Chuckie Update

Mr. Chuckie does nap occasionally.

Mr. Chuckie will be nine months old tomorrow and he's been bringing fun and *ahem* adventure to the house since the day after Thanksgiving. In between spurts of puppy rage and a wanton urge to destroy anything he can reach he does take naps, which is the only time he's stationary long enough to get his picture taken.

Lately, his favorite pastime has been harassing me while I'm logged into LOTRO. He likes to play fetch. But it's not quite what you think: rather than the traditional throw-and-catch game all normal puppies enjoy, the slightly deranged Chuckie prefers a somewhat perversely modified version. He will trot over bearing a toy and throw it in your direction, clearly wishing for you to play with him, but it's always slightly out of reach. If you make any move to grab the toy and commence the game of fetch, Chuckie will quickly grab the toy himself and take it just out of your reach again. This process continues until you either move fast enough to grab the toy -- at which point a game of tug-of-war begins -- or Chuckie scampers off with it into another room. Pretty soon he'll return bearing the toy, and you can almost hear him thinking, "Foolish human! Watch me make him dance again!"

His destructive tendencies continue to reach new heights. We managed to stop him from gnawing a hole in the clothes hamper (which is wooden) with some anti-chew spray, but we were less successful with his little bed. This is ... er ... was a typical bed for a small dog, complete with a little cushion and stuffed with foam. He's been chewing at it for a while, but with little outward signs of damage. Yesterday, however, we walked into a room where it appeared a foam volcano had erupted, spewing squishy foamy chunks across the floor. The cleanup process was made all the more difficult as Chuckie regarded each and every piece as a toy to be taken from your hand as you tried to place it into the trashcan.

His harassment of poor old Goober has abated some, but alas, it has yet to cease. Apparently the old dog's tail just looks too much like one of those toy ropes for Chuckie to ignore and spraying Goober's tail with anti-chew spray didn't seem like a plausible solution. Anyway, he's eats like a St. Bernard and likes to impersonate The Flash quite often, so it's clear he's in good health.

Now, if only I can come up with some way to beat him at fetch...

Padhric
Master of Toons