My Dog and His Shoe Obsession...

The above is a photo of a household war zone. Betwixt our dog, Copper, and myself. The battle goes like this...He slinks off to the shelves situated at the back of our foyer, selects the shoe of his choice and ferries it back to the homeschool room (We have not homeschooled for two years now, but nevermind, the moniker remains). Never the kitchen, living room or one of the bedrooms, mind you, only the homeschool room will do. He deposits it there and with a sigh of contentment drops to the floor beside it and pants heavily. As if this was some heroic feat and he is now completely spent. After awhile the novelty of this particular victory wears off and it's time for a new foray to the shoe rack. A new victim is selected. Another triumphant addition to the homeschool room floor, another moment of respectful silence in memory of the dead before yet another return to the foyer for more POWS. This continues until the room starts to resemble a scene from The Killing Fields.

After awhile I've had enough of this. I am weary of tripping over shoes and they're not contributing much to the decor. I pick them up, return them to the rack and issue the required, and what he and I both know is an utterly futile scolding. There is a cursory observation of the truce. But once my guard is down and I think peace has finally been given a chance, he slinks off for yet another assault on the ever-obliging footwear.