Actually it is what I want to hear. I want mac to take on some stuff with the dog. While we will not get a puppy when we do get a dog, he will need to do training with it. so walking on leash in the yard will be good. Yeah, she is just over excited a lot right now and has had no training.

Obedience school! I cannot stress enough how good a solid dog obedience teacher can be for both your family and for the dog.

So groovy for you msbelle to have a dog. She does sound a bit of a handful, but also fun.

Obedience school!

Exactly. Dogs are great with rules as long as they are always the same. It's the humans who have to learn to be consistent.

I have left her in the backyard alone for over an hour now, but with windows open so she can hear me and she is not whining at all.

Leise, we will absolutely do classes when we get our own dog. If Maya ends up needing a permanent home we will probably end up keeping her, but that decision will not be made for at least a month.

I don't know if mac is old enough to have any responsibility for stuff with the dog, but he's definitely old enough to do stuff with it. I don't know, fostering sounds like the perfect thing -- a trial run on purpose, and not with what sounds like an easy dog.

Mr Peabody was 2 when I got him, and for about nine months, nothing pillow-like was safe. After that, he calmed down and has only occasionally chewed holes in his bed, usually in times of boredom. It does help to give him a rawhide chew toy when, for example, it's been raining all day.

Good luck, msbelle. It sounds like this could be good for both the dog and Mac.

ION, why do I even bother to read the comments on newspaper articles? The grammar, spelling and inability to craft a coherent argument seems to be the norm. Let's not forget a complete and total lack of compassion for your fellow human beings. I expect it out of my hometown newspaper, but The Washington Post makes me weep.

The Biscuit only chewed once that we know of; he destroyed his blanket and a toy the first time he was in the kennel. Got bored and stressed about being left. And then he discovered that he could ingratiate himself with the kennel staff and hang out with all the other kennel dogs and he became a total kennel rockstar and every one we go to adores him. The last time, in Indiana, we called them up to book, and the girl was all, "Oh, Seabiscuit! Yeah, I'm brand new here, but I heard about him!" We were all wtf, he hasn't been there in a year!

And when we first got him, he took one of my shoes and put it in the middle of the living room. I'd still love to know why. He didn't damage it at all, just moved it. Just the one.

However, lest you think he's this awesome non-destructive dog, he also ate a whole loaf of banana bread off the counter the other day while I was in bed with the cramps. I mean, I'd left it out because it turned out badly and I had stopped thinking about it as food, but apparently not Seabiscuit.