Dog Days

Today I decided to leave Quint out of his kennel and see how he would do with free reign in the house.  I thought I had "dog proofed" the house last night and even went over it again today before I left.  I left out a few toys and left my caution with the wind as I closed the garage door.  I could see him watching me leave from the front window and I considered going back and putting him in his kennel but kept going.  I called my husband on my way to work and told him what I had done.  Not to stretch out the conversation, the quick summary is that he wasn't happy!

So now lets fast forward 7 hours....  Did I say that I was leaving him for 7 hours??  Yes, I did that - I left a dog home alone for the first time ever for 7 hours!!!  What was I thinking????????  I could barely open the garage door into the house because of the debris.  My heart sank :(  I turned the corner to see the floor scattered with ripped up pieces of whatever.  He was super excited to see me - or maybe just pretending to be excited so as to offset my displeasure.  After I found his collar, I put him outside and began to pick up the mess.

Disaster summary:

*Wii plus silicone cover
*Wii golf club
*Rubbermaid container (contains coffee beans - not opened fortunately just had bite marks)
*2 Silicone cupcake molds I use for my daughters lunchbox
*A cork - there were several more but I can't find them so I guess he had a good fiber intake today!
*His "poop bag" container that attaches to his retractable leash - he chewed the rubber strap
*A beach ball - not just any beach ball; one designed by and used by my husband for a campaign

The other mess was a compilation of things he had pulled down; my Longaberger recipe basket (recipes EVERYWHERE), dishes that had been left out to dry, dog toys he pulled down - this one is my fault!  I left them in a plastic bag out in the open!  He drug out my husband's watch (he never wears) but did not destroy it :)  And, he decided that since no one was home, the furniture looked pretty comfortable.

The point of this blog is to look at things from a new perspective so here is my twist: Quint is uninjured;  which I can't say would be the case if he tried to escape from his kennel again.  Nothing of real value was destroyed and even if it were (I would be livid and very sad), material things are just that; things.  They can be replaced (when we have $ - not now).  When I told my husband the extent of the damage, he was actually not mad; he was pretty impressed that for 7 hours with no instruction or building up it could have been much worse.  That is good - I didn't want him upset with me!

My take away - I am reminded that nothing is mine; everything I have has been graciously provided to me for use while I am here on Earth by a loving God who wants me to be happy.  So today, I choose happiness!

Side note:  the kennel will be back in use as we build up the staying home alone thing ;)