The other day, against my better judgement, I left the new puppy Sheldon loose in the house while I dashed out for a quick errand. I usually leave the older dog Koshimi and kitty Owen alone to roam free, but a new puppy is another story. He had been behaving so well, I remarked. And he seemed to really be learning good household manners from his older brothers. So I thought. Well imagine my surprise when I returned home and upon entering the front foyer gazed toward the living room and saw a terrific mess covering the floor. No, actually not just the floor, but every square inch of the entire floor of the house. It seems that young Sheldon discovered the Spanish moss we have covering the soil in all the potted plants throughout the house. He decided it would be great fun to pull all the moss out of each pot, run carefree with a mouthful, shaking his head wildly. Aside from the fact than neither Shimi or Owen have ever touched the stuff, I instantly knew that the culprit was none other than the young Sheldon Gryffindor. As evidence, I found tiny bits of Spanish moss embedded in the poodle puppy's hair.
above: Owen surveys the damage in horror, unable to utter a sound and seemingly unwilling to navigate through the mess. Every pot had been attacked, stripped bare of it's mossy covering, leaving the otherwise bashful plants naked and exposed. Sheldon seemed quite pleased with himself and what he accomplished. I looked at Shimi and gave him one of those "You should have stopped him from doing this" looks. He nervously studied his toenails and averted my eyes. I read Shimi's mind: "I told him not to do it but he wouldn't listen. I told him he was going to get in big trouble when you got home." Looking at the young pup, I decided, no harm done, and it was hard to be angry with him anyway, it was my fault for allowing him to have so much free reign at just 12 weeks old. I blamed myself and slowly cleaned up the mess. As I cleaned the floors, Sheldon and Koshimi sat on their little mat and watched me toil away, destroying Sheldon's work of art which he worked so hard to create. Ah yes, I forgot how much work having a puppy can be. But it's worth it.
-Rick Rockhill
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