Destruction!

[karmaboomer]

I made the biggest parent mistake ever!
I left them alone while I went to work, and they destroyed the living room!
(That's the room that we have baby-gated off for them to use. It's tiny.)
So, they had been doing SO well with their litterbox and their behavior and playing with toys when we weren't around (at night and on shorter trips out of the house) that we decided to leave them out for a longer day out (8 hours). They had been alone for up to 6 hours and done perfectly well so we didn't think anything of it. Before this, they had been in their crates when we left or at night, but neither one of them really loved their crates, so we had been transitioning them out into the room.

We came back and I almost cried. Haha. I knew immediately that it was my fault and that they had been so lonely.

They had gone to the bathroom everywhere (including on my 300 dollar chair that they had been trained "down" to stay off of) and they pulled EVERYTHING out of the litter box and shredded it all over the floor!!
They chewed up the legs of my coffee table (also, despite being well trained to "no chew" and owning 100,000,000 nylabones). Last but not least, they had tipped their food dish over and the dry kibble was scattered left and right.

I eventually just had to laugh and lie down with them for kisses and play before cleaning it up. As frustrating of a setback as it was (we are going back to crates for a while) I can't stay upset with these babies, and I can't be mad at them for not being ready to be alone and being lonely.

Just wanted to share my plight of housetraining =)

Also, a couple of pics of the sweeties. They are kinda old, from when we first got them, but still cute.

[Higgin's Mom]

I CAN SOOOOOO RELATE!!! You brought back happy, mortified tears and laughter at remembering when.....

We had three gangly English Setter puppies between the ages of 8 and 12 months. When we would go out, we would lock them in a downstairs kitchen with a 2x4 across the door. Through their puppyhood, they ATE that kitchen, but I digress......One evening we went out for dinner, putting the dogs in their locked kitchen, and returning 3 hours later. I don't know HOW they did that much damage in 3 hours, but they were literally out of breath with their tongues hanging out and their tails a wagging when we returned home. We don't know HOW they got out of the kitchen. Among many other things, they destroyed the underlying carpet foam and a 4 foot section of my white wool dhurrie rug. They completely knocked over FOURTEEN FOOT HIGH ficus tree and spread the dirt EVERYWHERE. They got books out of bookshelves, severely damaging an important first edition. They somehow got a box of photographs down and chewed 'em up. They CHEWED DOWN TO THE WOOD the arm of a NEW sofa, AND the arm of the matching loveseat. Then they went into the bedroom where they had a nice romp on my down comforter, leaving a huge drift of feathers all over the bedroom. One of the little darlings even chewed up my reading glasses and left the remains on my pillow. In the bathrooms they discovered that unrolling toilet paper is LOTS of fun and our house was TP'd from top to bottom. (I think the kittens showed 'em how to do that.) And since we did have kittens, the pups emptied the litter box for us. Folks, I am serious.....this only touches on the major things.....Those puppies did THOUSANDS in damage! It looked like a bomb had gone off in there. AND THEY WERE SOOOOO PROUD OF THEMSELVES!!!! We wandered through the house in quiet shock, then sat down on the living room floor where the pups climbed into our laps and lapped us all over. We started to laugh and didn't stop for an hour! The one thing we regret is that we don't have a video of them doing it! Now THAT would have been fun to watch! Sort of.

[karmaboomer]

OH MY.

That is just out of control!

Sometimes I really wish I could set up a video camera to see just what they do when we're not home, especially after a day like yesterday!!!

(Lucky for me, they can't jump up or reach anything that's more than 2 feet off of the floor!)

[yizzl]

That is so funny ....I hate to say it but if I did not have my baby now and I read all this I would think twice about getting one. Also what is funny is while I am typing this I can hear her right now ripping newspaper in her pen.

[fasteddie]

LOL! I guess I'm lucky Yoda only tore a foot long section of wallpaper and my coffee table has some Yoda teethmarks? That is hilarious to hear, but sorry about the damage they caused. It takes them a bit to get used to staying home alone, they really love us! At least that's what I always said when Yoda did a boo-boo.

