When Troy, our 100 pound golden retriever was young, we would bring him new toys and then watch while he ripped them to threads and found the “squeaky mechanism” which a dog could choke on.  My husband Steve would then gently take it from him.

Now, when we give Troy a toy, he rips it to shreds, finds the squeaky mechanism and gently lays it in front of his daddy’s feet.  He thinks it’s what Steve wants.

Two weeks ago Steve put shredded cedar bark on a plant bed in the back yard where the dogs spend a lot of time.  The dogs were thrilled and immediately took to chewing on pieces of it.  Troy got horrible diarrhea and I began monitoring their time in the backyard to keep them away from it.

Tonight when Steve and I got back from dinner there was a small pile of cedar bark in the living room.  I’m a positive reinforcement kinda gal so I rarely reprimand my dogs.  Today, however, I took the pile, showed it to them and said “No! No you guys, this is not okay!!”  They both cowered.  A few minutes went by and I got busy taking off my make-up.  When I came out, Haley, our little girl golden was hiding in a closet but Troy brought a stash of cedar bark they must have had hidden somewhere in the house and laid it at my feet.

(We never told him he wasn’t a lap dog…..)