The Flokati

In case you don't know, a flokati is a type of rug.  It's shaggy and it's normally white and made of wool.

The bad news is, my parents own one.  Well, I guess it's not bad news on its own, because the flokati didn't actually cause any of the problems intentionally.

This flokati has been around for years.  So long, that Snickers (our old dog), who never bothered anything in his life after his first birthday, used to attack it on a regular basis whenever he visited.  Snickers was a lap dog - a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.  If a lap dog thinks this is a fun thing to attack, just imagine how an Estrela would feel!

It took Zuzu about 10 minutes in the house to find it, chew on it, and start CARRYING it around the living room from the entryway while shaking it.  Put it down and tell her no, and it just became a giant game of "I can bite your flakoti way faster than you can swat me away from it" with her tail wagging and barking the whole time.

So, my mother put the flakoti away.  Until yesterday morning when we were expecting company, when the flokati got put back out.  Because that's the BEST time to put something out that your puppy loves to mess with, right mom?  (And I know you're reading this....I love you!)

Jim and I took a couple minutes to try to train her, standing on either side of it and giving appropriate ah-ah's when she tried to bite it and she finally got so frustrated that, just as the company pulled up in the driveway, she walked behind me and peed on the living room carpet!  AAaargh!!  She hasn't had a mistake since we went out of town over a month ago.

So, the pee got cleaned up, the company came in, Zuzu got dragged outside to pee more, and the rest of the day went okay.  She loved the company and was a good girl inside the house and around the pool after that.

This morning, I'm in my bedroom and I hear strange, high pitched barking coming from somewhere in the house.  I head out to the living room and see my mom standing in her superman pose (legs shoulder width apart, hands on hips, like all moms do so well), telling Zuzu to stop biting the rug...in calm, complete, full sentences.  Zuzu is laying on her belly completely sprawled out over the rug, head turned sideways with her mouth on the rug, looking up at my mother, tail wagging.  As soon as mom stopped talking, she would gnaw gnaw gnaw, then as mom was saying, "Now, Zuzu.  You really do need to stop chewing on that rug," she would begin the high pitched barking (talking back), then she would stop, watch my mom, and start gnawing again as soon as my mom appeared to be finished speaking.

When she saw me, she happily hopped up, ran over, and her eyes denied the whole thing.

Silly little brat!