[mrssabes]

A month later:

He's stopped shredding the puppy pads, for the most part. We bought a soft-sided Coleman puppy playpen that he HATES. We got it with the intent of being able to garden outside with him safely inside next to me, but he acts like a rabid gerbil when I zip it up. We've tried leaving it in the kitchen unzipped to get it familiar with it, with limited success.

He's now into biting pant legs and chenille socks. We're trying to break him of this habit, but I don't want to put him in his regular hard-sided pen as a consequence, because we won't want to associate it with punishment.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I spent a lot of time with him. We went to a national park and for walks in the mountains. He got lots of exercise, was in a great mood, and slept in late the next day's. But he got very upset when I went back to work on Tues. I'm struggling to figure out how to make weekdays and weekends not so different, so this won't happen again. But he spends so much time alone during the week -- even thought I go home every day for lunch to feed and walk him -- that I hate to pen him when I'm home. At the same time, things need to be done around the house and it's not always possible to do so with the little man literally nipping at my heels.