Barking Dog

Well, poor little Tuckie has done it again folks. In the wasteland that is the backyard over at Jay's house there are various different kinds of trees that are in sporadic places all over. Mostly these trees are close to the house and this is often a cause of concern for Jay for obvious reasons. Since the last Tucker blog, there has been more damage to things like water hoses, window screens, trellis', grape plants, and patio chairs. Let me stop right here and elaborate on the patio chairs because what he does with them perplexes me to no end. All of the other things I listed above he has chewed on or chewed completely through, but the chairs he only moves off the patio and into the yard. For whatever reason, he will pick it up and toss it away or he will drag them off, but either way Tucker has decided that the chairs don't belong on the patio. As strange as it seems, he never has chewed on them to my knowledge. He just doesn't agree with the placement of them. Every single day Jay gets home and goes out into the backyard and has to retrieve the chairs and put them back where they belong only to have them moved only minutes later. Recently a swimming pool was purchased and placed where there was a flower bed until the puppy re-decorated. He hasn't quite gotten the hang of the pool just yet, but I got into it with him this past weekend and I think he understood a little better what the point of it is. More than likely there will be more blogging done in the future about the pool because he's so adorable in it.

None of this was nearly as bad as what he has decided to get into now and I have included photos this time of the crime scene. I know I got a little off subject describing all the other things and you are probably wondering why I brought up the trees in the first place. Okay, so yesterday Jay went home on his lunch break and went out to check on him. On the far side of the yard there was evidence of some wrong doing. It was bark from the tree all over the ground. There were shavings all over the ground that were all different shapes and sizes from where he had gnawed and pulled until there was no more. It reached up over 6 feet. Of course, he was furious and scolded him immediately; however, it did not deter him at all. By the time I arrived at the house at 9pm last night there was considerably more damage to the bark than before. Much to Jay's surprise there was even more bark missing this morning from the already mostly naked tree. Somehow Tucker has stripped ALL of the bark off the trunk of a decent sized tree leaving it exposed to infection and the weather! We aren't completely sure how he started the quest of peeling off the skin of the tree or even why it was appealing other than shear boredom. Jay pleaded and begged after screaming and yelling for him to please stop killing all of the plant life on the property as though he spoke English and understood that he is hurting the ecosystem that is the backyard. Tuckie looked as though he was remorseful, but he can't seem to help himself no matter what type of punishment that is administered to him. Options are being discussed, probably as I write, about how to help the tree from dying and how to keep Tucker from tearing up another thing. Ladies and gentlemen, I think Mr. Big might just be at his wits end! This will make for wonderful stories one day when its all in the past and Tuck quits acting a fool. I have researched online about the tree and whether its as big a deal as we thought and turns out it really could be bad. Last night I thought, oops oh well it will have to all grow back now. But it isn't as simple as just growing back. There are things that I have read that would help, such as wrapping it in burlap sacks. Anybody out there think that this dog will leave that alone? Nope, I didn't think so. He eats rocks and wood why would something that is actually fun to chew on keep him from being interested? I do feel for Jay because he is now very stressed out about what to do with the puppy and the tree. Ah, the many adventures of raising a black lab pup is so entertaining. I often wonder what Jay and I did before he came along to disrupt and complete our lives. Hopefully the answer will just appear in a dream or fall right out of the clear blue sky to help Jay. Any advice that any of you could give would be very helpful and much appreciated.

I guess Jay is going to be the general theme of this particular blog and I'm sure he's smiling right now as he reads this. Last Friday night he traveled that really long and drawn out drive all the way out to my house. Perhaps the month that has passed since he has held Grey baby was getting to him. As painful as it must have been he still did it and then took me to dinner as well. Where you ask did we go eat? Chili's of course! Where else would we go in Millington to have dinner. Grey was as excited as he normally is to see Jay come through the door and quickly put his little hands in the air for him to hold him. The boys got in the floor and played which was so cute. As much as I hate to say it, he effortlessly likes Jay just as much as he likes me, and Jay knows it too. First me, then Taylor, and now Grey, how does he suck people in? We may never fully understand the depths of his powers. LOL. If he wasn't smiling before he certainly is now. ;) We had another close weekend with Uncle Clay at Chicago. He made it to the semi finals this weekend and had many great runs. Our phones were going off like crazy and were a blaze with us updating our Myspace's, Facebook's, and Twitter's. There was a really excellent article in USA Today this morning about the team and the successes. I think that once he breaks loose there will be no stopping MPE Motorsports from being great. I know that was a lot of information in one post, but things have been crazy at work and I haven't had a spare moment to write at night so there it is.... a summary of the week and weekend. Until next time, Happy Hump day and if you are having problems with or don't like a tree on your lawn.... I know a bored doggy that would be of some assistance to you.