[Maddie-Rudy-Mom]

Atleast you know they weren't bored Can you imagine what was going through those cute little heads. My parents have a beagle and she has done more damage to thing that me and my sister ever did as kids. We let our furbabies get away with things we wouldn't let our kid do. Wouldn't have it any other way................Cindy

[waysh0]

My Binky has been pretty good for a pup... BUT he loves to chew ALL the wires. His favorite are of course the wires that are either not replaceable, or the really really expensive ones. I just had to redo my whole networking system because of this little guy. Hes thus far destroyed the network system, my $100 headphones, the wire of a $200 lamp, playstation 2 wires, and BOTH controllers and god knows what else. I hope he stops teething soon. Thank god he doesnt like to chew furniture, just anything that will fit in his little mouth. Id really hate to crate him for the long hours Im at work, especially since he doesnt crate well. Hes good when Im around. He just wants to sit on my lap and play with a toy. But the when Im sleeping or hes alone he goes on a rampage. I just wish my boyfriend would learn to close the doors and put things in the right place so he cant get to it.

[bettyeanne]

WOW!!! I don't know how I would react to all that distruction!! We evidently have been very fortunate ... but, we would probably have the same forgiving reaction ... how do these babies get away with some of the stuff they do?? Well .... just look through the pics on this site .... they are just so darned cute!!!

[fasteddie]

waysh0: just be careful that Binky doesn't chew through any electrical cords, especially if the device is on! We wouldn't want anything to happen to him!

[karmaboomer]

I taped all of our cords down with clear packing tape if they wouldn't fit behind something, because I know my boyfriend wouldn't be so conscientious about it - the last thing I need is a shellshocked puppy!!

My living room isn't just puppy-proofed though, at this point it is in lockdown and everything I hold dear is in another room or barricaded off!!

I won't make the same mistake twice!!!

They have officially taken over and claimed the part of the house as their own!

Their beds block the fireplace (one of their favorite pooping grounds), I use their kennels covered with fabric as end tables, haha, they have a corner dedicated to newspaper/litter box, and the underneath of my couch and desks are filled with boxes/puppy supplies (those are their other favorite pooping grounds when I'm not around). All the cords for the room are tucked behind those boxes or hidden behind furniture. I have secured the perimeter!
I'm sure within the next few days I'll know what I missed - they'll get into it and SHOW me!!

The pictures are just to show you what I did to my living room when I puppy-proofed. It looks reeeeally messy, but in actuality, everything is tucked away to the edges of the room, so they have a play area in the middle and no little corners to get into mischief in. Someday (in the far away future) I will be able to let them roam free!!

I love em!

[Higgin's Mom]

Oh I can't help it! I'm laughing so hard! You mean THOSE darling little innocent looking sleeping babies do all that????? I know. I know. Our house looks just as bad. And there was a time when it would have bothered the heck out of me, but.....anything for my little darling.......oh how I want TWO......you are so brave......I'm still laughing here.......

[waysh0]

well... my apartment has a big balocny and everything has its own door, even the hallway so I just close that. When Im asleep I leave the balcony door open just a little so he can get out to do his business on his pads out there (I have taught him that inside isnt a place to do his business). The only rooms open at night is my bedroom and the living room. Everything electrical is either covered or hidden. The TV cords in the bedroom has a comforter on top of it incase he wanders there. Really, all the cords he has gotten to are because of my boyfriends irresponsiblity. So I cant really blame Binky too much, after all hes only 4 months and teething.

[schatzie]

Oh, all these stories with laughter and tears at the same time. I had to pause and look down at Schatzie after reading the destruction all your babies did and I said this. "Schatzie, now listen to me, this is why you go into your kennel. How do we need to train you to NOT be destructive when we leave you alone? Can be a good girl and not chew?...Well, she just looked at me with her rawhide hanging out of her mouth, but the look on her face said to me that she cannot be trusted...So, time will tell.

But it is true, we allow our Yorkies (other pets) to do so much more destruction then our own human children and I do wonder why?

Oh, I feel so awful for the money it took to replace or repair all those things.

It isn't funny but it is huh? Why is that? It must be cuz they are dogs and they just don't like being alone??

Good thing we love them as we do or else!! LOL

[Higgin's Mom]

One of the things Don says to Higgins all the time is "Good thing you're cute!"

[schatzie]

Oh, their cuteness is their ticket out of jail everytime!!!! These little furbabies are smart too, absolutley amazingly smart!! Too smart for their own good I think, LOL