There is an old nursery rhyme that goes: Higgledy, piggledy, pop.The dog has eaten the mop. Interestingly enough, a mop is one of the few things my dogs HAVEN'T eaten. Destructive chewing has been a problem with every dog I�ve ever owned. I had a Siberian Husky/Malamute that chewed walls, and a chocolate lab that ate an entire sectional sofa piece by piece. Really.

Now we have Eleanor Rigby, the cockapoo. Ellie�s chewing stage has been a terribly trying time for me. She has destroyed three comforters, and one blanket. She chewed a hole in the corner of my feather pillow, and all the beads from a decorative pillow. She chews corners off rugs, one of which is in the living room.

She gnawed off a section of wood on the staircase.

She has ruined several of my bras (fished out of laundry baskets). She chewed a hole in Daniel�s corduroy jacket. She tore a piece of fabric off the bottom of the family room loveseat.

I suppose it's partly our fault because we pretty much allow Ellie to have the run of the house. We don�t shoo her off the sofas, and she sleeps on our bed. We do, however, crate her when we are out. There�s no telling what we�d come home to if we didn�t do that.

I try to bear in mind that Ellie is only one year old, and still a puppy. I�ve never known a puppy that didn�t chew things they weren�t supposed to. Nonetheless, Ellie�s destructive chewing habits are quite upsetting, not to mention costly. She has plenty of chew toys, but, apparently, they aren�t as tasty as household items.

I�ve read up on the subject, and followed the advice of the experts, but Ellie still manages to do a fair amount of damage now and then. According to my research, puppies chew to ease teething discomfort, to play, to explore the environment, and to relieve boredom. Hmmm. Maybe I should take up chewing, myself!

Seriously, this situation has me concerned. If puppies aren�t broken of their chewing habit, the behavior can continue into adulthood. Instead of eating me out of house and home, Ellie just might eat my home. She sure is lucky we love her!

Song of the Day: A Big Dog Ate My Homework by Chuck Cheesman (no relation to Chuck E. Cheese)