Today didn’t start out so great. I snoozed a bit too long and got up to a puddle outside the bedroom door (Duncan isn’t great about going very long stretches without a potty break). I confess I cursed a bit as I let the dogs out.
Then when I came down for breakfast, I spotted a knitting needle on the floor. A thin size 1 DPN that should have been in a zipped project bag holding a sock WIP. Oh, that bag? Yeah, it was on the floor, says the husband. Sure enough, the bag had suspicious dog hair on it. I unzipped it and pulled out the sock, and discovered that the rogue needle had been on live stitches. This bag was my Yarn Pop bag, the one with the handy grommet in the side you can pull the yarn through. Apparently, you can also pull a needle through.
I got the stitches back on a needle, a different needle because the first had a splinter and few tiny tooth marks, and it seems to be fine. But OMG this dog. I know, I know. It was my idea, and I found this dog, and blah blah blah. I had clearly forgotten what it’s like to have a young dog in the house, and we got really spoiled with the first two dogs, who never had accidents in the house even at under a year old. So it’s a new problem for us to deal with. Like I said, not so great.
So in the hopes of turning that frown upside down, let’s look at yarn, shall we? I have marvelous friends who give me marvelous yarn. First up is my birthday yarn from a couple of work friends. It’s Madelinetosh Euro Sock in the color Daenerys. I think it might grow up to be a Miso shawl, a simple, versatile staple for my wardrobe.
Second, I have a new skein from an indie dyer, Canon Hand Dyes, in Portland. This was a gift from another friend at work, a thank-you for covering while she was on vacation. The yarn is Oscar Sparkle Fingering and the color is called Isobel Crawley (Downton Abbey inspired, as I’m sure some of you could guess). Isn’t it beautiful? I do love sparkly things, especially sparkly purple things! I haven’t decided yet what it wants to be, but I’m pretty sure it will be another shawl/scarf, something I can pet and admire while I wear it.
There. I feel better now, don’t you? I mean, I’d feel even better if I was at home playing with my new yarn, but we can’t have it all, I suppose. Here’s hoping your day is brighter than mine has been!
bonnyknits 
Oh, dear. Poor Bonny. Here’s hoping your day gets better and that Duncan improves quickly!
Thanks! The day is getting better quicker than Duncan’s behavior will, I’m guessing!
Oh, so pretty! 🙂 Here’s hope your day gets better and pupper stops being a doof. Hopefully he grows out of his potty issues and using needles as chew toys.
Thank you! I hope so too!
Sometimes days just turn around when you think about yarn. I think about yarn often😊. Can’t wait to see what you make from those beautiful hanks!
Maybe I should keep a pretty skein at my desk to play with, like a fiber fidget toy!
Way better than a fidget toy!
You stayed positive when life tried to get in the way, and that’s what counts
Well, I tried anyway, and that counts for something. Thanks! 🙂
He’s nervous when you’re not there so he calms his anxiety by chewing at something smelling of you. You should get a cage, that you teach him to go to as a safe place, and you should lock him in there for the night. No, he won’t feel like a prisonner. He will feel safer. I promise. That will help ALSO vastly for potty training, as he will not want to soil his new little personnal territory. Beautiful yarn, by the way 🙂
I appreciate your thoughts, but I disagree. He’s not nervous; he’s young and curious. He has shown no signs of any kind of separation anxiety. He wasn’t really even destructive, given his size compared to the size of the needle. And no, I won’t kennel him. We have two other large dogs who have never been crated and they went through similar growing pains, and are now wonderful dogs who get into very little trouble. I understand that many people crate their dogs, and that’s fine, that’s their choice. It’s not how I want to live with my dogs, and I don’t believe that it makes dogs any happier or feel any safer. He sleeps with my daughter, as does one of our other dogs, and they’re all pretty darn happy with that. The dogs also get a lot of comfort out of being with each other, and I don’t want to take that away from any of them. I believe that this is a stage we have to go through, just as we’ve done with our other dogs, and not that different than what we go through with kids. Not every part of every stage is enjoyable; you just keep working to get where you want.
Sorry. Indeed, not separation anxiety. I thought you meant, that this dog was different from the two others in his behaviour, and that it puzzled you, and for some reason I thought I understood that he came after them, not that younhad all three of them together. My intention was friendly, I see now, that it must have sounded intrusive and I’m angry with myself about it. But chewing is commonly a symptom of nervousness. We humans by the way chew on our nails or on pens, to continue your comparison of dogs and little children (ethologists would scream, but I like to compare dogs and humans). Do you think the dog could have felt nervous simply from needing to pee? I know you said it stemmed from his youthful curiosity, but I’ve noticed on my own dog, that when she needs to go out, she can grab at small tissues or chew at her toys in unrest. I’m now speaking for the sake of my own curiosity, as it seems perfectly obvious that you’re a very experienced dog owner. As to using a cage, I do it, for the night, and when I leave my dog more than one hour alone. She is together with me most part of the time, so clearly separation gets an issue at times. Our circumstances are probably very different. I was advised to do so by a dog trainer and it was also advised in some of the books I read, to help the dog to cope with solitude. I won’t make your comments section a tribune about dog raising though, on top of my first input, but I’d like to assure you that she never looks or sounds unhappy about that cage and goes in there very willingly when I tell her to, sometimes even she goes in there just to sleep with the door open, which would tend to show that she feels at home there-she never either spends long days locked in like I know some people do with their dogs. I’d hate to be mixed with one of those. Off I go to walk her, now.
No need to be angry; I’m certainly not. I think this just illustrates the challenges of online communication. It’s very easy to misunderstand intent, or to think that a small snippet represents a larger story. I know your intent was good, that when someone has a problem, it is natural to want to help them. And I don’t mean to imply that I think you’re mistreating your dog by crating her. I know many people have success with it, and many dog trainers recommend it. As I said, it’s a personal choice, and just not the right one for us. He didn’t chew on the bag or the needle; it wasn’t wet or damaged at all. He pulled it off the table, investigated the needle poking out of the whole, and moved on when it wasn’t interesting. I truly think it was unrelated to needing to pee, or having left a puddle. Using different methods doesn’t mean either is wrong or right; it’s just different. I’m sure we’re both loving, caring dog owners! Hope you both enjoyed your walk.
He must be a clever one.
Sorry you had a bummer of a day but your purple yarns always cheer me up
Thanks. 🙂