[Melissa]

It's that darn yellow dog - don't know what I'm gonna do with her!

We had to pick Riley up from a class at church and then got a quick dinner on the way home. Were gone for right at an hour. ONE HOUR.

Walk into the bedroom and things are... amiss. She had been on TOP of the dresser. The top of the dresser and the front are now covered in deep gashes and gouges, some of which go all the way down to the bare wood under the stain/varnish/whatever makes it all shiny and pretty. (Bought this furniture from a friend who waited 6 months for it to be delivered from Canada because apparently it's not made until it's ordered.)

Everything on the dresser, now in the floor. Including my jewelry box. In the jewelry box? My deceased grandfather's harmonica, my deceased great-grandmother's wedding band, my deceased aunt's class ring.. I keep some important stuff in there and now it's all turned upside-down and spread all over the floor! Those things are all accounted for (Thank God) but I am missing a necklace my great grandmother gave me when I was little little.

I had a LOT of stuff in that jewelry box. I have no idea what I may or may not be missing is what sucks. Besides the important things there are a lot of Target-type jewelry that I don't commit to memory so I have no idea. Guess I get to watch poop for a while and see what comes out.

4 out of 5 days, Kacey is perfectly fine, but on that 5th day... Every day it's like walking out the door leaving a hidden time bomb somewhere in the house. You have no idea when, where or if it will go off and how much damage it will do when it does.

I can't put everything we own in closets. Apparently it does no good to put it UP because she's half cat. We all know she can't be crated for her own safety. So, every day we open the front door holding our breath wondering what we will find.

 

[IzzyLucyWillie]

My sympathies!!!
We lost a chair this week to one of our three. Now mind you, they are 5, 6 and 7 years old and I thought they were well past this stage. They haven't done anything like this in years. They just chewed the crap out of a chair in my bedroom.

 

[Melissa]

Ack, sorry about your chair. That's one of the things I hold my breath about - I'm waiting for the day I open the door and the nearly-new leather furniture is in tatters.

 

[MidwestGirl]

OMG what a sight that would have been. I hope you find your necklace.

 

[Retriever Mama]

Oh Kacey!! What are you doing??? I would have flipped out.

Have you read Marley & Me? Do you remember the part about how clean the necklace was? Look on the bright side....?

Anything different in her routine that day? Less exercise or something?

Maybe on day 5 you duct tape her to something?

 

[Melissa]

It's completely random. And it's not really the 5th day - it's more like an average. =) I can't wait until Spring I am going to wear that girl out like you will not believe.

I think I need to start a log, "Kacey's Path of Destruction."

 

[joflake]

If she hurts herself in the crate, is there some room you can restrict her to, like the laundry room or something?

 

[Paddysmom]

ARGH! Not the jewelry box!

Flynn did that once. I was finding little earring backs and other little jewelry pieces embedded in the carpet for WEEKS! How did I find it all? Well, by stepping on a piece usually in the middle of the night, of course. OUCH!

 

[jzgrlduff]

Oh man! Hopefully you'll find the necklace in her poop.

I shut every door in my house before I leave in the morning - which is only the 2 bedrooms and the bathroom. Can't you just shut the bedroom doors?

 

[YellowJakesMom]

Oh wow, I'm sorry I'm glad your family heirlooms were okay though. I'm with you in waiting for spring to finally come so we can tire the pooches out.

(An evil part of me wants to ask where the pictures are - isn't that requisite for lab destruction posts )

 

[Melissa]

We shut every door except our bedroom because that's where their beds and her crate are. (She's not "crated" but she still likes to sleep there with the door open.)

Even if we cut that room off from them, that still leaves everything in the kitchen and living rooms to destroy. Everthing in the entertainment centers, the computer desk - she can apparently get on top of them now, there's a book case in the living room... Short of getting rid of everything, there's no way to take away all of her temptations.

 

[dweck]

So Kacey takes things of value that don't belong to her? Pfft. And you said this thread wasn't political!

 

[Melissa]

(An evil part of me wants to ask where the pictures are - isn't that requisite for lab destruction posts )

You know, between destructive episodes I always think, I should be documenting all this with pictures. Then the next one happens and I am so ... beside myself that I don't even think about it.

The only one I ever took pictures of was the last day we ever tried to crate her when she busted out and it looked like someone had been slaughtering animals in our bedroom. I couldn't even believe the carnage and I knew no one else would get it unless they saw it for themselves.

Someone asked about containing her in one room.... the carpet in our bedroom is shredded by the door where she peeled back the carpet and the pad down to the subfloor trying to dig out under the door to get out of the room once.

 

[Mia&Buddy]

I feel your pain. This week, Buddy (just turned 5 yesterday) figured out how to open the large kitchen cabinet doors. He scored an entire box of dog biscuits the first day, and dried fruit yesterday, so it is safe to assume that nothing in there is safe. So now, every day before we leave, we "clear the decks" - all horizontal surfaces are cleaned, close all of the doors, and now push the heavy kitchen chairs against the cupboard doors. I agree with the suggestion to close the doors. Some dogs are just more mischievous than others.

 

[Golfgirlrobin]

I've got the same dog. She'll go months being a perfect angel. Just couldn't be better. And then one day you walk in and she's pulled the carpet up all the way to the concrete slab. Sleeps on her favorite bed for months and then one day you come home and it's torn to shreds and she's staring at you like she doesn't know what happens.

It's the fact that they will go so long being nearly perfect and then for no apparent reason they just go crazy. They lull you into a false sense of security.

Kiss the leather couches goodbye. It's just a matter of time. Mine took out two matching ones. She pooped leather for weeks.

 

[Melissa]

One day we came home and she had completely stripped our bed. Pillows, comforter, flat sheet, fitted sheet, all pulled off and on the floor. Completely bare mattress. How bizarre!

What goes on in their heads?!

 

[jzgrlduff]

There has to be a solution. I just don't know what it is.....

 

[Melissa]

Me either, Amy.

 

[justine]

That's no fun at all. I think Abbey is part cat, too. She likes to climb on top of coffee tables.. but never on top of a dresser, thankfully.

I hope you find your necklace and the rest of the stuff you might be missing!

 

[amazongold]

I missed why you can't keep her crated when you aren't home. What happened?

What kind of crate do you have for her? Can you try a different kind? If she sleeps in it with the door open, she should not have a problem with the door being closed. Shadow was a Houdini and would escape from crates but we found that the plastic airline-type worked best for her. We just had to make sure all the screws were in and tight, and use an extra wire tie for security.