Apparently Grimm thinks he is some sort of Tarzan. See for yourself:
“AaaaaaahhhhUhUhAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUhUhAaaaaaahhhh!!!”
Earlier this week, he and Zella decided that it would be awesome to mimic beavers and gnaw one of the climbing arms of my Lady Banks rose off of its base. This old rose has climbed all over the hackberry tree it neighbors and thus this vine was very well anchored in and around the tree. Once separated from its base, the vine then became a free-floating, dangling stem for the dogs to grip onto and hang from. Zella quickly tired of the swinging-from-the-vine game and decided to go munch on a frisbee instead. Grimm, however, thinks he is some gravity defying Cirque du Soleil protege and refuses to leave the vine alone.
When he grabs the vine with his mouth, his front legs can no longer reach the ground. At times, his whole body is dangling from the rose vine as he slowly twirls in a circle. He tugs and wrestles with the organic climber but no matter how hard he tries, he cannot pull the vine down. He has, however, caused the vine to knock against some of the dead limbs of the hackberry tree which support it, so at least he has managed to prune the tree for me.
Zella also pretends she is Tarzan at times, although she likes to swing from a proper rope and not a vine. Here she is doing her impersonation of soap on a rope.
Some dogs really enjoy tugging on a rope or other such toy. Certain breeds, especially pit bulls, American bulldogs and other “bully breeds”, have a deep, ingrained desire to grasp, hold and tug. This was originally what these types of dogs where bred for and this genetic trait can be seen in our dogs today. With their big ol’ heads and strong necks and jaws, these dogs can literally dangle from a rope or other such instrument. However, this sort of grasping and grappling isn’t so easy on their teeth, especially when you have a dog like Grimm who now thinks any tree branch within mouth’s reach would be fun to try to hang from.
See any splinters in there? Take a good look–this may be the last time Grimm has pretty teeth. Because he likes to hang from woody vines and tree limbs, he may soon start looking like a hillbilly.
Tarzan…I mean Grimm…hopefully will become tired of swinging from his vine. It looks like this vine may very soon become too high for him to reach. All of his chomping and tugging has slowly whittled away it’s end. Time to get out more ropes so I can save my trees. Apparently my dog has a chainsaw for a mouth.
Grimm's Furry Tail 