Skipper’s birthday “pig” is now missing a tail!

We love our Puddle Skipper, Skipper, Skippy, Skipp-A-Doo along with a lot of other nicknames we call our Black Lab.  However,  Skipper has a “passion” for chewing.  Occasionally she gives into temptation and chews into a flipflop, the garden house, newspaper, or some other random item she is not suppose to chew on.  The majority of the time she is great but like us she has a bad day every once in awhile.

When we joke about her chewing passion we often get suggestions….one of the most common is to make sure she has plenty to chew on in the yard so she is not tempted to chew on the other items.  Well, this dog has more chew toys then any other dog I have seen.  It is pretty common for me to walk out and see a line of toys she has recently been throwing up into the air or chewing on.  We have ropes, tennis balls, birthday pig, chew bones and sticks in every color of the rainbow (red, green, white, black, orange), antlers, and a variety of other fun dog toys.

Red Chew Bone

The chewing can be a little much on some days, like when she tried to flood our house earlier this year when she chew the garden hose off the outdoor faucet while the water was on full blast and rushing down the wall of the house into the garage, however, she has a lot of amazing positive traits that far outweigh the occasionally chewing.

• Plays well with our kids, the neighbor kids, and any other kid that happens to be over
• Protects the house and property (and is even more protective when Jake is traveling
• Less door-to-door salesman and random stops, not everyone is brave enough to walk up a sidewalk with they have to pass a big black dog in the front yard or on the porch (even though she would probably lick you before bite you).
• Protective of the other pets and livestock (aka goats) in our yard
• Helps control our squirrel population
• Great friend to have hanging out with you in the yard
• And Many Other Great Positive Traits!

Just this past week I was home for a little bit prepping for dinner when Skipper started barking.   I looked out to see a man walking up and down our street, I am not sure what he was doing but Skipper did not make our yard an inviting place for a stranger to walk into especially with her sitting at the edge of the driveway watching his every move.

Yes even a corncob makes an excellent chew toy!

All the other traits far outweigh the chewing.  We love our puppy and enjoy having her around.  She loves running around the yard, hunting squirrels, swimming in the creek and playing with the kids.  She even goes up in the jungle gym with them!

Brina hanging out with her buddy Skipper!

Yes, this sweet looking and innocent Black Lab named Skipper was the one who chewed on all the toys above.  Even though we find the random flipflop or torn newspaper in the yard we are thankful to have her around.  She is wonderful with the kids and does a great job protecting our home.