Oscar Good News

He’s really growing up! I had no idea it would take two years for him to calm down. He will be two on December 14. I am so proud of him and happy for my sanity that he’s doing better on several issues.

First, I’ve always had to put him in his crate if I leave them room. I cannot walk from the family room, across little sitting area into the bathroom without putting him in the crate. If I need to run upstairs and take clothes from the washer to the dryer, he has to go in the crate. He would destroy everything from the furniture to any papers he could get hold of to the carpet to the gate that keeps him off the stairs. Several times in the last week or so, I’ve gone upstairs to do one thing quickly, got sidetracked and remembered Oscar was loose downstairs for an hour; ran down in a panic and found him sleeping on the sofa. Of course, Cooper is in the crate!

Second, you may remember that Oscar destroyed probably 20 dog beds before I said . . fine, you won’t have a bed. I tried a couple of times to put various “dog friendly” blankets or throws in his crate but he would shred them, chew up whatever he got loose and that wasn’t safe for him. There’s a dog bed that already had one corner chewed off it and we hadn’t thrown it out. I put that down to see if Cooper wanted to sleep on it in the living room. Cooper isn’t nearly as destructive as Oscar was. That bed has been out for probably three weeks. Oscar has not chewed it . . maybe once or twice when I first put it down I fussed at him for chewing on a corner but that bed still looks good.

Also, several weeks ago, I put a sheet in his crate and it’s fine. He would totally destroy a sheet in less than an hour not that long ago.

The one problem we’re having . . Oscar and Cooper play together fine during the day but by about 6 p.m., Oscar gets grumpy. Cooper will run by the sofa, jump like he’s going to get up there with Oscar. He can’t do it (yet) and Oscar will growl and snap at Cooper. Last night Vince was sitting on the floor. Oscar was sitting next to him. Cooper came running over and Oscar really went after him. I told Vince that I’ll start putting Oscar in his crate in the evenings when he gets grumpy. Can’t have him hurting Cooper or teaching Cooper that grumpy behavior is ok. I think part of it is that Oscar really wants to play with Cooper and puts up with those sharp teeth in the morning and during the day but by evening, Oscar has had enough. Cooper is brutal with those teeth. We’ll get through this stage too but I’m so happy Oscar is calming down.