Furry Frustrations

The past few days, our puppies have been giving us grief. I've always known that dogs are like kids---it's like having four children in our house rather than two these days. I might have mentioned that Zippy decided a couple weeks ago that he didn't want to be potty-trained. It was an AWESOME phase (sarcastically speaking, of course), and I'm happy to say that he's back on the right track. However, we've encountered several new hurdles that we're trying to jump over.

#1. Zippy's matting fur. I can't even get a brush through it because he wants to spend so much time rolling around in the grass outside. It's so bad that I've contemplated having all his fur shaved very short for the rest of the summer. Don't hate me, poodle-lovers, but this little pup is going to be a short-haired dog until the fall!! (I'll post a picture after we get it done later this week.)

#2. Zippy's amazing new talent. Zippy has learned how to unlatch his kennel door and get out whenever he wants to. He's got it down to an art and can escape within three minutes of being put in there. At first, we thought it was a fluke. However, upon watching him do his trick, we've realized that this is one smart and sneaky pup! I ended up putting a kitchen chair in front of his kennel door so if he unlatches it, he can't swing it open to get out. That worked fine over night, but today when I had to put him in his kennel for a little bit while a service person stopped by, I heard ripping noises coming from his corner. Somehow, Zippy was RIPPING UP THE CARPET in front of his kennel because he was so mad that he couldn't get out!! What the heck?! Looks like I not only have to get a rug to put around his kennel, he'll also be sleeping in Jack's big travel-kennel for the next few nights while I get un-frustrated with him. Boo for the puppy-chewing phase!!

These recent issues, combined with Jack drinking too much pool water from our kiddie pool and getting sick on another carpet in our house, has been giving Chris and I major headaches this week. Luckily, the carpet cleaner guys have come out for free to clean the "puppy spots" that we've needed cleaned, but we're hoping these phases end REALLY quickly. I guess dogs go through frustrating phases just like kids do!! I need a support group, I think!!