Boredom/Separation anxiety

I need to start working on separation anxiety exercises with Hermes. This morning when I ran Ben to school and left Hermes in, he got my sunglasses off the kitchen counter and put a tooth through the lens. I left him out today and he did fine. Ben played in the yard with him until he was panting hard before we went out to dinner and we left Hermes in. While we were gone for 1.5 hours, Hermes took some of Ben's magazines off the couch and chewed 2 of them up (luckily, he had 2 copies of those ones for some reason) and I think Hermes must have seen some couch stuffing coming out in a spot because he pulled out a couple of handfuls of cushion stuffing from one of the broken sofa cushions. Don't know if this reflects boredom or separation anxiety. Fostering dogs is one reason I haven't replaced the sofa (it is in poor shape but why buy a new one). Have been considering getting a used one on Craigslist since I plan on keeping on fostering. I looked into slip covers, but the pillow type arms on this sofa don't go with slipcovers. Dana had recommended some separation anxiety exercises for Bubby, so I think I better give some of that some work.

Not a lot of action this weekend

I left Hermes at the shelter on Saturday and then again on Sunday. He had someone coming to visit on Saturday and I don't know what happened on Sunday. He sure was glad to come home at the end of the day. I had Petco adoption day at Petco Lakeline and I took Amber for the day. In 2 weeks, I have Petco Great Hills and I will bring Hermes there again.

Jeanette gave me a copy of the Austin Pets Directory with Hermes on the cover. There was a cute interview with Hermes about the Barktoberfest in the issue.

Tough dog toy

Well, Tuesday the Mega Tuffies ring came and it has been very good. He plays with it mostly outside though he carried it around inside. The thing is very big. It is about 14" wide and he picks it up and carries it in his mouth, but it isn't small enough for him to get a good chew on it. The 4 squeakers in it are in separate pockets inside and they are pretty quiet. If you grab 2 sides and squeak it, you can hear it, but the layering keeps it from being very loud. If I take it in the backyard with him and fling it across they yard, he runs over there and chases it down and runs around with it in his mouth. Sometimes he tips it up and it surrounds his face. It is pretty funny looking.

Toys

Why is it again that I spend money on toys. Today, Hermes chewed up (I gave it to him after finishing drinking it) my water bottle at the adoption day. I put some food pieces in it to entice him. This evening, we are sitting outside and he is chewing up a piece that he broke off a tree limb. He is also pulling pieces that are more "carriable" off the tree limb. Seems that buying him toys that squeak is probably just overly indulgent.

Dog of the month

Not just the cover dog for Austin Pets Directory, but Hermes is this month's dog of the month for the shelter. He is available at a specially discounted adoption fee. For $29, he is a downright steal. We went to Petsmart adoption day today but nothing too interesting there. I ordered Hermes a Tuffies ring and am waiting for it to come in to see if it is as sturdy as they say. I expect it in around Tuesday. I got him something called The Brute last week and he had ripped the seams in about 1 minute. He loves a squeaky toy, let's hope this new one is "tough".

Cover dog

Well, the new issue of Austin Pets Directory is out and Hermes is the cover model. Check him out.

The weather has been kind of dreary and I have been leaving Hermes inside the past few days with all the bedroom doors closed and he has been great. Even with a case of diarrhea, he hasn't gone inside and he hasn't chewed up anything.