Puppy Inspired Embroidery

Today's embroidery was inspired by our puppy, Shadow.  He's a cute little guy, but he LOVES to chew!  These are the straps of DD1's simple tote bag that she has used for years for her piano books and lessons.


It became a tasty snack for the puppy last week, so I embroidered her a pretty bright new one.

The italics font and music design came with my machine.

It gave me the idea to share our current growing puppy pains we are experiencing.  Shadow is 6 months old, and a very sweet doggie.
Remember this little 4.5 pound guy in December?

He's now 19 pounds in May!

Don't let that sweet face fool you.  Anything at his eye-level will do for his chewing needs.  I've used the Bitter Apple spray on furniture legs and wood moldings, and he does not bother those things anymore.  But, he is happy to grab and dash under the table with anything else he can.  He'll grab clothes from the laundry basket - socks and towels are his favorites - doesn't matter if they are clean or dirty.  They're equally fun to him.

He likes chewing shoe laces.  These shoes are now slip-ons for me because if I untie them, I'm sure the laces will come out in several pieces and can never be tied again.

He chewed the lacing on the moccasin-type slippers I wore around the house.  I restitched it once before he did it again.

So I decided to wear these flat shoes which have no laces as my slippers instead.  I figured he wouldn't be interested...  I was wrong.


DD3's sweat jacket was hanging in her area like it is supposed to be.  Shadow just had to try a bite...

DD3 has lost at least five Barbie dolls to chewed or missing limbs.  We've learned to close the doors to the rooms we want to keep puppy out of - such as the play room for the toys and laundry room for our shoes.

And paper!  He loves to shred paper - it can be homework, mail, coupons or toilet paper - it's all good to him!  More than once has he unravelled a roll of TP in the bathroom.   He has trained us to close the bathroom doors too.  :-)

I took this photo as I was watching him casually check out the waste basket in my sewing room.  Then he pulled out some scrap stabilizer and darted under the cutting table to shred it!

But, when he isn't chewing, he is such a lovable dog.  He'll want to be with you no matter what.   He especially loves playing and running around with the kids. If you are busy, he'll just curl up nearby and sleep it off until you can give him some attention.  There is hope this chewy phase will pass.


Before Shadow, we had not had a young puppy for many years, and I had forgotten how much they like to chew.  I am so looking forward for this phase to pass.  The kids have now given Shadow a middle name of "Chewbacca".  I think he has earned it.   

Happy Stitching!

10 comments

  1. ugg. Puppy chewing stages. Yikes. All of our dogs have loved the Nylabone bones and would chew them like crazy over anything else so we very rarely had any chewing disasters. Might be worth a try?

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    1. Sounds like a good idea! I'll try them.
      Thanks!

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  2. It is a pain to go thru this, but such a beautiful dog.

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  3. Hopefully the chewing phase will end soon. Cute new bag for your daughter and I did giggle looking at your shoes and the sweat shirt. Good luck! Thanks for sharing.
    Freemotion by the River Linky Party Tuesday

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  4. Haha! Been there, done that! :-) I think the only real fix for puppy chewing is that they eventually (after a couple years) grow out of puppyhood. And really, especially a large breed dog, it does take two full years. (My GSD took more like 3) Until then, a Kong full of peanut butter and another one in the freezer ready to trade off, plus a bone to chew always worked for me. Puppies ARE going to chew, so we might as well find something we approve of. :-)

    Oh. And in case I didn't mention it, LOVE that cute bag!!

    P.S. I lost three jackets due to the fact that once our dogs grew out of puppy stage, I would forget to put my jacket up when the grandpuppy came for a visit. I kept dog treats in the pockets and it took me three jackets to finally remember to keep things out of her reach! (Yeah, people are really harder to train than dogs. lol)

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  5. The bag is lovely, as is the puppy! But I know how the chewing can be. We once had a puppy that chewed a sofa and a brand new pair of glasses...it can get expensive!

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  6. Aw - love your bad collie. We have 2 girl border collies who never chewed - I think we were just lucky. Your chap is gorgeous - love his colouring - butter wouldn't melt!

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  7. We had a border collie that chewed EVERYTHING in sight for a few years. Every shoe in the house was fair game even daughter-in-law's new high heels. Would love to have you share this and any of your posts at What to do Weekends Party! Following on Bloglovin and Pinterest. Take care, Linda

    http://www.craftsalamode.com/2013/05/what-to-do-weekends-party-19-and-target.html

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  8. Cute doggy!!!! And that quilt is lovely!

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