Years ago we brought a young Smooth Collie into our family. She arrived via the "underground railroad", relay style, from the US to Canada. It was a long stressful journey, but she arrived safe and sound. I was absolutely exhausted after driving the last leg of her trip, and to top it off, I wasn't feeling well either. Before I even thought about crating her, I ended up falling asleep on the couch.
This one was my fault, as many of these situations are. After all, if you take care of your things, and take proper care of your dog, they won't have the opportunity to ingest such items. The dog trainer in me, always has to speak up prior to this story. Again... this was my fault, not the dogs.
A strange sound coming from within our bedroom awoke me some time later. Sitting up, completely disorientated, it took me a minute to even realize where I was. Then it hit me. MISTY! We had a puppy in the house and I fell asleep! I knew I'd screwed up before I even made it to the other room. All I could hope was that she was okay, and that whatever she was into wouldn't hurt her.
So what was the strange noise? A Collie puppy eating our mattress.
We couldn't afford to replace it, so we flipped it over. Thus covering the two foot wide hole in the very center of it. An expensive mistake, but at least Misty was just fine. No lasting damage beyond a bit of a tummy ache that evening.
Will I ever fall asleep with a puppy, full of pent up energy, loose in the house again? Not on your life. I have not done it again, nor will I ever.
misty when she was a baby
