Charlie the Wonder-Goat

                                                           
I think we misnamed Charlie. Right now I call him Chewy Dog, or Chuckie Chew. He is either teething or is a goat in dog clothing, because nothing is safe around him. What happened to our "good boy?"

I came home from work the other day and the first thing Mike said was that Charlie had not been a good boy. I thought 'uh oh, what did he do now?' Apparently, he chewed the leash right off the holder. You know, one of those nice little expandable leashes that allows the dog to run around like a fool, dragging you behind him? I looked at him and said "Char-lie..." which is obviously the signal for him to now run around yapping and happy to have attention. The excitement stopped when I said "I guess it's the short leash for you!" He has learned what "short leash" means. It will be another week before we can afford a "good leash" for him, and no, it won't be the one with the skinny little cord coiled up inside. Charlie chews through that like paper!

And speaking of paper.... Anything left on the floor is now fair game, including items he can reach from the coffee table, shoe rack or couch. On Saturday, I found (on the living room floor):

• a chewed up toilet paper roll
• a shredded paper towel sheet
• a sliced and chewed piece of advertisement
• a wrapper gleaned from an unsecured garbage bag
• my two "dog walking shoes" - nothing new to that one, he likes to nibble and sleep with them. Guess that reminds him of the fun of walkies. He likes nothing more than when I ask, "Charlie, where's my shooooooe?"
• Every toy from his toy box and one beanie baby from the dining room table that wasn't even his!

He had been a busy boy while I was teaching and Mike was asleep.  None of this bothered me as much as when he unrolled half a skein of yarn and totally wrapped himself in it, happily sucking on it while he played. Ewww. Char-lie!

Mike and our neighbor, Buster's dad, reminded me that "He's just a baby. He is going through a phase. Maybe he's teething?" Uh, no, not teething, but he's definitely pushing the boundaries, just like kids. I know he's young, and I love his boundless energy and enthusiasm for everything and everyone. I saw, yesterday, that he is starting to differentiate between folks he knows and people who are strangers. And he is very leery of anyone with something in their hand. Maybe it's something learned as a stray, or maybe it's just that we are his family now and he is being protective.

Whatever the case, he's still our pup and we love him, although I wish I had his energy when I was cleaning up after him. Charlie the Wonder-Goat indeed...