I hated "Marley and Me" because much of the chaos could have been prevented if Marley had been crated.
In an earlier blog post, I produced evidence of the damage Talos did today while I was away from the house. If a client complained because their dog ate a book while they were gone, I would definitely suggest a crate to avoid future disasters.
Talos has been crate trained. He likes crating. Trouble is, he's too big for his crate now! We have Labrador-sized crates, not Dane-sized. Talos is here temporarily - he's not going to be a permanent member of our house (much to my disappointment). The Dane crates are too big for the Labradors, so I'm trying to avoid buying a giant Dane crate that won't be used once Talos goes "off to college" in less than a year.
I made a couple of mistakes today.
Mistake #1: I was unprepared. Normally, if I've got to be gone more than four hours, I'll set the dogs up with a Kong-Time - a machine that dispenses four filled Kongs over either a four- or eight-hour period. It keeps the dogs busy, gives them something appropriate to chew. However, I didn't have 20 Kongs stuffed this morning, so I ran out the door and gave the dogs just one Kong each.
Mistake #2: I didn't dog-proof the room Talos was in. He's not normally a chewer or ripper-upper. I saw the books on the coffee table, but I pooh-poohed the idea that he'd bother them. In the past, he's always eaten the stuffed Kong, then taken a nice, long nap.
I know it was my fault the books got chewed. I take full responsibilty and Talos did not bear the brunt of my mistake. His destructiveness is not the norm, however if it becomes a problem, I'll go get a giant crate to ensure the house - and Talos - remain safe!
