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Mar 30, 1996

Directed Destruction

So far we've been successful at directing Rafi's destructive tendencies. He actually hasn't destroyed anything here but the arm of one tiny toy soldier, a few leashes (I shouldn't count them because they're his), a box of cake mix (shredded on my bed), his allowed stuffed animals (we call them rats), and at least 3 cows' worth of rawhide. He knows "NO!" better than any other basenji we've had; and he's really amazed at how many times he gets yes. Sometimes you can just _tell_ he's expecting to get in trouble (for something tiny like standing on his hind legs to see what's on the kitchen table).

Today my son carried groceries in from the car, and put them in the kitchen. Rafi got to the kitchen before I did (I was still working in my office but could hear him clearly.) I came out and sat on the couch in the den. Rafi came up to me carrying the ONLY thing I'd gotten for him--a pack of 100 rawhide twists. He brought them directly to me (just like my children used to, when they'd find things like animal crackers and needed me to open them.). I opened them for him, gave him one and put them in _his_ cupboard.

There is NOTHING in that cupboard but his canned Pedigree (dry stuff is kept in a big airtight rubbermaid container) and whatever chew toys we have waiting for him. It is rather bizarre--he fetches these rawhides one at a time, whenever he feels the urge to get one. We couldn't do this with more than one dog in the house. He still drags his furry mats, tug toy and sheepskins out of his crate (which is left open and rarely used, now). I wonder if he thinks that when his crate is stocked up, we're going to leave. Maybe he is trying to teach his stupid humans that HIS seat is not the crate but the left half of the nubby cloth loveseat.