[DeadFish]

I am a lucky man.
In fact, I have a Lucky dog!  He survived 4 of his first 7 months in a shelter.  He's a good dog, but just a big puppy.
A puppy with 'anxiety' issues.

When leaving the house, we have had to put him into a store-bought metal kennel.  Over the last 3 months, he has chewed it up to next to useless.  But we still try....

Last week, I spotted something looking like mud on my el84 based amp on a short table between my speakers.
In front of a window next to the drive way.
Ayup.  Mud. On my amp. AND two tubes!  AND the 300b beneath it!
Ugh.
The amps got put away.  I groaned and groused, knowing they wouldn't be safe unless the dog was not around.
Then I got an idea to replace my turntable for a while with the el84 amp, on the top of my 5 shelf stereo rack.  About 5 feet high...
(you see where this is going, don't you?)
Ayup, the very next evening, we locked up the 'puppy' in his kennel with enhanced groups of locks, chains, and welded bars....(okay, that's kinda poetic license there...)  Came home 3 hours later, and he met us at the door.  Again.
Hmmm... No poop.   Nothing chewed up...
Wunnerful.
It was only some hours later, when turning off the lights, I found my amp, on its top, behind the hifi rack.
Well, the first miracle was my lack of rage.  End of nite and not worth it.
Just took it all loose, and set it down.  Hmmm. Bent over tubes, one bent over transformer... "Go to sleep, DF..."
It took 3 more days for me to get nervy.  No broken tubes, just bent over.
Changed 'em anyway.  Yanked hard and straightened everything.  Nothing overt broken...WTF.
MUSIC!
After a somersault into the unknown from that height, it still worked!
It has been my favorite amp lately.
Now it is my favorite LUCKY amp!
I am a lucky man.
I have a *very* lucky dog.....

DF

[steve k]

 
You're dog is an audiophile!

Just remember Vonnegut's, "Thomas Edison's Dog". Worth a re-read.
 
steve

[electricbear]

With 5 cats and a wife at home I likewise have had a few nerve wracking episodes. Fortunately nothing that has resulted in any lasting damage.The B&Ws in my theater set up have had their clawed up tweeters replaced on more than one occasion, but thats a $20 10min fix. I keep my Avalons covered just incase the little furbags shift their attention in that direction. I did have a customer tell me about his cat puking into his Conrad Johnson once. Surprisingly both survived the episode.

[Eastside235]

I think you might want to find out if that dog can fly...


j/k

[rosconey]

i have 2 dogs bolth well over 100lbs each,roscoe the pittrott has A.D.D.
outside he is a total freak but still comes when told(hand signal), inside he has a dog bed and when let in goes directly to it-he doesnt like to but knows who the alpha male is and does what he is told(i use hand signals because inflections in your voice can confuse a dog, and in turn you start yelling louder and louder-not good)
bolth my dogs were chewers when pups but never touched a thing in the house because they each had a toy .
MOPAR the labrott will roll over when asked what she thinks about a chevy-lol-it was fun to train her to do that -


if i was you i would go buy a dog bed, and start some hand signal training-make a L shape with your hand when you want the dog to go lay down_always use the same hand-when you tell the dog to lay down in a standard tone of voice show him the hand and touch fore  finger too thumb when you tell him -lay down.

in about 2-3 weeks the dog will understand and all you wll have to do is show the hand and touch the fingers, its a great thing when you have company or are on the phone and all you do is the signal  
you can do other signals for other commands.


ive had dogs my whole life and they are simple minded all they want is to please the lead dog-YOU

[DeadFish]

Rosconey, you are a shining light before me to illustrate a 'man of patience'!
You've given some great tips that I know you have had to learn some of 'the hard way' with your 'kids'.  
We had a wonderfully 'spirited' boxrott pup for a while, but the hifi was packed away then.  Once she moved with stepson, it could peak out again.
But like good sound, we have to make an appreciable investment in the critters for performance value's sake.  
Lucky is nothing, if he isn't dying to make the Mrs. or I the center of his world.  But he is still 'a kid'.

What has really 'tripped' me over this event has been my total lack of overt anger, characteristic in me since childhood, when someone else broke my 'toys', or even when I did it. (No, not particularly proud of that one, but willing to admit it has shown its ugly head.)
Damn, I must have gotten mellowed by those 3 grandkids.  Must be 'getting old', but that's okay.  WIsh I had been this patient with all of the dogs that I've owned, who only wanted me to know that they were my best friend...

Although not overtly mentioned, I have been struck by the fact that my turntable had lived on the very same shelf for years.  And removed the day before.  I don't think it would have taken the tumble near as well.
Lucky.... hehehehe

Thanks for the therapy, folks!

Regards,
DeadFish