It's been awhile....another chewed library book

It's been awhile since I've had a thoroughly chewed library book come across the counter. But last week, somebody came in with one. Their dog is about a year old, and they're making gestures at leaving the dog out of the crate when they're not home.

The dog really showed some ingenuity, actually. The patron said the book was in the middle of an otherwise empty table, and it was the only thing dog chewed. Also, the cover isn't chewed, and the book is chewed in sections. I try to take these things in good stride, obviously. Elka never chewed any books, thank God, but she did chew things. So I understand. What I said was "That was some good problem solving! Give that dog a job."

Monday Mischief: Dogs chewing books

Occasionally, a red-faced dog owner brings a chewed book back to the library.

I've posted pictures of them before, and thank the good Lord frequently that Elka is not a book chewer. She's not an inappropriate chewer anymore at all, actually (/knock wood).

This latest offering is 61 Hours by Lee Child. The dog owner was doing the right thing by having his dog crated when the dog, a Rottweiler, could not be supervised. However, the dog knocked the crate against the table where the book was, knocked the book off said table, and then drew it into the crate with his paw to have his snack. So good problem solving skills there!

I asked if it was all right to take pictures for my blog, and he said it was fine. We had a good talk about dogs needing mental exercise as well as physical, and I told him about the magic of a frozen  peanut butter Kong, even if it's "just" the dog's normal kibble and not anything more treats-y.

Do Not Eat

So, my lovely Elka. My mostly well behaved dog? Yeah, she tried to give me a heart attack the other day.

We got an item in the mail that must have had one of those silica gel packets in it. I didn't see the packet when I opened the package.

I did, however, see it when I found it chewed open on the couch when we left her alone in the house for like, fifteen minutes. Little bead looking things everywhere. Torn paper.

I picked it up, and immediately called the vet. Elka was still dancing around in her "yay, you're home!" fervor. 

I laid it out for the person who answered the phone, she asked how big Elka was, then asked if she was in their system. Then she said "Oh, the Dobie." I said "Yes, the Dobie," impatient but starting to be hopeful. The person who'd answered the phone sounded somewhat amused. "We just went through this not too long ago with somebody else," she said. "I think she'll be all right, but hold on, let me make sure." I waited on hold for what seemed like an interminable amount of time but was really less than a minute. When she came back on, she said "Yes, she'll be fine. I asked a tech, who also asked a vet, and there's nothing to worry about with her size."

Of course, it could be that Miss Elka never ingested any of it at all, just chewed on the paper. I'll never know. This was Friday, and she's been fine since, behaviorally and gastrointestinally. But when something says "Do Not Eat", I tend to think it's for some dark reason. According to the Wikipedia article (the hallmark for good solid online medical research, I know /sarcasm), "Silica gel is non-toxic, non-flammable, and non-reactive and stable with ordinary usage." However, it does also say "Silica gel is irritating to the respiratory tract and may cause irritation of the digestive tract", which is in fact a valid reason not to eat the things (do you hear this, Elka? Hmm, Missy?). 

(NaNoWriMo wordcount is 40,136 words)

Monday Mischief October 29 2012

Elka cannot claim dibs on this iteration of Monday Mischief, and to protect the embarrassed, I will not name names. Suffice to say, a certain young dog that I know of was home alone. And bored. And...found a library DVD.

Really, I learned something. I knew that DVD's (and CD's) had a plastic bit, and a coating that contained the actual data, and all that. But I didn't quite realize that they were two parts like that. Because the above picture is of a single DVD that fell to dog jaws. I'm just glad that it doesn't look like any actual pieces came off, and I do know that she's all right, as this happened a few weeks ago.

Anonymous Dog Opinion, 3

Everybody's a critic, right?

What you're about to see is not a product of Elka, but rather a dog whose identity (and whose owner's identity) will remain protected.

The book in question, for it was a book, was from 1929, and was essentially sheet music with cardboard covers, on how to play the Ukelele.

Monday Mischief December 12

Is it Monday again already?

Well, I'm being a little mischievous in posting this.

Looks like it would be an interesting book to read, yes? Well. It was written in 1986, by a Veterinarian, though not a Veterinary Behaviorist. So, when I got to the part where Ms. Milani was discussing how dogs don't think and dogs don't have feelings, I was done. That was pretty early. My own feelings aside, if dogs (and other animals) don't think, then how is it we measure and rely upon their problem solving skills in certain instances (SAR and military work, among others). If dogs don't think and have feelings, then how is it that they develop Post Traumatic Stress?

Well. An anonymous dog shared my opinion, evidently. Though also showed great restraint.

Above is the only damaged page that I could see in the book. Not the cover, none of the pages with words on them. Just that first blank inner page, as though to instill the warning "Here be Monsters".

Elka has never ever chewed a book, and for that I'm proud, happy, and grateful. But some books....

Monday Mischief! November 21

A lot of people have truly shocking pictures of their dogs.

Dogs sitting inside an eviscerated frame that was a couch when people left the house an hour before. Dogs who obviously chewed the blinds right off of the windows. Dogs who killed the dragons that lived in their very own innocent dog beds.

I am a bad pet owner. I don't grab the camera when I see things like that (okay, so the bed is the only exampled I really have). I get rid of the evidence, without correction, which is very hard as a person to do, because the dog is obviously looking guilty, right? The dog must know what she did, right? Well, not really.

Anonymous Dog Opinion Three

Please excuse the Photobucket erase job I had to perform, but it was in the interest of keeping things anonymous.  I have to say, I agree with this dog.

Anonymous dog opinion, two

Round two of anonymous doggie opinions comes from the illustrious Tufts University Press, and is entitled Best Behavior: Unleashing Your Dog's Instinct to Obey.

Anonymous dog opinion, one

I work at a library, and so many of the books I read, especially dog and dog training books, are borrowed there.  More than occasionally, one comes through Interlibrary Loan for me with a mini-review attached, given by a prior borrower's dog.  This first example is How to Get Your Dog to Do What You Want: a Loving Approach to Unleashing Your Dog's Astonishing Potential, by Warren and Andrea Eckstein.