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Who me? photo by Tim Bronson |
While Murph is doing exceptionally well in his training, let us not forget that he is a six-month-old puppy. I learned this valuable lesson today when I decided to make some changes in his living arrangements in the car. I bring Murph to work everyday, and he stays in the kennel in the car. Fortunately, I can park within steps of my office and I go out there at least three or four times a day to take a break and let him run. During lunch is my major training period around the woods and pond here at the Orvis headquarters.
I’ve been a bit concerned that he is getting too big for the present kennel, and my bigger kennel will not fit in the back of my car; so I decided to put his bed back there and install a barrier to give him more room to stretch out and relax.
I got to the office this morning and let him run around, then put him back in his new space, rolled down the windows and went inside. A couple of hours later, I returned to find Murph had disappeared, at least from the back. Somehow he had pulled a Houdini and pushed through the barrier (which we don’t sell by the way) and had a field day with everything that could be eaten or chewed including the top of the console. For whatever reason, the foam and leather top seemed irresistible to him. There was trash and debris everywhere and he looked at me as if to say, “This is great!”
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The damage done photo by Tim Bronson |
I could do nothing but laugh, for it certainly was not his fault. Puppies chew. It’s a fact. We are extremely diligent at home in not allowing him to chew, unless it’s sticks in the yard, which he loves to bring up on the porch and chew. Our back porch looks like a kindling factory. In the house he is not allowed to chew anything, and to be honest I don’t want to encourage chewing by giving him chew toys as he might develop a hard mouth. I like my ducks without teeth marks. The fact is, so far he seems to have a very soft mouth, and our routine of handing the dummy back and forth has paid off tremendously in his initial retrieves as he brings the dummy back and gives it willingly.
The bottom line is, I blew it. He didn’t. I assumed my preparations were sufficient and trusted them without testing them. Cost of a new console, $55. Lesson learned, invaluable.
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