New Puppy-itis

I think I have "puppy-itis".

I just got a cortisone injection in my hip for bursitis. The medical people explained to me that's an overuse injury. Like when you have a job where you are on your feet all day or riding miles on your bike. I said no, I don't do either of  those things.

But I do have a new puppy who requires constant attention. Blazer is now three months old and has boundless energy. If he's not chewing on my shoes, the furniture or electrical cords, he's displaying chewed pieces of mulch from indoor plants all over the house. So I find myself jumping up and out of my chair, running up and down the stairs and chasing after Blazer all day long. Probably more exercise than I had been getting by a factor of a thousand. Who knew exercise could be so damaging to your body?

Well it is. Especially if you're more or less sedentary and you increase your exercise dramatically and all at once. And with a puppy there's no time for warming up those old muscles and tendons. Or in this case, bursa.

But my body is not the only thing taking a beating with the new puppy. Most of my shoes are off limits for wearing these days. Either Blazer tries to eat the shoelaces, tear through the fabric to bite my feet, or rips out the stitching that holds the shoes together. And that's while I'm wearing the shoes and trying to fend off the puppy teeth.

I found the one type of shoe Blazer can't destroy: Crocs. You may know them as the sort of ugly rubber-ish clogs that you can clean with a hose and wear anywhere as long as you don't care what you look like. So those are my latest stylish choice of footwear. And at least my feet and shoes are safe from puppy bites.

Anyway, back to puppy-itis. The doctor said to rest and stop doing whatever it was that caused the overuse injury. I laughed. Yes, that's a real plan. Maybe I should just get some rubber protection guards, sort of like Crocs for the furniture, plants and electrical cords as well as everything else in the house.

If they made Crocs for the home our home would the be puppy-proof and I could follow the good doctor's advice. Has anyone invented this total puppy-proof protection device yet? I think there's a fortune to be made here. Sign me up for  the full house shipment.