Last week sometime, Tom walked into the office holding something in his hand and said, “I just found this in the living room. Any ideas?” It was about a one-inch piece of cord with copper wires sticking out of it. He said he’d been all through the house and couldn’t find any cords that were white or that had been chewed. We decided one of the dogs had picked it up outside–something brought onto The Compound by a squirrel, cat, rat, possum–take your pick.
A few mornings ago, I called Margot onto the bed so I could pet her. I felt something on her collar and pulled off another bit of cord with tiny copper wires sticking out of it. Hmmmm. I carefully (bad back!) lowered myself to the floor, looked under the bed, and saw the dogs’ purple rat from Lisa, along with:
and
Then I pulled out:
WTF? No dog of ours has EVER chewed on an electrical cord before. After some thought, I realized these were special circumstances. During the early days of my back pain, I probably used my heating pad. Then I somehow overlooked it after I put it between the bed and the bedside cabinet, and eventually it ended up under the bed. This area is the Margot Fortress: the place where no other dog goes. Where she hides toys so no one else can play with them. Where she writes emotional diary entries about her days as a Dog of the Streets. In her head, this:
(pictured here as a remnant)
was some brilliant new toy for her to enjoy however she saw fit.
I’m glad I have a habit of unplugging things when they aren’t in use. Tim came over with the vacuum cleaner (it lives with him) and vacuumed up all the plastic and copper wire, saving my back and Margot’s stomach. Then, because no good deed goes unpunished, he had to run home in a torrential downpour. Thanks, Tim.
“Where she writes emotional diary entries about her days as a Dog of the Streets.”
HAHAH margot’s so cute.
dogs are funny to me with the ‘rules’ they make up.
bean has this spot under one of the chairs that when she goes there (with the prized toy of the moment), the other two have to stand and wait till she comes out for the chase to continue. but momo & jewel never hang out under that chair – like margot, i guess bean staked her claim.
What I don’t get is how the other dogs know and why they respect it. Dogs never stop fascinating me.
yep, completely fascinating.
I’m glad you found it before Margot got hurt.
Thanks; me, too. I know she must have ingested bits of cord and some of the copper wire, but she’s never acted sick, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s all gone through her system without damage.
I’m guessing (hoping) that your back must be feeling better, that you didn’t notice that the heating pad wasn’t heating.
Margot, I’m sure, thanks you for the nice chew toy.
Thank you for asking. =) I haven’t used the heating pad for a long time. I totally forgot that I’d placed it between the bed and cabinet, probably intending to put it away the next time I got up, then not–and not–until it finally slipped under the bed, where it became fair game.
My back is healing! There are whole days I can forget the pain, depending on what activities I do. Standing still for any length of time is still torment, and while walking, I still have to sit frequently. But I’ve cut back from six to four pills a day. I can take a shower now without having to lie down immediately afterward and put my back in extension for five minutes. I never CRY from the pain anymore (including at the grocery store and other public places). All great improvements!
Gracious.
But that’s good news, that it might be subsiding.
I’ll be a different person the next time you see me. I’m thinking Hugh Jackman, since everyone seems to like him and I haven’t read lots of terrible things about him.
That’s great to hear that things are (finally!) getting better!
Glad to hear you are feeling better.
Our five month old puppy Sam is a world class cord eater. Since we’ve had him, one air conditioner cord. One lamp. One electric blanket. And numerous other things I can’t think of. Thankfully nothing was running. He’s by far the worst chewer we’ve ever had. I still think it’s because he was dropped and left to fend for himself along with his three brothers and sisters in a field alone for three days before being found, while only being five weeks old. How they survived is beyond me. So, I think he has issues…
Oh, puppies. In time, Sam may very well outgrow it. I don’t know his breed, but I know that Labs, for example, can be a challenge the first two years and then suddenly turn into dogs without issues (if their humans are lucky!).
I’m very glad Sam survived and found a good home. =)
Oops–and thanks for the good wishes about my back issues.
Oh, Sam sounds beautiful! (Though 150 pounds is scary.) I just went to your site to see if there are any dog photos, and saw all your happy Pride photos! (I’m behind in my reading; can you tell?) Did you take the photos, or did Megan? They’re REALLY good shots!
Not sure what he is. The vet at five weeks thought he was a Great Pyranese and would be about a 150 pounds. But I’m not so sure. He’s mostly white with light carmel colored ears and brown spots on his nose now.
Labs are great. Our other dogs are a five three year old black lab and a year and a half black and yellow lab.