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[Steve Trevor is a smart guy. He knows how to do a lot of things. (And if you don't believe that, he's got some stories he can tell you.) But this? This has him more than a little out of his depth.]

So we could use a little help. Does anyone know anything about training a puppy? [It turns out that even doing all the research into how to do it doesn't make much of a difference when faced with the reality.

The puppy in question pokes his head into the frame, a shoe dangling from his mouth, before disappearing again. Steve disappears too, presumably rescuing the shoe from its would-be destroyer.]

That is not a toy! [He sits back down to address the camera again.]

He'll supposedly grow out of it, but first everything we own has to make it to that point.

[There's a crash in the background, and the sound of something breaking.]

Apollo, no! [Steve yells after the dog before getting up to chase after him, and the video turns off.]

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Aww... I do, actually. I had a dog back home. He was a lot smaller than yours, I mean even fully grown, Prada is smaller than Apollo appears to be, but the fundamentals are the same.

( It's making her want, more and more, to look into adopting a pet here. Prada is in good hands with her mother, and her mom would probably be missing her more without some part of her still hanging around in the interim, but Lydia does miss the companionship. She's just concerned about what would happen to the animal when she goes home; would she be allowed to take it with her?

...not relevant right now. Focus, Lydia. )

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...some dogs just...don't grow out of their chewing phases. Yours might, but not all of them do. Every dog is different, just like humans are all different.

( Her lips press together in a thin white line to keep from laughing when she hears the crash. )

Anyway, I'm happy to help. I'm hardly a dog trainer and if you find someone around here who is, for sure I'd defer to them, but in the mean time...I know a thing or two. I can try to help. I'm Lydia, by the way.

[By the time Steve gets back to the video, Apollo has settled and is in fact napping in Steve's lap.]

Steve.

We'll take advice from anyone who's got it, whether they're a professional or not. So we don't have to keep buying shoes.

( Lydia can't help laughing a little at that. )

Okay, well...you're going to want to hide shoes...and remote controls, and throw pillows, and wastepaper baskets, and tissue boxes and probably a million other things I haven't remembered or that Prada never got into but Apollo might until he kind of settles down a little. Then you don't have to keep buying new shoes et al. So that's the first piece of advice. Anything smallish that you don't want destroyed, put it where Apollo can't reach it until he's ready.

You want to work on the simple things, first. Get a bag of treats, teach him to sit, lay, stay, come, drop it, leave it, and take it. In addition to housebreaking, if he isn't already. I'm happy to show you guys how, sometime, if you want. In person, I mean. Again, not a professional, just a doggy mama, but still. Little dogs are especially stubborn and Prada is a Pappillion, so...I had my work cut out for me. I have that experience under my belt at least.

Way up high then.

[He's big, even as a puppy.]

We might just take you up on that.

Yeah, that part is easier with a little dog than a big dog, admittedly. Just let me know! I'm around.

We'll just sneakily pick everything up while he's asleep.

That's how I used to do it too. If you show patience and persistance, you guys will get there.

He seems to know what 'no' means. He just doesn't always listen to it.

Sounds about right. That will usually get better with time. How long have you had him?

A couple of weeks. So things have gotten a little better.

That's good at least. Just keep being patient and try not to let him know if he makes you mad.

Oh my gosh! He's so cute. Um...there should be books and stuff. And they definitely like to chew...like everything.

[By the time Steve gets back to the video, Apollo has settled and is in fact napping in Steve's lap.]

We've seen the books. We're looking for other ideas too, especially if he's one of the ones who never grows out of it.

You're gonna have to keep a really close eye on him.

We're doing that already.

Good, cuz cute as they are, they can be sneaky.

It didn't take us long to figure out that if we couldn't see him or hear him, we'd better see what he was up to, because most of the time it was no good.

He's basically a toddler.

Neither of us has any experiences with those either.

[He's got some nieces and nephews, but missed a lot of that while he was fighting in the war.]

Ah, I see. Well, most of them outgrow it. Some sooner than others.

We're just going to hope that he's one of the sooner.

I hope so too, for the sake of all your chewy items.

My mom raised show dogs, maybe I can help you out.

[By the time Steve gets back to the video, Apollo has settled and is in fact napping in Steve's lap.]

That would actually be a big help.

How did you end up with a puppy?

Diana said "We should get a dog."

Sounds about right. At least he's cute.

When we went to the shelter to look at dogs, he walked right up to us, and it was a pretty easy decision to make.

Aww, makes me miss Mr. Muggles.

Was that your dog?

My mom's. Pomeranian.

Smaller, then, which maybe doesn't even make a difference.

No, probably not.

Haven't had a dog, or a puppy, in a long time....but I'm gonna go ahead and say - just from what I know in general food is like a major motivator.

[Yep, she is definitely thinking about Josh...and Nora...and all of the werewolves in her life and how every single one - even her for a time - used food to control behavior.]

Maybe set something out that he can chew on - food/treat an indestructable toy with like...I don't know - food or a treat or something- inside to give a yes while you take away the no to help him learn what to chew on? Totally not an expert, again, just a thought!

That's good though. No one's told us that yet. We will definitely give that a try.

Post if it help sat all because, I'm not going to lie, I'd be curious as to how much it might help!

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