Sunday, October 07, 2007

It's not just mothers

of humans who sometimes have had enough. For most of today if anyone had offered to take this little man I would have handed him over with a smile and a sigh of relief. Then I came through to my room and saw this little face, just waiting for me to say 'No' again. Moments later he rolled towards me and I declare I saw the thought go through his head 'I'll try cute.'
It worked; he is not walking the streets looking for a new home this cold, windy and miserable night.
What brought me to the point of frustration today? Archers vacuum behaviour. In the last 24 hours he has eaten multiple beads, four buttons, a purple pencil, a toy crocodile, a shoe lace, a small length of ribbon, two postage stamps, several pieces of double sided tape backing, some raw rice I dropped, the edge of a floor rug, the cat bowl, some dog biscuits and his home cooked chicken rice and veges. This is the 'food' I know about. Archer is always a 'hoover' however, today I was trying to enjoy my annual Bathurst pilgrimage, via the television. I am sure that as I walk him and poop observe I will see evidence of more this morning's walk was quite sparkly at each pit stop.
It sends me MAD, and why? My beloved Maggie died from a bowel perforation - and all she ever ate was dog food and the odd stick. Now perhaps Murphy's law will take over and Archer will be just fine or perhaps he will not ... but I really don't want to take chances.
I now have a clear perspex half door on my art room and he can only look in from the outside; now I can listen to him eating things in other rooms instead of seeing him eat them. I am open to suggestions...however, he is 18 months old, he has several hundred dollars worth of chew toys and treats which I give him on a rotating basis, has been wormed and is the right weight for his breed.
...the little moppet is asleep on my lap now and my heart is melting, so I will give him a cuddle and perhaps take another picture while all is well.

5 comments:

Natalie B said...

OH NO!!!!!!!!!! You mean they dont grow out of it???? Rosie eats/chews everything and she has so much to choose from, with 2 children who insist on leaving pencils/toys on the floor. But her most favourite thing are my slippers!!! I have a cane basket in my office/craft room that is nearly destroyed and here I was thinking it was just a puppy phase!!

I too have bought chew toys for Rosie which she doesn't even bother sniffing.

But you are right, that face, that beautiful face... *sigh* what are we to do, but forgive and cuddle.

Still Waters Studio said...

That's scary! My son's lab almost died from bowel perforation. $1000 worth of surgery and now he is fine. We learned...never feed your dog rib bones. I guess studio stuff can be just as dangerous.
Sherry

Janine Davies said...

Baillie and Harley my two Cavs are the same. They will chew anything..... but at least Baillie has decided to give up on finding the most expensive shoes! Harley isn't quite as bad ... he would much prefer to escape ... even the electronic fence doesn't seem to be a deterent! They too have so many toys.... and Baillie has just walked in with a stuffed gorilla and dropped it at my feet! I have had to learn to keep doors shut especially to the office as they always end up bringing out a pen or pencil and proceed to chew them!

At the end of the day when they curl up on your lap and look at you adoringly... all is forgiven!

Anonymous said...

Oh Julie, no matter what sort of day I've had I can always rely on your blog to give me a smile! It's a good job you didn't offer Archer to us as you know Grant would of had him in a heart beat! I know how frustrating a chewing dog can be as I've been there and worn the T-shirt, but thankfully my canine friend grew out of it. So good luck and just keep loving him, love from Charmaine xx

One Crabapple said...

oh grrrreat ! I have not a CLUE as to how to help on this ! I was loving your writing as you told the story....even as I was saying - good grief this is really a problem ! (the eating stuff bit I mean)

I guess you HAVE to poop inspect - what if he eats something you really really need !

oh Julie , this is definitely an interesting juxtaposition sent your way
.....reflecting on Maggie- Girl.

You must be losing your hair over this.

Archer - S T O P IT !

Oh that angel's face.
Love, S.