June 2001
Our boy is a thief and a destroyer. It took me a while to understand, but I finally got it. Oak hasn't learned to whine or scratch at the door. He HAS learned that if he is bad he goes through the door. If he is bad inside, we put him out. If he is bad outside, we bring him in. We started to show him how to scratch at the door, but I nixed that idea almost immediately. I don't think the door would make it. I do have a bell mounted outside my door and will put a string on it today to see if he can learn to ring it. For safety's sake we have purchased a dog run which is 560 sq. ft. We will use it when we cannot be with him.

So far we have lost three pairs of shoes - a normal puppy thing, but we have also lost most of our porch furnishings. My front porch is no longer an inviting and organized getaway. We used to have a couple of chairs and a table. I used to put my macaw in his cage out on a shelf along with my potted jasmine. I used to have tools and drinking water stored on other shelves. Oak not only destroyed my empty plastic jugs, he took the full ones off the shelf, poured out the water, and chewed those jugs. The jasmine will probably never recover from being yanked out of their pots. No sweet smells this spring.

I hate this big chair. It has been on my porch since I moved here and I have wanted to burn it. Thanks to Oak, it is now a good possibility. It took him about an hour to unstuff the chair and chew off one wheeled leg. I think Dad will burn it today. I don't know what to do about my jasmine - it is on the shelf to the right of the chair. I don't dare put Mac out there, I am afraid Oak might get his nose bitten off or that he might knock cage and all to the ground. Mac has been my companion since 1985, I don't want anything to happen to him. He is jealous of the attention Oak gets and is not very nice to him.

Oak is also a thief. He will take anything he thinks belongs to someone else. When I bring home toys, I "drop" them in the yard. He snatches them and runs full gallop to his "secret" hiding place to investigate. Dad worked in a mechanic shop for many years and always has a rag hanging from his pocket. The rag has become irresistable to Oak and he makes a charging pass and snatches the rag - off to the hiding place. We lost a hammer a few days ago - we found it with a big part of the handle missing. My stepmother cooks on her "Smokey" at least once a week and buys expensive hickory to use in it. Oak likes hickory.

Dad has a pig named Miranda who lives on his front porch. Miranda is overweight and a terrific grouch. She comes off the porch twice a day to get a drink of water and relieve herself. Fortunately she is slow, almost blind, and close to being deaf. Unfortunately, her water trough is on the other side of Oak's front yard. Fortunately, she rolled over and grunted in her sleep the first time Oak tried to sneak up on her. He gives her a wide berth for now, but her blankets and food pan are so lovely! Soon Oak will try to steal them.
 

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