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Monday, April 28, 2008

Horror Story: Got Drywall???







Gail Gregory says...

I remember wishing that white "moustache" on Tanner's nose was milk, but it wasn't. It was actually the drywall from our laundry room wall.

When Rick and I first brought Tanner home, we were bound to "do things right" so we purchased a beautiful crate. I spent hours on the internet reading all the dos and don'ts of crate training. We always had Tanner "go kennel" before leaving for work, or leaving for long periods of time. The one thing that we weren't so good at was crating him when we just ran out “for a minute.” Tanner proved this to us by quickly eating a hole in our laundry room wall. When I entered the house, the first thing I noticed was all the white dust and insulation on the floor. Next, was the white mark on Tanner's nose, and finally, the hole. I couldn't be upset with Tanner as I knew it was my fault, so what else could I do besides take a picture! Somewhere between digging out the camera and calling Rick, I realized HE HAD EATEN SOME OF THE INSULATION. So, instead of calling Rick, I called the vet.

Tanner survived that episode just fine and all was well until about 2 weeks later. I was off to work and Rick was staying home with the flu. I left Tanner uncrated as Rick was home. He'd be fine, right? Tanner must have thought he had been left and quickly started work on the dining room wall. Rick heard the destruction and was able to catch Tanner before any major damage or any insulation was eaten. But, once again, Tanner had left his mark.

We soon learned to crate Tanner every time we couldn't have our eyes on him. Slowly, over time, we were able to leave him free in the house. Now when we leave he hardly lifts his head off the bed. Those walls have since been painted and we've even redone the floors, but if you look real closely, you can still find Tanner's signature on the wall. Some day,after Tanner has crossed the bridge, I know I'll look back at that signature and smile.

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