Poor Fenway. It’s a conspiracy! He’s just doing what puppies do, it’s not his fault that the humans keep leaving chewable things in his path. What’s a pup to do?

Maybe Satch likes it in the bathroom because it’s cooler there. My lab likes to nap in the bathtub or stretched out on the tile floor in the summertime.

I’m sure you were a barel of laughs when you were teething, too…the li’l bastard is still a cutie, even with that demonic glint in his eyes.

As for Beckham, you’ve now managed to explain the idea of “karma” to him.

You think your so goddamned cool out there in sunny CA with your three overgrown wiener dogs? Well, bucko, try living with four Gordon Setters & a really old yellow lab. Then we’ll see if you would be doing as well under a ReThug administration. The old yellow lab is barking right now, we had to hose him down, not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Poor Satchmo! I’ve known other geriatric dogs who decided they preferred the bathroom to all the available alternatives. As Madmommy says, it’s cool in there. And small enough to feel defensible, and even with the best cleaning service available probably smells to a dog more like the Pack Leaders. Also, to a dog with age-related cataracts, the bathroom is the one room where the furniture is least liable to keep moving around & tricking an old guy into bumping his nose. And if one’s canine bladder is no longer as reliable as it once was, there is the fact that humans aren’t nearly as unhappy about unexpected puddles on the bathroom tile as they are about stains on the bedroom carpet…

If it’s really bothering or inconveniencing you to have him in your potty, you might try giving Satch his own airline-crate “den”, one big enough for him to stretch out comfortably in but small enough that the puppy can’t get in with him. (The ‘Great Dane / Bull Mastiff / Goat’ model should be available from the same place you got the Nail Hoist.) If you leave the dog open (off) and hang a towel or sheet over the entrance, he can let himself in & out when he feels like it. Even dogs who’ve always regarded crates as cruel & unusual punishment tend to see the point of a Secure Den as they get old & creaky & their ears/eyes/noses just don’t work so good anymore.

Aagh! That should, of course, read “leave the *door* open (off)”…

“Lil Bastard v2.0″

Oh noes! Fenway has been branded. Now we need to divine what he calls his da. Satchmo calls him Da. Beckham calls him Doofus. Fenway…..?

Well, you can never have too many Bassets I always say.

If you served the Pelegrino in a water dish on the floor you wouldn’t have these problems. I mean, what did you expect when you put it out of Fenway’s reach on a bookcase? Sheesh.

As to the old gentleman spending more time in the bathroom, some of us can empathize. . .

Growing up, I knew a family whose English sheepdog was adorable but not too bright. Come summertime, he wouldn’t leave the shower even if someone was actively showering. Didn’t even mind if the kids stood on him!

My older Basset sometimes retreats to the bathroom and in the dark. But he started doing it before the puppy came who is increasingly adorable now 10.5 months as are her interactions with him. He might have been retreating from me, or just wanted to sort out his thoughts. He always does it before any rain–which he seems to smell 5 hours in advance no matter what the sky is doing or the light outside.

I understand though a little about the destructive phase–I have to keep papers off the floor although she won’t go after anything up higher (and could if she wanted to make my life miserable). Other than that she’s fine, except lately she has tried to eat a lot of things outside as if she were a vacuum cleaner with big ears. We’re working on that one and sometimes she walks perfectly. I don’t want to knock on wood too hard, but I will; I think I’ve made (I hope I’ve made) some significant house breaking progress because I had to start over when I got her.

It’s great to see them learn more and more.