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Iko, The Teflon Puppy
I’m selling my dog to the circus. Or a wrecking crew. I haven’t quite decided.
Iko was a sweet little throwaway who was covered in fleas and infested with every worm you could imagine. And he was barely moving, no doubt from the parasites sucking the life out of him. We honestly believe he didn’t have long for this world.
We’d been looking for another dog, but not a male as we already had one, since renamed Saint Tank. (See this post for more on Tank.) But this puppy called out to us. Instead of squirming like a normal puppy, he rested his little head on my shoulder and shivered.
Being a rottie mix we knew he wouldn’t be a first choice for most people, aside from the fact he looked so poorly. The adoption people said he’d just been dumped and they hadn’t had time to evaluate him.
We took him home. We had to.
Flash forward four and half months.
What was once a parasite infested little puppy has grown into a 45 pound-six month old. He has energy to spare and I regularly let him run our six acres. It took Iko a few weeks to recover from his near death experience, but once he was cured there was no stopping him.
He regularly destroys stuffed toys, rawhides and expensive throw pillows, but he has yet to overcome his Kong, a hard rubber toy made for dogs like our beasty-boy.
Yesterday, he discovered decorator paint and hardwood molding. I think I was speechless for several minutes before I recovered.
I sat near the damage and called him over.
“Iko, did you do this?”
Silence.
“Iko…”
That head dropped down two stories and he stuck a paw out. Unlike his big brother, Iko looks for trouble. He also looks for penance—after the fact.
“Iko…”
Suddenly, all forty-five pounds of him descends on me and once more he rests his head on my shoulder.
This time he doesn’t shiver.
The little guy licks my ear and lets out a held in breath.
“Iko, what am I going to do with you?”
He snuggles even tighter and wraps a paw around my neck.
:sigh: “I know. You’re sorry.”
Glad I always have paint and wood putty around here.
Epilogue: The next morning, I showed him the paint peelings and he snapped a look toward big brother, Tank, trying to frame the crime on him.
Not a chance little guy. There’s a reason we call him Saint Tank.
Your turn: What’s the worst thing your pet ever destroyed?
***
Visit Maria at her website or her blog
Maria Zannini is the author of Touch Of Fire, a post apocalyptic fantasy. 
Read an excerpt of TOUCH OF FIRE.
Not my dog, but my mother’s. She had a shih tzu named Muffin who ate a mail slot.
Nope. Not kidding. Yanked it right out of the door (it was one of those old city mail slots, where you’d come home from work and find mail on the floor of your foyer), chewed it up and ate some of it. He also ate tin foil covered in turkey grease, but at least THAT made sense.
Oh, and he was the only dog I ever heard of who couldn’t swim. He walked over a family friends’ inground swimming pool (we’re not sure why he didn’t smell the water) and sank right to the bottom. The only thing we saw were bubbles and a confused look. Someone had to dive in and rescue him.
Despite all of that we would have kept him, except he decided he didn’t like my mother. He started “marking” her pillow, her slippers, her robe, her clean, folded underwear… We eventually gave him away to a nice elderly lady who said he lived a long, happy life and never gave her a moment’s grief.
Holy moley! A shih tzu did that?
Now the scraped paint doesn’t look so bad to me. LOL!
Marking is usually a sign of dominance. Sounds like he had that in spades! I’m glad you found him a good home.
:) Loved the blog today, made me giggle. I’ve only had two dogs in my life, and I’ve gotten extremely lucky with them as far as behavior wise. My first dog, a cocker spaniel named Scarlet (R.I.P.) was my best friend. BUT boy could she throw some fits! I am an only child and she was my “adopted sister” :) We were together from the time I was 8 until 20.
Anyway, she was famous around our house for tearing up the carpet in my mom’s bedroom…AFTER my mom had been yelling at me. I think she was defending me in her own way. :) When my mom saw it though, she just laughed and decided she’d better only yell at me when Scarlet was outside!
Lovely story today and it brought back great memories.
Great story!
We rescued a lab mix from the pound — mostly so my heeler mix would have a friend when the hubby and I were at work — he was neurotic, there’s just no other word for it. He had major abandonment issues and we eventually re-homed him to someone who was home all day.
Nate ate the wooden leg off our kitchen table, ate a pair of hubby’s shoes (which I was hard pressed not to praise the dog for because I hated those shoes, LOL), climbed our plum tree and only the fact it was in the middle of the back yard prevented him from jumping out of the yard, and marked the Christmas tree which I don’t blame him for — I mean talk about doggy heaven, a tree inside the house! He also ripped out carpet, captured mice, chased raccoons up said plum tree, dug up more plants than I can remember, and heaven forbid we leave the mail where he could get it. (Though I think the mail slot story wins hands down, LOL)
His saving grace: the best cuddling dog on the planet.
