Recently we've been having some trouble with Hunter's nocturnal binge eating. Mostly, the problem is that he's eating the buttons and zippers off Sam's clothes which is pretty much destroying them.
Sam is not happy about this situation.
We've tried to walk him more, make his chew toys available to him while he's in bed, and pretty much every other thing imaginable to no avail.
It strikes without warning too... he will be fine for a few months and then he goes on these rampages where he's just absolutely unable to control himself.
Sam wants to punish him, he says that Hunter sleeping in bed with us is a privilege that he is not deserving lately... he thinks Hunter should be relegated to the crate at night this week.
I can't say I disagree with Sam, but I really enjoy my time with Hunter snuggling. I am more used to having him in bed than I am Sam after 2nd year! I also think Sam is being a little drastic. I think Sam should focus on picking up his clothes so they are not such a target for Hunter in the first place.
This has really made me realize that Sam and I have very different styles of parenting. Not that I don't think that Hunter (or kids) should be held accountable for their actions, but I think some of the responsibility lies with the adult who let the pet or child get into that situation in the first place.
As soon as I saw what Hunter was doing last night, I immediately stopped him and put him in his crate. He whined and was upset, sure. Sam wanted him to shut up and was half asleep telling me he couldn't put up with much more of the crying, but I stayed firm. I would not reinforce the idea that crying would get Hunter out of the crate on my life. And sure enough, he eventually quieted down and I drifted off to sleep. After a few hours, I woke up, let him out, and brought him back up into bed.
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