Tall Tails: My Dog is a Terrorist

This week I am linking up with Adriana at Dog Hair is an Accessory and Katie at Understated Whimsy for this Tuesday's link-up:

Now I have a furbaby named Moose, or as my father affectionately calls him, "that little terrorist". Moose is a destroyer. He will eat and tear apart anything. He has chewed through our carpet, dug a hole in our mattress, eaten at least 10 pairs of shoes, destroyed three dog beds and numerous toys. Oh and some pillows, too.

Now doesn't he look cute and innocent behind bars like that? Those are lies. From the day he came home, he was our little destroyer.

Moose loves anything with stuffing and he gets endless satisfaction out of destroying it and spreading that fluffy white crap throughout the house.

I have a small collection of some of the random things Moose has destroyed throughout his (extremely) short life:

A pillow. 

Rolls of paper towels. Please note that there are three different toys in the picture and yet he chooses to chew the paper towels.

He went through a phase where he ate his puppy pee pads.

One of the worst. A puppy pee pad AND my coupon collection. I was livid. To this day, I have no idea how he even got the coupons from the counter to the floor. 

My favorite sandals. One of 6 pairs of sandals he ate this season (including THREE pairs of flip flops I kept re-purchasing). 

I have no idea why Moose is so inspired to destroy. He loves paper products and anything with stuffing. I theorize that it is just generally satisfying to tear an entire roll of toilet paper apart and strew it throughout the house. I've never tried it, so who knows? Maybe Moose is rebelling because I torture him and do stupid stuff like this in the name of "bonding":

But even though Moose is our little destroyer, we still love him and he is and always will be our little baby boy. Even if it isn't so little anymore...

Once a baby, always a baby. 

Oh Hey, I'm Alive and Cara Box Reveal!

So yeah it feels like I haven't blogged in forrrreeeeever and then I checked out my blog and realized the last time I blogged was on the 20th. 

Four days ago. I literally feel like it has been four weeks. 

Mainly because this week SUCKED. 

I have been sick, stressed, exhausted and generally just blegh. 

I may or may not delve into this further during the week, but for today I do want to try to keep it positive because one of the best highlights of the week was getting my Cara Box from the lovely Kiera in the mail!

So let me show you all the awesome goodies I got!

Here is the box that Kiera sent with everything in it. Well... full disclosure there was a bag of popcorn BUT I made the mistake of opening this box with my father within a 5 foot vicinity and I literally went up to grab a new memory card and by the time I had gotten back, poof! The entire bag of popcorn looked like it had been through a paper shredder. It was ugly. But I did manage to get some and it was reallly good! I am impressed Cleveland!

This is by far my favorite from the box. I'm wearing it now as I type! It's a ring that has Cleveland on the map in it. Above is an awful picture I took of it but it looks really cute in real life. Even with my little chubby fingers. 

Here is some cool body stuff including a body oil, some foot cream and a lip balm. It looks scrumptious and the oil just glides on and really sinks into your skin. It feels delicious!

And lastly, while Moose did not come in my wonderful Cara box I had to include this picture. Doesn't he look ridiculous? That's how he sits on the couch. I don't get it- it looks so uncomfortable. But he's a weirdo and a goober, so it suits him. 

Puppy Problems

Lately we have been having some puppy problems with this guy:

Okay maybe I need to update this picture seeing as this was taken back in September and this cute little furball is now this:

He's still a baby... just about 30 pounds heavier. 

But back to our problem. 

Moose is a spoiled boy. He gets thousands of kisses and cuddles, has a wide selection of toys and items he has made into toys (mainly my entire collection of slippers and flip-flops) and still has some accidents in the house even though I am convinced he knows to go outside. 

He's spiteful. 

But while at a party for my mother's yesterday, Moose did the worst thing ever: he bit someone. I was astonished. I was also really embarrassed. I assume this awful feeling was the same any parent of a mass murderer/serial killer also felt. How could my affectionate cuddle-bug be so aggressive?

We actually had to tie him to a tree during the party because he would lunge and bark at strangers all day. While Moose is fine at the dog park and walking around the neighborhood, when he is at home or my parent's house, he is very protective. 

So I have been doing tons of research about what we need to do. I never had this problem with any of my other dogs we had growing up and I feel so frustrated. Moose is the sweetest, but he is a big boy and is scary when he's got his teeth bared. 

My limit was reached, however, when this morning Moose tried to nip at me after I tried to take away something he was chewing on. 

So I got online and googled WWCD? What Would Cesar Do?

It turns out that because we have spoiled Moose and let him sleep in bed with us and hang out on the couch and feed him our food when we eat and don't lead during walks and a whole litany of other things, Moose has assumed the 'pack leader' role. And because he sees himself as the leader and our protector, anyone outside of the circle of my family is a threat and thus he is responsible to protect us. 

I get the psychology and I realize it's totally our fault. I have been treating Moose like a baby when he is a dog and needs different rules and regulations. 

So I decided the solution to re-channel all my extra hugs and love is to just simply have a baby myself so I can shower the baby with all the love I want to give to Moose. 

Just kidding.

But I have started re-training Moose and Pedro and I have been trying our hardest to re-establish our 'pack leader' roles. It's tough especially because Moose looks super depressed and pathetic. But I know it is good for him and he needs this structure to be happy and healthier. 

We are struggling with how to handle this and have decided we are going to try it on our own for 2 weeks and if we see no improvement we're gonna drop the cash and get a professional. So I would love if anyone had any perspective or had any similar experience to offer any advice or words of wisdom. Help?

RIP Moose's Balls

So today was a sad day in the house. Mr. Moose lost his balls. But, alas it had to be done. 

My little boy got neutered today. 

And he was paaaaaathetic. Almost as pathetic as I was. 

I may or may not have cried after dropping him off and after picking him back up. 

How could I not though? The whole car ride back he was whimpering and crying. Even as I am typing this up now, roughly seven hours later I still hear a little cry every now and then. It's heartbreaking. 

He sat curled up against his papa's chest the whole ride home and once we got home, we decided to order in so we could be with Moose. I ordered his favorite (yes my dog has a favorite Chinese food delivery) which is basically steamed chicken with veggies and white rice. 

He had his little cone on so I had to feed him directly and he gave me the saddest looking eyes. So naturally I fed him the entire carton of food in one sitting. See? I'm a sucker. 

But I think it will be for the best. Neutering is ultimately what would be best for Moose- and for us. It would mean less territory marking (I have already paid about $60 in drycleaning bills because Mr. Moose insists on peeing on the bed) and less damaged property, such as the mattress in which Moose decided to dig a hole into. 

But for the next 7-10 days, you can bet I will be holed up in my house, cradling my little boy and watching House Hunters online (it's our favorite show to watch together). 

Did you guys ever have to spay/neuter your furbabies? How did they do? Did they look pathetic as mine?