter needed for the recipe to be complete, so Zane and I got to work. We dispensed with the frosting--none of us are big frosting eaters in our house.  The cake turned out just fine, and has been disappearing at an alarming rate. 

My husband and I have been having an argument discussion about what is appropriate for Zane to watch.  He likes to watch Ghost Adventures with me, and my son and I have discussed what's real and what is not in staggering detail(and yes--most reality shows are not 'real'--they are staged/edited for entertainment, even his favorite show, Call of the Wild Man).  Zane isn't bothered in the least by the ghost show.  He wasn't bothered by seeing The Lord of the Rings movies.  He IS bothered by the evening news, which told him that a tornado had touched down in the Midwest this weekend. That made him have a nightmare about tornadoes and our house.  Zane understands that most of what he sees on television is not real, and he is just fine with that.  It's the real stuff that bothers him.  I hate to tell him, but the real stuff bothers me, too. 


Go visit Stacy.  She should be arriving at her destination in the Pacific Northwest soon, and back to her regularly scheduled program soon.



And Shawn and Impulsive Addict  for Talk to Us Tuesday.  They are actually posting again, so that's a real treat!