Who wants a light bulb for a snack

Admittedly it has been a while since I posted about Trooper. I think it's a combination of him toning down the chaos and us staying more on top of him and his destruction. Although it's definitely more of the latter than the former. However it has not been without things not breaking. He has fairly well ruined the small couch, which I'll have to post about later and lately he has been trying to eat the Christmas lights off our tree.

Like many other people around this time of year we set up our Christmas tree in the living room. Trooper barked lick crazy the entire time we did it. We kept him in his crate and out of the way. Especially when I was bringing the tree up from the basement. Later when he calmed down we let him out and he seemed to do all right with the tree, sniffing at it but nothing else.

Of course with Trooper when you not looking is when he strikes. So far he has chew perhaps half a dozen led bulbs. I'm surprised that he doesn't get shocked when he does this. I'm also surprised and a little relieved that nothing bloody has come out of either end of him. Below is a picture of what is normally left. All the glass parts are gone and it's just the base of the bulb.

Sorry if the picture is a little grainy.

Not approved for oral use

In another of Trooper's legendary chewing spree he got a hold of this thermometer. It was on a counter just within his reach right over the gate. As usual he got a hold of it while I left the room for a moment.
Contrary to what it looks like in the picture he did Not eat the tip. Instead he chewed it until it came off. I first saw the tip on the floor And it took a minute to figure out what it is. So again another item fails victim to the wanton Troopacolypse.

Quest: be crazy and destroy the couch

The love seat in the living room is at one end so when Trooper gets crazy he runs back and forth through the living room and occasionally barrels onto the couch/love seat. Recently he broke a support in the back of the couch. Luckily the big couch is not in his running path, so it remains intact. A couple of days later he decided to attack the love seat when the cushions were off. He broke another support and tore a hole in the fabric.
I was at work at the time, lucky for Trooper. The rip was near the bottom of the back on the inside of the couch. Normally covered by the cushions. Kim cut along the whole bottom to look up in the back. The slats were not broken.
When I got home we took a look. The slates had come loose but were not broken. We maneuvered them back into place and re-nailed them. After using a staple gun to get the fabric back in place we put the cushions on done. Good as newish.
Trooper mission: fail.

Give the Doc a hand.

Some of you have mentioned that there haven't been any posts in a while. This has not been for a lack of effort on Trooper's part. Indeed he is as destructive as ever. However we have been better at prevention and damage control, children not withstanding. The kids leave their toys in Trooper territory (also known as the living room) and Gunnar in particular riles him up.
The other day Trooper was up to no good. Doc McStuffins is a popular character on the Disney channel and Norah's favorite. Norah has a McStuffins doll. It's a hard plastic doll about 8 inches tall. Well Trooper got a hold of her and amputated both hands and messed up one of her braids. Of course he did this when no one is watching him. Always a ticking time bomb situation.

Cable? What cable?

I was working on the small stone wall for the garden in the front yard. I had Trooper on the tie out with me, hoping that it would help keep him away from the kids (ours and a couple of the neighbor kids). It only worked for a little while, until the kids migrated to the front yard. While playing in the front yard, they heard the ice cream truck.

The eldest girl took off down the side walk to the street corner a couple houses over to look for the ice cream truck. Trooper ever in play mode ran towards her and was stopped by his tie out cable, briefly. The next thing I knew Trooper was across the neighbor yard and on the side walk with the girl.

When I got him and inspected the cable and behold, one of the loops holding a clip had been severed.

I am certain this happened over a period of time, from him constantly pulling on his tie out. Below is both ends of the cable. The one on the right is still intact and the one on the left is the severed cable.

Upon further inspection I noticed the loop on the right was beginning to wear out as well. I suppose it was only a matter of time before that loop went. Needless to say this required buying a new tie out cable. I strongly considered buying the one for 250lbs dogs, but I felt the clips were a little too big. I ended up getting one for up to 90lbs dogs. He is currently 62lbs. Oh and he is connected to two tie out stakes at once now. He has pulled the one out of the grounds on multiple occasions.

Late Night Run

 

To wear himself out before bed Trooper ran back and forth accross the living room tossing and chasing his Nylabone chew. He's a little crazy. 

What's that smell?

Trooper is normally a bit gassy especially when he is sleeping. Lately however he has been extra stinky. I'm talking room clearing stinky. The ultimate silent but deadly. I'm not sure what he has eaten to bring this on. We haven't changed his diet, however with Trooper it could be anything.
In a curious twist, his farts have been moving in a linear fashion. Whoever is sitting directly behind him would get the receiving end of smell. And it tends to move slow for some reason. He has slow almost projectile farts. I plan on renting Trooper out as a tear gas agent to the police. Maybe he can pay back some of the stuff he has ruined.