RachieG:
Scarlet sounds like she had your back. That’s a great story!
Sherri:
OMG! That puppy needed some doggie downers. LOL!
12 weeks old is normally a fragile time for puppies. They can pick up a lot of fear-induced habits if you’re not careful. I think we went too far the other way and made Iko TOO confident.
Sounds like poor Nate had issues. I’m glad you found him someone who could look after him all day. It was probably good for both of them.
Thanks for popping in!
There’s this stuff called “bitter apple” you can pick up at pet stores that supposedly tastes nasty and prevents pets from chewing on stuff. Perhaps you can put a little on his favorite spots?
Hi Cameron,
I had thought of that. We think he’s just going through a stage, but I might get some of that stuff so I don’t have to keep my mommy-radar on all the time.
Thanks!
First off Huge Hugs taking on a sick puppy in today’s times amazing You turly have the sight & healing touch.
I have always had animal around me Dogs Rabbit’s Canaries Budgies (all my brothers) Hedgehogs that was My secret pet that I kept in my wardrobe draw along with my sister’s & I good Sunday dress clothes. I got the hiding of my life when my mom found out.
later in life I have had cats they were very independent and on a strict time schedule mostly mornings If we slept in till 9am both would sit on the dresser taking turns bangging the METAL blinds till either the pillow went flying in there direction ( always missing) or we caved and got up anyway. Miss those darlings. I loved you story about Iko now seeing his smiling picture I can see the devilish twinkle in his eye. & much love.
Ann
Thank you, Ann.
I can imagine what that hedgehog did to your clothes. But I can’t blame you for wanting to keep a pet. I’ll never be without one.
Thanks for stopping in!
D’awwwww. I’m a sucker for dogs, and this story went right through my heart. I have a huge soft spot for rotties, too; I can’t wait to see the little guy when he gets bigger.
Probably the worst thing one of my dogs ever destroyed was a beautiful Japanese wall scroll my in-laws gave us, and it was eaten right good by my Great Pyrenees. It was my own fault for setting her up for failure, but we’d just moved into a new house and I’d left it down at dog level (though with a dog who stands five feet on her hind legs most levels are now dog level) while I dithered about where to put it. Well, I left the house and she chewed it to pieces, which made me very upset but at least it sort of solved the problem of where to hang it, haha. Still, there is literally nothing she could destroy that would make me give her up. She’s got my back. :)
(Now my mother’s neighbor had a dog who one day decided he wanted to eat a tree. So he chewed down one of their trees and ate it. No punchline, just… he ate a tree.)
Ref: …and it was eaten right good by my Great Pyrenees.
Oh no! You don’t suppose there was a wolf painted on that scroll?
I love Great Pyranees. They’re so protective and BIG.
Iko is just now learning he can stand on his back two legs to see what’s on the counter. If I have to put things up any higher, I won’t be able to reach them.
Thanks for your story!
When Harley, our Labrador, was a puppy, he decided to eat the glass Christmas balls from our tree. And a string of lights. I think he’s had his fill of exotic chews. Since then, he’s never ever touched anything else. However, anything labeled ‘indestructible’ by doggie chew-toy companies is a farce. I give him 20 minutes. Tops. And it’s dead.
The ornaments! Oh my gosh. I wonder if it cut his insides at all.
But I’m glad he’s modified his dietary choices. That would have scared the bejeebers out of me.
Ref: However, anything labeled ‘indestructible’ by doggie chew-toy companies is a farce.
Definitely try the Kong. I didn’t believe it either until I bought one. Two rottweilers later and it’s still holding up.
Thanks for the (scary) story!
Love the story. I have two basset hounds, Ophelia 4 years and Hamlet 2 years. They are our second pair….what haven’t they destroyed?
Basset are known to be little monsters until they turn 2 and there brains are deliveried, but we love the breed.
Hamlet had a thing for books….never met a book he didn’t dive right into.
With our first two, Winston and Syndey, together they damaged a sofa, a carpet, mounds of shoes, but my heart always melts when they give me their big brown eyed, Mommy, we are so sorry, stare. Ands they always were, until the next time.
Ref: Basset are known to be little monsters until they turn 2 and there brains are deliveried,…
That’s hilarious! I love it!
With a name like Hamlet, I’m not surprised he likes books.
We had a little mutt years ago with the same passion for paper. Once she devoured the cover to a library book.
I was mortified when I had to explain to the librarian that my dog liked the book so much, I wanted to buy it.
Thanks for coming over, Barbara.