Anyone can catch your eye, but it takes someone special to catch your heart. ~Author unknown
You’ve been here for two years now,
My mischievous little pup.
And surely in all those weeks and months,
You’ve had opportunity to grow up.
What did mama tell you
About stealing papers you can reach,
And promptly tearing them to tiny bits
While waiting for her to screech?
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 
Our little monkey look to innocent!
Like he’s wondering, Whatever happened out here?? He knows, Frank. He knows. He just can’t seem to resist the urges!
He looks complete innocent to me.
Really?? Sorry, Frank, but he’s completely guilty. He didn’t even have to confess it. Prior bad acts confirmed his error in judgment, but since I didn’t really catch him in the actual deed, no penance was administered!
Seems like circumstantial evidence … Not direct.
If there were a trial, he’d be naming you as his attorney, Frank! As it is, I’m the judge and jury, and I’m pronouncing him guilty! (Not that he cares, of course. He still has fresh food, water, walks, and freedom.)
Poor Monkey … He’s on trial in a kangaroo court.
HaHa!!!
OMG Debbie, the photo you captured of Monkey looking down at his paper tearing mess is PRICELESS! You can actually see the guilt-ridden ooops look on his face!
My cats used to do the same thing with the toilet paper in my bathroom. However, cats have no quilt. So whenever I would come home to a TP mess on the floor, they would walk over to me with a look on their faces that said, “Yeah….whatever. I’m a cat….get over it!” LOL!
Thanks for the morning laugh, my friend! Happy Monday!
X to you and that mischievous little pup!
I can’t believe he let me get his photo, Ron. Usually, he runs for the hills, knowing he’s done wrong and expecting me to scoop him up and put him in “time-out” for a spell.
Love your description of the cat and the toilet paper mess, and I can certainly appreciate their stance. Cats don’t obey … unless they want to!
Enjoy the week ahead and hope you get the snow you’re wishing for! xx
A-w-w-w, beautiful boy! Has it been two years already? My gosh. And what’s a little paper among friends? 😉
Two years indeed. Sometimes (when I see messes like this!) it feels longer than that. He’s had a rather trying puppyhood, but I keep reminding myself that Rome wasn’t built in a day. And my son keeps telling me Monk is lots better than he was — it’s just that I see the day-to-day, while he sees the growth and changes over time. Sigh.
Well, here’s the good news. At least it wasn’t money! (I just hope they weren’t important papers.)
THIS time, it wasn’t money, Linda. He’s drawn to paper and cardboard like a magnet, so he regularly snatches notebooks and whatever he can … from wherever he can. I don’t know how to break him of it. I’ve read that chewing cardboard isn’t necessarily dangerous (unless they swallow lots of it), and for some dogs, it’s akin to feeling feathers in their mouth (eww!) So I just watch him like a hawk and keep things up high (and count my lucky stars it’s not poop!!)
Twiggy did that until she was three. She would grab anything made of paper. Lucky for us, she couldn’t reach very high. She finally outgrew it, but we had to watch here.
Thanks for telling me that, John. I was rather hoping Monkey would outgrow that stage when he reached two. Not so, sigh. I’ll give it another year, I guess — and hope he turns into a better behaved canine!
At two is like asking a 14 year old human to behave. A little more time.
I’ll take your word for it, my friend. Hard to be patient though!
Of course it is.
Katie did that with paper towels and tissues. She daily did a circuit of the house perimeter checking all the wastebaskets. If she found either paper towels or tissues, she would systematically shred it into similarly sized squares, right near the wastebasket. Then she’d proceed on with her normal life. She never felt guilty about it. Ever. She did this her entire life. I think little Penny is equally interested, but I haven’t given her any test…yet. Poor little Monkey. I’m sure he feels really bad. Not.
Oh, no, he doesn’t show any sign of remorse! In fact, he almost seems to search more diligently for things he can tear up. Perhaps a “shredding party” is his go-to form of entertainment? Thanks for letting me know Katie did it as well — this puts Monk in good company. Dallas *never* did it (Monkey would say, There she goes again, making him out to be St. Dallas!). Then again, Monkey doesn’t eat poop, and poor Dallas couldn’t resist that, ha!
Hahahaha….so far I’m lucky that little Penny doesn’t eat poop either…at least not hers…though she is very interested in the deer droppings….sigh.
Eww. But if that’s all the “bad” things she does, you’ll both be fine. And hey, maybe she’ll be more interested in other things once the flowers and plants come out!
Happy Gotcha Day, you little Monkey! 🙂
Thanks, Eliza. It was a beautiful, sunny day for us, and we took a nice, long walk to celebrate.
I’ve learned that dogs have VERY selective memories. They can remember suppertime, where their treats are stored, where there’s a hole in the fence they can use as an escape route, etc. But they absolutely cannot remember household rules, unless they choose to do so. Which they rarely do.
Thanks, Ann. I think the difficulty is having had such a GOOD dog previously. I know every dog is his/her own “person”, but Monk is definitely a challenge. I’d think that eventually, he’d learn. I’ll keep trying, but boy, it’s hard on the tiny spot of patience I have!
I can relate! We had sweet Sandy for sixteen years, and the worst thing that dog ever did was jump on the couch. Our next dog (although they overlapped for about nine years) was Lucy, and Lucy never met a rule she didn’t promptly break! It was a whole different experience.
Probably much like raising children. I only have the one son (who’s just about perfect!), so I can’t compare. All I can note is that my sister and I are as different as night and day!
Never a dull moment with your little Monkey! He might just surprise you one of these days and start obeying the rules. Patience, Mama, patience. 🙂
Oh, I do hope you’re right, Barbara. Patience isn’t one of my “easy” virtues, but perhaps Lent is a good time to work on that!
Happy Gotcha Day to your sweet little Monkey! I don’t think he looks the least bit guilty there! 😉
Seriously?? Well, any signs of guilt are probably eclipsed by the pure enjoyment he was getting from the deed!
We had a dog who used to go into the downstairs bathroom and run round and round the house followed by the roll of lavatory paper. The kids and visitors thought it was funny – me not so.
Never so funny when you’re the “cleanup crew.” Thanks, Judith, for sharing your memory. It puts Monkey’s antics in perspective, that’s for sure!