Chance destruction

Chance is getting along well enough with his kennel mates, Bud and Bear, and he has more space and more to do than he's had in a long time, but still Chance is bored. Bored dogs are destructive dogs and being a large dog, Chance's destruction is large scale. I had been told that he had destroyed a kennel in his prior home. The kennel he's in at our place is our "hardened" kennel. There is a row of concrete block buried on the inside perimiter. There is a 2' strip of heavy fencing along the bottom edge of the kennel, and one section of the kennel has a top on it to prevent jumpers and climbers from escaping. We call that side the "Lexy Kennel", named after the dog for whom it was constructed.

He tore down a string of (non-working) rope lights. Fine, they didn't work anyway. He chewed up the end of an extension cord that was along the top edge of the 6' kennel. Fine, I can replace the plug, the cord is probably still ok. He's made the water bucket into a play toy. Very creative. However, he also tore up the canopy that provides shade and rain protection for the kennel, and worse yet, he tore down the upper window sash on the shed window. He didn't really intend to tear out the window, but I had nailed a rug to the bottom of the upper sash to create a flap closure for the window that the dogs use to jump in and out of the shed. Chance started pulling on the rug and pulled the entire window out of its frame.

With the cold weather approaching, I needed to make that shed cozy tonight, so I went to Lowes today and got a sheet of exterior plywood, cut it to size, and cut out a corner to allow the dogs to go through. It is securely screwed to the window frame (I hope), and the shed is pretty cozy again tonight. Bud figured it out very quickly (rotties are smart) and the other two followed. Obviously Chance needs still more exercise and stimulation. All three enjoy a good chew, so I'll have to stock up on rawhides. I didn't get Chance out for a walk today, but the three boys and Lyka have had a good time playing in the dog yard this evening.