Who chewed a hole in the couch pillow?
Away for the holidays with a dog misbehaving out of boredom and anxiety
I saw the small hole in my parents’ couch cover. I looked from my dog Junee, peacefully napping on the other end of that couch, and back to the hole again. I shook my head, thinking of the holidays last year when she chewed a hole in a very soft cotton blanket that my mother placed on the couch. I was mortified and confused then, mainly because Junee has never chewed on one blanket or couch pillow in the three years since I adopted her. And although Junee had been to their home a few more times since then, it was happening again.
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My mother shrugged it off, saying she didn’t see Junee chew the couch cover and it could have happened before I got there. I was not convinced. But as any pet owner knows, if you don’t catch the dog in the act of misbehaving, positive reinforcement (or a finger wagging and a “no!”) won’t mean much to them later. So I patiently waited.
Then it happened a second time — except I was not in the room again and my mother was on the other end of the couch. She didn’t see Junee chew a hole. She just looked at a black couch pillow and saw a hole in it with a chunk of recycled, multi-colored yarn material next to it. That pillow definitely did not have a hole in it before then. I’d napped on it. Plus, I would’ve noticed bright red and pink yarn coming out of a black pillow. (Way to recycle!)
Still, I didn’t catch Junee in the act, and she was once again peacefully sitting on the couch like it never happened. The next day, while I was doing sit-ups on a yoga mat, I glanced over and saw the couch cover material in her mouth. I leaped up and reached out to grab her. Lightning-fast Junee took off running and I eventually found her hiding in the corner of a dog couch. (My mother loved mine and bought one for her dog Jackie.) I shook my head, wondering why on Earth my dog was suddenly chewing holes in blankets and pillows when she’d never done this in 3.5 years of living with me. If I tossed it in her crate, it was fair game. Otherwise, it was mouths off.