To have Thanksgiving or Drat! My Dog Ate the Painting I just bought!

There are many things to be thankful for. This year it is that I have never heard of "the dog ate my painting" until now. That isn't quite the correct assessment, but the dog did chew this painting. A friend of mine's husband came to my art open house a few weeks ago and found a little plein air I did one spring day at Rocky Mountain National Park about 10 years ago. I had carpooled with an artist friend as we delivered art to a gallery in Estes Park. Why waste a trip to Estes Park when you can paint in the park?? What does it matter that it is frigid cold and snow is fast approaching? This particular friend never lets such trifles stop her. So we hauled our gear out into a field and went to work. So that is the back story on the painting...
Now here is the story of the dog chewing this painting. It has to be shared just because it is a unique story. So, my friend was having an acupuncture appointment in her home, when the acupuncturist remarked that it looked like her dog had gotten into something and was chewing on it; maybe a piece of paper? except it didn't sound like a piece of a paper. She replied nonchalantly would he mind checking on the dog to see what it was? He remarked "it is a painting, I think" She jumped up off the table, needled like a porcupine to find that indeed it was a painting, the one her husband loves so much. She is so upset about this that she took it back to the frame shop where we had been the day before to see if they could fix it. She didn't even want to tell me! Of course they can, but to pay to remove the canvas remount it and repaint was not worth the cost of paying for that conservation. So I told her I would repaint it.

The back, so you can see the damage

The front

I don't know. I think it is a fun story. In fact, yesterday I had the thought to see what I could do to make the original painting work without the conservation costs as the dog chewing the painting adds to the story in such a unique way. I own a book press, so I soaked the board, which is a soft particle board of some kind, and put it in the book press last night. It made a difference to the 3D teeth marks on top. The surface is now flat which softens the puncture holes. This morning when I took it out of the press, I noticed that some of the fiber board was above the line, so to speak, or sticking up above the straightness of the canvas. I just rewet it and pushed the fibers down to be aligned with the canvas edge and stuck it back in the press. I am thinking this painting should be framed as is. But I think it might also be possible to rebuild the corners and match the sky if required.
My new painting is almost done as well, so there will be a choice.