Smokey Mountain Breakdown

Crikey! What is it with Cocker Spaniels and paper...and toiletry products?

I come down the other morning and Babe is laid out fast asleep on the dog bed in all of his stinky 18 year old ancient Cocker Spaniel glory in a puddle of 500 Q-Tips. It looks suspiciously like he has stolen them from the bathroom in the middle of the night and ripped the box open to decorate himself with the things. They are everywhere, dangling from his floppy ears like earrings, but most especially in the bed with him.

I stroke his little bony back to wake him up. His head pops up and he looks around with his usual happy senility, trying to figure out where he is.

He grins at me. Then stretches languorously on his cushion of purloined Q-Tips....now...not so sterile.

He stumbles to the door and I let him out, closing the door firmly before he has a chance to turn around and come back in. Babe loves the "I can get through the door before you!" game. He drags about 50 Q-Tips with him to keep him company.

It's not just the Q-Tips. The guys just love paper products. There has been many a morning that I've come down to find that a canine frat party has occurred downstairs and the entire living room has been Tee Pee'd.

I'm pretty sure that Shadow does it just to get my attention. He'll slyly take a sheet of paper and quietly lay in a corner.

Riiiiip......Rii-iip. It's slow and agonizing, like a dripping faucet. He cuts his eyes at me to see if I'm paying attention.

Eventually I'll get up and take it from him hissing between my teeth, "Give me that! Dammit!"

He grins at me and gives me a few more moments of peace before starting in on it again.

I won't go into the list of other toiletries they have cheerfully captured from the bathroom and trotted out into the living room...but it's quite a long, disgusting and colorful list.

Dogs. Gotta love em.