She did it again.
This time Reiko totally ruined a collection of giant sugar pine cones that Machiko and I had collected on various road trips and displayed on the hearth. She chewed several of them into bits and pieces.
My good friend Miz Bitey Dog had suggested giving her an empty plastic water bottle filled with a couple of pebbles as a distraction from destruction.
That sounded promising so I assembled one and gave it to her. She was having a good time chomping and chasing and then I realized something obvious: the pebbles were unnecessary because Reiko is stone deaf. Oh well, maybe they added some visual stimulation.
And then I smacked my head. And I smacked it again. Epiphany.
Stupid me, the reason for Reiko’s sudden terrorism was suddenly obvious. I had been cutting back the dosage of the calming medicine that Dr. May had prescribed at our first Vet appointment in anticipation of sedating Reiko for a general clean up and to put on a harness and lead.
The timing was perfect. As I titrated down the medicine, Reiko’s energy zoomed, she became more alert and rascally and started doing what I expected from the outset but hadn’t seen much of: grabbing, biting, chewing, chasing and generally acting like a typical one year old Mauzer.
That explains it all. Now it’s up to me to react accordingly by protecting belongings, trying to engage her in more physical activity, bribe when necessary and, soon, get to the point where I can drag her outside for walks and other energy dissipation activity.
The doggie’s off the drugs.
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