I spoke too soon.

Well, when I told you Tyke had not been naughty for three days, he was probably already planning his next move in his screwy little brain. While I was asleep on the sofa last night, he tore apart my leather cigarette case and left it in pieces, so I had to throw it away. As I was picking it up, he thought I was also playing and he was darting around me trying to get the pieces of leather out of my hand, so I had to give him a good scolding. I don't think I impressed him very much. Luckily, there was only one cigarette in it and he left that untouched, so he's not going to die of nicotine poisoning.

This morning he came into the living room dragging Jesker's pillow with him and he was about to have a good chew on it. I prevented that from happening and told him to go lie down on it and petted him when he did and told him he was a good boy and that was what the pillow was for. He seems to have gotten the message, because he's left the pillow alone for now. So I guess now we are going to have three days of naughtiness, which means that I'll have to be one step ahead of him all the time.

He's behaved well the rest of the day and seems to want to make a good impression on me now. As I write this, he is lying by my feet sound asleep.

He has figured out that when I speak on the intercom, it means that someone will come to the door, but he doesn't bark yet. This morning the Exfactor came by and was greeted with much joy by him. He just really likes company and when it is a man, he is on his best behavior. I do have to sit on him when it's a woman. His male hormones make him misbehave.

Tyke's fur is cut short and it is very curly, so today I decided to brush it to get the kinks out. He thought it was very strange at first, but after a while he decided he liked it and let me get on with it. I got to brush all of him and got some tangles out. He looked very nice once I was done and I will do this more often as his hair grows longer and he gets the coat of a real cocker spaniel. I will have to trim the fur by his paws and hopefully he will be patient enough for me to do that. I can't wait to see what he will look like. If he allows me to brush him regularly, he should look great. Jesker always disliked getting brushed, so we always kept him trimmed short, but Tyke will get used to it from the beginning.

I'm still spending the least amount of time behind the computer and turning it off the minute I have any kind of unpleasant feelings such as stress or anxiety. No matter what I'm doing, the computer goes off. I'm learning that the computer is not my best buddy, but just a tool that needs to be used sparingly when I really need to do something. It's not a thing to linger over like a good meal or a cup of coffee with a friend. The computer is not my friend.

Having said that, I'm going to turn it off and spend some time with my four legged friend. It's very good for my mental health, as long as he doesn't do anything destructive.

Have a good rest of the day!

Ciao,
Nora