Or rather, a really large problem that I’m kind of trying to downplay.
Now, before I get started and you go getting the wrong idea, I would just like to say that I adore my dog. He’s sweet, cuddly, and wonderful. Plus, how could you not love this face?
But. Ranger can be a…handful. To say the least. It’s not really his fault. After all, I’ve heard that lab puppies are notoriously destructive and can be very difficult to deal with. Corey and I count ourselves lucky that he’s not among the lab puppies that like to eat walls.
But, you see, he really loves hanging out on our ottoman. You know, this one:
He’s a big fan of napping there, or just hanging out and watching tv (seriously, he watches tv. But that’s another post for another day). And it’s totally fine that he hangs out there. It’s pretty darn cute, in fact.
The problem comes in when Cullen runs by. Or walks by. Or looks at Ranger. Or, you know, breathes. Because then Ranger decides that it is time to play. Right now. And he launches himself off of the ottoman, sending the ottoman flying into the wall behind it.
Do you see where this is going?
This has been happening on a regular basis for the last 7 (almost 8 ) months that we’ve lived here, but we hadn’t really thought much about it. Our walls are pretty dark and it’s hard to notice any damage or anything.
Until…the other day Corey and I noticed something looked a little strange about the wall by the ottoman.
Um…uh oh?
It starts at the bottom of the wall and goes about 3/4 of the way up. Now, in our defense, this wall was already very damaged when we moved in. There was a pretty large crack a few feet off the ground (you can see it in the second photo), and I’m guessing that Ranger’s ottoman launching has just made a pre-existing problem worse. Much worse.
We have no idea what to do about this problem. Currently, we just keep the ottoman pushed up against the wall so that when he jumps off of it, it can’t move. However, that isn’t exactly aesthetically pleasing. In fact, it looks downright silly. Plus, what the hell are we supposed to do when we’re moving out and the landlord notices the HUGE CRACK IN THE WALL?!
“Oh, sorry, our dog likes to throw furniture.”
Yeah, that should go over well.
So, my question is, can we fix this? Is there something Corey and I can do to fix it on the cheap so that we don’t lose our entire deposit (and maybe then some) when we move out, or are we just totally screwed? And, please, someone tell me about your dog’s destructive tendencies – I need comforting.
Tiffany says
Oh wow! That is a big ass crack! I would just spackle the hell out of it and act like nothing happened when it came time to move out. But then again, I’m kind of an a-hole 😉
Anni says
I would also patch/spackle it. We’ve had to do that in previous apartments, because most of ours have been 80 years old or so, and they just keep recurring.
[email protected] says
Sounds like you have the suggestions covered, but I just wanted to let you know that I have a reformed destructive dog. Or at least I think she’s reformed, she no longer tears up our house, though it’s unknown if she would tear up someone else’s house if we took her over there because we don’t try it. She’s 4 now, and things are much better, but in the beginning I was scared to go home because I didn’t know what I would find destroyed.
Clare says
Just wanted to say a few things. 1) Your dog is adorable and I want to cuddle him! 2) I understand destructive dog behavior. Our dog, while the sweetest boy ever, humps things whenever he gets anxious. He humps pillows, blankets, towels, couch cushions…it’s bad. He tore a huge hole in our last couch that DH had to sew. Unfortunately there is nothing we can do about it. 3) I think the above suggestions are great. I think as long as you can make it look like nothing has happened you will be okay. Good luck to you!!!
Jessica says
I like the above suggestion to put a piece of plywood there to keep it from hitting the wall, and then spackle that crack right before you move. 😀
Abby says
I was going to suggest spackle / sanding / paint, too — but like others have said, wait until you’re ready to move to fix the problem! Good luck!
Mandy says
Unfortunately, we DO have the kind of dogs that eat walls, so we’re pretty well versed in spackle. It’ll definitely cover up the problem enough that your landlord won’t notice it, but probably won’t be permanent, like Sarah said. I’d advise you to patch it anyway though, just so it doesn’t get too much worse in the meantime, and you can always touch up later. Also, since you have textured walls, that’ll be a little more difficult, but Corey is creative…maybe he can make it look consistent!
Good luck!
Sarah says
My hubby (who has built homes and is a 3rd generation woodworker) says this…
The reason it’s cracking is because there is no stud…it is unsupported. So no matter what you do it’s probably going re-occur. A temporary fix would be to get a low shrink plaster or spackle, put it on the wall over the crack, let it dry, sand it smooth then paint the wall.
Now, he suggested not doing this until you’re ready to move out cause if you do it now it will just reappear eventually and you’ll just have to keep re-fixing it. So for now just get a piece of plywood and put it up against the wall. This will disperse the force of the ottoman across the wall when your pup decides to launch himself. 😉
Hopefully that helps!!
Jill says
Have you tried spackling it? You’ll have to then paint over the dried, sanded spackle but it should help!