The following statement I am blaming entirely on an estrogen imbalance and the BCP being used to treat it by adding extra estrogen to my system, but...

OMG LOOK AT THE CUTE LITTLE FUZZY WUZZY FACE!!!!! I JUST WANNA SQUISH HIM INTO WIDDLE BITTY BITS!!!!

Okay, I'm better now.

(Puppy!!)

MUA HA HA HA!! A Cat would never do that!!! Silly DOG person!

(A cat would be much more devious and frustrating. For the laptop is competition!)

Skittles - it's not the estrogen. That little guy is objectively teh qewt.

I have no doubt that the cord was defective and that if Monty had not disabled it a terrible fire would have resulted. Give that puppy a biscuit!

While you're out, pick up some bitter apple at the pet store and smear it all over your cords. He can get hurt if he chews through the wrong cord at the wrong time.

BUT LOOK AT THAT FACE!!!!

No, a cat would just vomit on your keyboard or in your CD drive. Don't get any ideas, Agatha!

Wow, Monty's adorable. What breed is he? Definitely use the bitter apple, you don't want a dog that chews power cords. Bad for him, bad for you. The thing is, puppies chew. Give him his own things to chew to dissuade him somewhat, but you're still going to lose stuff.

*nawm nawm nawm*

mmmmmmm.....expensive electronic equipment.

In that picture, he really looks like he just wants it back to finish the job.

so cute!

::head explodes::

that is a very comical picture...i like what hes doing...hes sort of shamed. sad. but cute.

Blue,
He's a mini aussie. Here's a link to a rescue organization:
http://www.miniaussierescue.org/
and another website with more links to aussie rescue groups:
http://www.mascaonline.org/Rescue.htm

watch out- i tried bitter apple and had to purchase two new keyboards before i finally just set a baby gate around the cords.

Oh dear. Our family's first beagle, Candi, chewed everything. I was 9 when we got her and my brother 6. It was around the same time we got our first Nintendo. Without fail, my brother would neglect to put the system away when finished playing, and Candi would chew the wires and/or controllers. She also chewed the legs of my mom's furniture to bits. Bitter apple was more plentiful than milk in our house. Finally, little bro would also leave his glasses on the floor constantly. Candi chewed those suckers real good. To teach him a lesson my parents refused to get them fixed and instead taped them back together. His first grade class picture is hilarious, dorky proof!

Hey, a cat wouldn't puke on the computer, it would just be obnoxious and lay across the keyboard while you type an important paper and/or chew/claw the printed paper. My rabbit thought cords/carpet/books were delicious no matter how much bitter spray I used.

Can the dog people and cat people please call truce? It is not necessary to choose a side in this fight; some of us love all our furry friends!

Am I the only one that sees the devious glint in Monty's eyes?

I THINK (can't tell, he's not my dog :( )hes an Australian Shepherd...that breed is just gorgeous, and the pink-nosed puppy in particular.

A family friend had a cat who liked to chew electrical cords. She ended up putting some cayenne pepper on the cords in her house and in the process figured out that the cat was probably getting shocked while chewing the cords.

Am I the only one that sees the devious glint in Monty's eyes?

That's the glint of victory.

Your puppy is sinfully cute!!!
I adopted 2 year old adult bulldog-mix last year. When I first bought her home she chewed on every available shoe and every bit of wood furniture (serious damage with those jaws).
I bought an inexpensive product called Bitter End that nipped that problem within a weekend. I now keep all the shoes in one area which the dog associates with the bitter taste. I doused all the wood furniture with the stuff, so the dog won't dare chew on any of that. Then I bought her lots of toys until I figured out what she likes to gnaw on (Kong bones). Problem solved.
It might take you a little bit longer to train a puppy, but try it! You'll both be so much happier. Just be careful not to inhale the stuff after you spray it and don't accidently get it in your mouth. Its fucking gross!
Good luck!

Hi Jessica,
I am a Hungarian feminist blogger who has a dog, too -- a Hungarian vizsla :) She used to chew a lot of things, too. Fortunately, she stopped doing that when she became an adult (1,5 years old or so). But there was a book that helped us and her a lot -- I think it's a very important reading for everyone raising a dog: Jan Fennel's The Dog Listener. It helps understand dogs' behaviour and helps you make life easier for them.

We tried bitter apple with no luck. A crate works really well when we aren't home - ours was crate-trained from the humane society.

It's hard to stay mad at them when they're that cute, isn't it?

Well I don't see the devious glint. In fact, he looks sorry to me. I say give him a biscuit to allay the guilt.

