Dog ate my homework

We all remember the old cliche excuse "The dog ate my homework". Well, Shadow has taken it a step further, "The dog ate my church pew". He could not have munched on it BEFORE I painted it, no, it had to be fixed and painted to be extra tasty. Now, don't get the idea he is starved for chew toys. He has bones, real and fabricated, a frog chew toy with TWO different squeakers in it.

And not just the pew, Shadow figures if it is within reach, it is meant to be chewed. He's also chewed the end of a sawhorse and an umbrella stand I've made. So, I went and found a product you spray on things you don't want chewed. At first, I thought he was attracted to the bitter taste, but then I watched him pull away with the bad taste in his mouth. But since we have been enjoying torrential rain here in Central Florida, the bitter apple taste gets washed off and a new application is necessary.

Another fun application of a dog's life is to DIG! Whether it is the scent of long lost bones, or just wanting to dig down to the cool, damp sand, Shadow loves to dig. And it does NOT matter where. He has dug his way under the fence to visit the neighbor dogs ( and half strangled himself in the process.) Neighbor had to come over and alert me to the attempted escape. He had just enough leash to turn around and dig his way back. I have been thinking about burying 18 inches of chicken wire below the fence to ward off traffic from either direction; but that chore will have to wait until the summer heat has abated. But since TO DOG IS TO DIG! I'll just accept it.