Our Leather Couch

Ok, nothing has made me more mad than the destruction of our gorgeous reclining leatherr couches! OMG. Seriously, What the hell?! Lance has had these couches for 4 years and they were in great shape before Nala came into the picture. All the dirt and shreds of paper and cat poop were easy to clean but what is about to come is something that needs a professional to repair!
















So I'm thinking it couldn't get worse...right? Oh but it can. We typically leave the center console down to set our drinks on and we had continued to leave it down until she made it even worse!

The Amazing Pillow Bed

I recently bought Nala a pillow bed with a very modern stylish cover which could be removed for washing. She LOVED her bed and she taught herself something on her own. Whenever we give her a treat or a bone she sits and waits and then when I give it to her she takes it back to her bed and eats it. I definitely did not teach her that, but maybe she just thinks her bed is so amazing she wants to lay and eat in it?

Well...she obvie did not think her bed was that amazing after a few weeks. There was a little nibbling going on


So I took the pillow from her and brought it over to mum's so she could help me sew it back up with the sewing machine. It didn't look as pretty but the stuffing was locked in! I'm sure Nala was wondering where her bed had gone for a few weeks and when it appeared on the floor again she was so excited that it only took one night to rip it open again!!





















This was just a lost cause so I gave her bed to the cats who are thoroughly enjoying it






I put it back on the floor to see what she would do with it and much to my surprise she has not touched it! She refuses to get near it now that the cats have marked their territory and rubbed their scent all over it. LOL

Coprophagia

Scientific term: Coprophagia

More commonly referred to as animal species consuming feces or POOP!

Seriously? Nala is now eating the cats' poo! Not her own... she prefers tne "good" stuff. This went on for a few weeks until we talked to Jacobo (our vet) about this disgusting phenomenon. He knew exactly what it was and recommended the perfect solution. He gave us this powdered substance which we had to put in the cats' food every day for about 5 days. This allegedly makes the cats' poo taste really bad, as if it's not bad enough?! EW!

The problem has since been resolved BUT just to give you an idea of the morning surprises we were waking up to. Cat poo smeared into the sofa (the little brown specs in the picture) and on this particular day she found Lance's highlighter with little sticky tag markers which she pulls out and stuck all over the sofa! Perhaps she was studying? or planning her next move?

Taking back control of the house

As I sit here writing this, I'm trying to recall where we went wrong with "Puppy La-La". MMmmm can't really pin point it but I was one of those who said "oh my dog will never do that," kind of like the blogs Nichole puts up about her 3 children, "oh my kids will never do that." Believe me, I take back ALL that I said my babies would never do! I'm seriously at my whits end with this dog...well not really...but sometimes it sure feels that way. Waking up every morning to a wimper outside the bedroom and some paws scratching on the door. I love that someone needs me in the morning, but at the same time I know I'm going to walk out to an absolute mess of god knows what. I decided to try something new like block off a portion of the house with a pet gate so that way she'd only have access to a small part where she would stay for the whole night in her bed. Hmmmmm, it worked until she figured out how to jump the fence. She felt blocked off from the rest of the family and then the cats would tease her on the other side of the fence. After she learned how to jump the fence, we decided to just unlatch it since it was useless. Well this gave her the green light to destroy the very thing that kept her in her "space".

Yep she showed us!

Positive Reinforcement

So I'm thinking Nala is a little bored, maybe? She might need just a little more attention and a little more LOVE. HHmmmm...ok, how about the dog park?! Yeh, what a great idea. So this is her first trip to the dog park. She could do no damage here, thank god. Wide open dirt spaces and a bunch of slobbering dogs.

Nattie should have listened to the boss

So no big deal with the previous door jam...oh but wait...that was just the start of it. I should have listened to those darn cries, if I had only known what was to come the following mornings.

This is one of two pillows that used to occupy the love seat. I just keep making excuses like, "oh we've had those old pillows for a few years, I was going to get new ones anyway."

I've also been told that you should not reprimand the dog for doing something bad unless you catch them in the act. So really what could I have done after the fact? Nothing, so I just made sure that the second one was out of reach and let her have at the one she already destroyed.

And if that wasn't enough she dragged the angels blanket off the couch, ripped the pillow open a little more and piled it up right outside our bedroom door. Was she giving us a sign?

Transitioning into mayhem

So you'll see why I've been showing you all the adorable side of Nala, because if you knew what was about to come or had she started this mayhem when we first got her, we may have very well returned her. You be the judge...

I should have gotten up when I heard the wimpering the first time. I figured she was just lonely, indeed she was and probably a little pissed that she didn't get to sleep in the bed. She decided to scratch and chew the door jam in the bathroom. Ok, no big deal...nothing that a little spackle and paint won't fix.

The most adorable puppy

Nala all snuggled up on Lance at 3 months...

This is me still building her case. She couldn't possibly be the dog from hell, right?? Nah, she's a little angel, all cuddly, warm, and cute!

Please note the beautiful flowers I had just planted in the backyard.

Nala needs an alibi

Since I'm so behind in this and have envisioned the story I would tell along the way...I'm going to do my best to recap the last 6 months. I'm trying to build an alibi for Nala and give you the good times and the cute moments before I get into her true character. She needs everything she can get right now =)

Her days as a youngster have been filled with love. Her favorite moments being with her "aunties" aka babysitters Andy and Vanessa. Maybe this is where we went wrong because we know that Andy and Vanessa are huge dog lovers and would basically do anything to spoil them such as letting them sleep in the bed (which lance and I do not allow), feeding them human food, and letting them frolic at dog beach.

These are her more memorable moments at her babysitters' houses

Nala with her friend Bogey

The start of endless dog stories...

This idea of getting a dog was never mine...we all know that my love for animals was almost non existent, despite growing up with cats. I could take em' or leave em'. After convincing the 'dog lover' Lance to get two cats things were smooth sailing. Low maintenance and giving attention only when oreo and reese felt like receiving it. After much talk about getting a dog, I slowly was giving in especially since Lance was laid off in June and would have time to spend training the puppy until he found new work.

We walked into the pet adoption at the local Petsmart and saw one little lone ranger in her crate. She was the first to arrive and was cute as a button. Lance was hesitant about picking her up but only because he knew he would fall in love with her. After 30 seconds it was over and before we knew it, we had a little german sheppard mix in our shopping cart along with food, bowls, collar, toys, and a bed. This is just the start.