Wishbone is a very energetic little dog. He has an extremely typical “Jack Russell terrier” personality. He is my daughter’s dog but he is living with me and has been for about two years now. During my daughter’s divorce, she was working three jobs and didn’t have much time to be home with Wishbone and her other dog, Sammie. As much as she misses Wishbone, she put his best interests first.

Now Wishbone can be a little bit mischievous (o.k. a lot). He gets bored easily and tends to get into trouble when he is alone for long periods of time. When he was living with my daughter, he was always getting into things she left lying around the house. He likes to eat used kleenex (nothing like a good booger) so he is notorious for digging them out of the trash. He has munched numerous tubes of Carmex, packs of gum and candy. He even managed to swallow the scrunchies she used for her ponytail only to throw them up later! He had accidents in the house. She was running on very little sleep and less patience. When I talked to her on the phone, she always told me what a bad dog he was!!

My daughter and I have a different style of “housekeeping”. She is what I call “relaxed” in her housekeeping style and my style is well– OCD!!!!! So I wasn’t sure what to expect when Wishbone came here to live. I had heard all the horror stories about this “no no bad dog”!! I was prepared for an adjustment period for both of us. At first, I could see why she called him a bad dog because there were accidents in the house but as he adjusted and we began to adhere to a schedule, he relaxed and the accidents stopped.

There were some slip ups. I came home for lunch one day to find that he had decided it would be fun to unroll the toilet paper in the bathroom. Totally-my fault!!! The toilet paper roll is just above the trash can and I’m sure it caught his eye when he was scouting the trash for kleenex!! After a few of these episodes of trash on the floor and toilet paper torn up in the hallway; I decided the best course of action was to close the bathroom door when I left the house.

There was the time I left a loaf of bread on the dining room table for my son to take home with him. We left the house to run some errands and the bread “left” the table while we were gone. Also, totally my fault!! I should not tempt him with food within his reach.

As his mischief decreased, I would tell my daughter that she lied about poor Wishbone–he was not a BAD dog. and every time I did, he would do something to prove me wrong. But his destructive nature was improving. He is a dog who needs a schedule and he needs to have someone home to spend lots of time with him. Fortunately, since I have “no life” this works out rather well. My life is very predictable. Most days I go to work, come home for lunch, go back to work, come home and fall asleep on the sofa in front of the television.

The really BIG slip up was when I was getting Christmas boxes ready to mail to my girls. I had all the stocking stuffer gifts and candy sorted into individual boxes so that I could assemble the stockings and take them to UPS. Now these were not flimsy boxes, these were boxes that eggs are shipped in to Kroger stores. THEY ARE THICK!!!! And I stacked them upstairs so they would be out of sight!! Obviously not a problem; perfectly safe. Imagine my surprise when I arrive home for lunch to see candy wrappers strewn around the living room and in the hallway. At first it just doesn’t register with my brain that these wrappers came from the boxes upstairs. THOSE ARE THICK BOXES!!!! But upon further investigation, I discovered that those boxes were not THICK ENOUGH to keep Wishbone out of them. He had dug a hole in the side of one of the boxes and managed to drag some of the candy out. And he was rather proud of his accomplishment and seemed astonished when I didn’t feel the same way! Oh, no no bad dog!!!!! Still totally my fault!!!

There was also one time I still don’t understand. My son came to do some crafts at the house while I was working. He brought a container with tubes of seed beads and set them on the dining room table. He then took the boxes to UPS to mail for me. He was greeted upon his return to open tubes of seed beads and beads all over the floor. I don’t get this one–the beads didn’t smell like food or boogers!!! I guess they just happened to catch Wishbone’s eye or this move was for spite. I haven’t exactly figured it out yet!!! But needless to say, we had some very sparkling poop piles for a few days!!!! (I haven’t figured out HOW this one is my fault but I’m sure it is!)

We have not had ANY episodes for eight months or so now. I figured out what the problem was!! Wishbone only gets in trouble when he has been SET UP TO FAIL! If you leave sometime within his reach or forget to close the bathroom door; that is when he gets into trouble!! It’s a set up!!! If you check the house carefully before you leave and PUPPY PROOF (This takes some work. You have to learn to think like a dog. What looks interesting to a dog!!) all areas, he is a good dog all day!!!!! It has taken some time, but Wishbone was patient and he FINALLY has me trained!!!! Remember there are no bad dogs–only dogs who have been set up to fail!!!!!!!