A New Challenge for the Family

It was a fine morning. When mom took me to terrace, the morning sky was so pleasant to look at that she wanted to click. 

Watch your steps mom

Mom keeps telling that she loves the skies. It seems she once clicked a beautiful picture of the sky and posted it on her yoga blog. Check here if you want to have a look.

Unlike the past days, today I kept licking the terrace floor as I kept moving. I was so involved in it that I did not even bother to run after my mom. 

And I was very attracted to mud. 

Mom, have you ever tried this?

When repeated attempts to divert me failed, mom gave me a very stern look and ordered me in a firm voice to stop going for the mud and licking the floor. 

Which will make her happy - a sorry or hug?

After returning from the terrace, I had a good breakfast and slept for a while. But then, the on and off urge in me in these recent days cropped up - yes, I wanted to bite so many things around me, almost everything.

Mom, can you add some of this while cooking?

The kitchen gate is no less inviting. May be the family can temporarily stop me from entering the kitchen but they were unable to stop me from licking and chewing the gate.

Wow! Is everything related to kitchen tasty? 

I had already chewed some of these reapers so the smooth corners in one or two of these have turned rough. The family is yet to notice it.

The dummy used by father for practicing martial arts entertains me a lot. I do some stretches on it as I had mentioned in 'I Stretch for My First Victory'. Now, I also lick it and try to have a bite or two.

Dad, why don't you give me this and buy a new dummy for yourself?

Even the thin cane-like thing was tempting enough.

This is very thin. May be this is a cane's puppy?

As I was chewing the legs of the sofa, mom caught me in my act. Second time in a day, she caught me doing a wrong thing though I did many wrong things the family did not notice.

Mom, I thought you were working on a deadline...

Even the sack that the family had bought for some purpose had an element of interest for me. 

How can everything be so good to chew and bite?

Things got difficult when I was attracted to the red color object the family calls cylinder. I started licking the cylinder and tried biting it. Mom got frustrated trying to put me off. So she protected the cylinder like this.

Oh, is this what you call a fence?

But the fence itself was attractive. I tried to bite it...

So, I can fail too?

It was not easy to bite the fence. So I stopped going near the cylinder. The family tasted their first success. 

The family tried to divert my attention whenever I tried to bite something that is non-edible. They tried several ways. 

They gave me carrot, which I get to eat almost every day but they reserve it for the time when my biting goes beyond limit. 

Hope it is a treat mom. Puppies hate bribes

Since I love carrots I finished it off like crazy. 

Why whenever I eat, food gets scattered like this?

Father gave me some thick wood to play with. One was very thick and I could not bite it. The other did not have the right kind of hold for me to bite. So, they have given me wood to prevent me from biting wood and other stuff. 

Is it like, "One cannot have their cake and eat it too"?

Dad tied a cloth behind by back whenever I tried to bite things to divert my attention. It worked as I started chasing the cloth on my back. The family's second success.

Dad, I thought you were on my side

He also tied the cloth around my neck. 

Sometimes you can get very naughty dad...

I got tired trying to get rid of it and just lay down on the sofa where dad was sitting. 

It's not fair to play power game with your little kid dad

Mom came in a while, held me and tried to comfort me. But, oh, the cane was too close.

So near yet so far

But how can a little puppy not be tempted by the walls? I suddenly started going for the corners of the walls. Mom thought it was high time we put an end to all these. She sent a picture of the wall to the doctor.

They could have built more corners in the house

The doctor told mom that this could basically be due to nutritional deficiency. So, he increased the dosage of whatever syrup I am being given. Thank you doctor, the syrup is tasty. I can even suggest you recommend an even higher dosage.

So what did mom learn today?

Today's Lessons

When your puppy exhibits obsessional licking and chewing of non-edible items, it could be due to pica. Pica is a condition that causes animals to crave for every thing non-edible, right from paper, plastic to feces. 

Both physical and psychological issues can cause pica in puppies. The most common causes of pica in puppies include teething and nutritional deficiency. Other causes include parasitic infection, diabetes, stress and separation anxiety. It is highly recommended to consult your doctor and address the issue immediately.