Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Brooksy did a bad bad thing.

This is our Christmas tree.


Does it look a little sad? A little worse for the wear?

Maybe that’s because this guy can’t stay away from it.



Oh, don’t believe that sweet little face. He is no angel. Not even 6 months old and he’s entering the terrible toddler phase.

Everything goes in his mouth. Everything gets barked at. The tree was no exception. I knew having a tree would be a challenge with a puppy but wasn’t expecting to yell every 5 seconds to stop eating the ornaments or chewing the branches.

He sniffed curiously at it the first night, got brave and licked it the second night and by the third night it was his new hiding spot. He curls up and stares at you until you physically remove him from behind it. FYI--he’s pushing 50 pounds now so this is no easy task. One night I went to dislodge him, he flipped out and went running and the tree came with him. Ornaments and expletives went flying. I rushed to pick up the hooks before he could eat them. Brooksy just looked at me, barked and walked away.

Well, Santa brought Brooksy an early Christmas present!


The choke collar was a heated debate topic between Mike and I. He saw it as a necessary tool of discipline; I thought it was cruel and potentially damaging to our pup’s little throat.

After the tree incident there was no question I needed some help. Brooksy has already grown out of the harness we use on walks and I can barely control him when he lunges at cars and runners. We can’t have a 120 pound dog doing that so it was time to take action.

We only use the collar on walks and it isn’t the style that has the hooks in it so I am not concerned with its effects. I can admit that Brooksy listens to Mike more than me so the collar has been a good teaching tool for me and has taught that little devil some obedience. It’s been a godsend!



Now if only I could get him to stop chewing all the presents…..

1 comment:

  1. Gentle Leader!!!!!! We use it on Lilie even when we're not walking, and it immediately calms her down. Once she's calm, we take it off. He's so cute :-)

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