(And I guess I just demonstrated why I would not make a very good parent.)

Aww, dude, I would so wrestle and roughouse with that dog and throw it up and down and tickle it.

He looks like a little panda.

Hey! My cat HAS done that. (Boo all you people who think cats aren't destructive.) I have lost a cell phone charger, a keyboard and a set of computer speakers because the wires were chewed through.

(A cat would be much more devious and frustrating. For the laptop is competition!)

See, my cat just sees my laptop as a heated sleeping pad. And my toes as chew toys.

Hahah! I agree, Monty looks pretty pleased with himself.

I just adopted an adult cat from the SPCA last week. She was only there for about a week, but in that span, she managed to pick up a virus that developed into an upper respiratory infection.

I took her to the vet, who prescribed her... drumroll, please... BANANA-FLAVORED amoxycillin. Naturally, my cat thinks it is VILE. (And it is, even for people.) Let me tell you, I have had ALL KINDS of fun bonding with my new pet, trying to give her her medicine.

I have to wrap her in a towel so she doesn't scratch the he** out of me, force her mouth open, and squirt the medicine in with an eyedropper, twice a day. Thankfully, we're 2/3 through the bottle.

All kinds of fun. :-/

DrkEyedCajn, I went through something similar a few months ago when I had to give my 15 y/o cat amoxycillin for a UTI. It was this horrible pink bubble gum flavor that no self-respecting human would enjoy—much less a cat.

I've since learned that pet medicines can be flavored with things a pet might actually not despise (beef, chicken, fish, etc.), but my vet's office hasn't gotten the memo.

Topic? Monty is Teh Cute, and that pic is perfect!

Hey! My cat HAS done that. (Boo all you people who think cats aren't destructive.) I have lost a cell phone charger, a keyboard and a set of computer speakers because the wires were chewed through.
My cat never chewed things, but she licked plastic like a maniac. If I wanted to sleep through the night I had to hide anything plastic in my room.
Also, whenever I tried to type she would lay on the keyboard. If I was working with papers she would lay on them.

My cats destroyed nearly all my furniture.

My dog took care of destroying everyting else - clothes, books, shoes, carpeting, flooring, what was left of the furniture....

Still, I cried like a baby when my cats died and I'd do anything for my dog. Monty looks like a charmer. How could you stay mad when he's just doing what a puppy does?

Bitter apple works with some dogs but the best thing to do is:

1. Walks - Tire the little bugger out so that he's not nervous and looking for something to do.
2. Put it away - If you don't want them to chew it for at least the first year, before you leave them alone, everything has got to be put away. It sucks, but there it is. Your house will look tidier.
3. Chew toys - Ofcoure I saw the video of Monty versus the rawhide (which was so damn cute) but giving him something to work his teeth on while he's teething is good.

My friend has a cat that, even as an adult, still likes to try and get away with chewing cords, then again my friend does say that she thinks the cat thinks it's a dog...

But there was frequent use of a water bottle whenever the cat went after any of the cords.

Mine ate my I-pod pretty early on... so I got to upgrade. A year old now and the chewing is reserved for his own toys... so no worries, it doesn't last too long. But you can't get mad at a face like that!

There are a few different kinds of chew deterrents. If bitter apple doesn't work, there's bitter yuck (which I'm pretty sure my dog actually LIKES) and a couple of others. Different ones work with different dogs for some reason, but try them. Also, crating and lots of available bones and chew toys to distract him.

oh no!

Bunnies are even worse. They will chew ANYTHING.

One thing my dogs like is the Nylabone chewies. My 16 pound dog likes the "Double Action" green and white toy. It's got 3 or 4 nubs on each end plus nubs in the middle.

Cords have that lovely chewy foamy thing going for them though. Yum.

I have not had success with bitter apple. Instead, we just make sure cords are not accessible and other things they might destroy are a)replaceable or b)out of reach.

About medications though: I've had great success with pills, but only limited success with liquids. So now I ask for pills if we have to medicate a pet. We put the pills inside "pill pockets" that are little treats with holes. The cats/ dog munch them right up. Luckily, all our pets like the pill pocket flavors.

We just adopted two cats, and one of them (The Professor, no less!) likes to try to chew on my power cord--same cord as yours, in almost the same spot! Clearly Apple put something yummy right there. ;)

*gasp* Naughty thing!

It's always heartbreaking when Casper comes up to rub and bestow affection on my while I'm at the computer... because I always ignore him after the first scratch and so he goes over and gnaws on cords. Then I have to shout at him, and he runs away and looks at me all confused and heartbroken. He probably thinks I just don't want him to give me luvs.