Tootsie Roll - Fierce Furniture Fighter

From early in Tootsie Roll's puppyhood, she has shown a distinct preference for plush, fiberfill-stuffed toys. She just loved to tear them apart. She would initiate each toy by first removing the small nubby things, like the ears, nose, or a tail, if the toy had one. After those were adequately chewed off, the arms and legs were the next to go. Once holes had been opened up by the removal of the toy’s appendages, Tootsie would put all of her efforts into tearing out the heart of the toy – the squeaker. Of course, the only way to get at the squeaker was to pull all of that fiberfill out of the toy. It was pretty funny to come home and find little fiberfill snowballs all over the house and Tootsie pleased as punch with herself.

Once the toys lost their appeal, she turned her sights on our family room furniture. It started with a little nibble on the corners of the cushions. The cording that helped form the edges of the cushions was a natural next step. Slowly but surely, it escalated into a full out attack on the sofa and loveseat. It was hard to imagine exactly what went on in our family room while we were gone, but the carnage we would arrive home to every day told the story of the battle that had occurred that day.

Sometime during Tootsie’s furniture destruction phase, we went on vacation for a week, leaving a pet sitter to care for Tootsie and her older sister. Every evening, we would receive frantic calls from the pet sitter describing the annihilation being wrought on our family room furniture. “We know, don’t worry” we would say, trying to calm the pet sitter’s concerns. But, like any good pet sitter, he didn’t want to see that kind of damage being done on his watch. Our old home at the time had only arched doorways and no doors to close off the family room to this little furniture fighter. We came home from vacation to find make-shift plywood doors shutting off access to the family room. Not much for the décor, but I guess it did the trick.

Why didn’t we stop this behavior? Why didn’t we crate our dog? Good question. As younger, less worldly pet owners, we didn’t want to lock up our spirited little dog. After all, we had raised two dogs before Tootsie who never required crating. We now understand that an appropriately used crate can be a good tool for housebreaking and housetraining. If properly used, the dog will grow to think of the crate not as punishment but as its den and safe haven.

Was the behavior caused by separation anxiety, or was it just the way that Tootsie liked to play? It’s hard to believe that separation anxiety was an issue in this otherwise sweet, well-balanced little dog. I continue believe that it was just Tootsie’s idea of a good time.