Crate Retraining, Phone Eating, Sitting and Shaking

Howdy folks,

So, Skells went about 9 days with no kennel. During that time he slept outside in his dog house. A kennel was donated to us, but had been run over with a car. Using my hackneyed handyman skills, I took the 2 busted kennels (which were identical except for a 6 inch size difference) and made one tricked out, and fully functional kennel.

Here's the muck he walks through when it gets wet out. That's the same muck that he decided would be a good spot to drag his blankets into.

As it turns out, Skeletor has completely forgotten all of his crate training. He'll walk into the crate at night (after a little convincing).  After that, you had better just put in some ear plugs. He will be making strange noises for about 2 hours. These noises range from "excited monkey troupe" to "lamb in anguish" to "crying infant."

I'm not exaggerating when I tell you that an hour after going to bed, Mel and I were still laughing at Skelly and his bizarre sound effects! We have only had 2 kennel nights so far, and I'm sure that conditions will improve. (that is, as long as people STICK TO THEIR GUNS and don't CAVE TO SKELLY'S DEMANDS)

Some people around here have a tendency of caving to their animals' demands and that is just not how to train them... that is them training you!

Another funny thing about the new kennel.. You see, there's a 6 inch size difference in the bottom panel. It's shorter than the rest, so there's a small opening at the back.

Skeletor can't fit through this opening, but he can and does pull in anything he can reach. He can also move the kennel across the floor using this hole. This morning, the kennel was moved and rotated by about a foot. The black blanket that was draped over the top was inside with him. He had also pulled in his leashes and harness.

"If I have to be in here, so does everything else!"

So, the other day I returned home while talking on my cell phone and Shawn placed an item on my desk in front of me. It was a mangled piece of plastic that was once a cell phone.

Apparently he was playing my xbox while Skelly was being a good boy, munching on one of his many toys. What Shawn didn't realize is that his phone was in fact, that toy.

Kim got quite a kick out of the incident because she warned Shawn before going to take a shower: "Keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't chew anything up."

He's a truly unique individual! Enjoy another Lil' Skelly Vid... 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLgUPhZJ4uE