January 17th, 2011 (Barnacle Wars)

Having a puppy is hard work. I knew this going in, yet I was not prepared. Barnacle bites at everything, especially my ankles. He tries to rip apart the couch. He chews on the table legs regardless of the fact that I spray them with anti-chew spray daily. He jumps at the couch, he pees on the floor (albeit less often as we house-train him, and he doesn't poop in the house except on puppy pads, so that's something). He's incessant, and the last time I had a puppy I was maybe 13 and I can't remember if it was this bad or if my dog is the antichrist. Maybe I've blocked those memories.

So, one of our many efforts in taming his wild ways is to remove temptation.

Anything that would normally be left on the floor is now stored either in the bedroom or on the kitchen chairs. We have to keep shoes in the living room so we can take the hell beast out to use the bathroom, so they are assigned to the chairs.

I would be upset that my chairs are getting dirty, but anything that keeps the cracken from devouring our footwear is fine with me. Plus, we never sit at the table, because it's fully loaded with all of our odds and ends. Just another barrier we've put up against the enemy forces (aka Barnacle Wars).