Hedgehog!

And just because I haven't shown him in a few days, here's Lagniappe, laying in front of the pellet stove with his cherished stuffed hedgehog.






It no longer squeeks or grunts or makes any of the other annoying noises that it did when he got it. He crunched the noisemakers a long time ago. (Thank God!) But he still loves it and carries it around with him everywhere. If I try to pick it up, he snatches it and runs away, but if I ignore him long enough, he'll come over and drop it in front of me. If I don't take the bait, he'll force the issue by picking it up and throwing it at me or by barking at me to tell me that I need to pick it up and toss it for him.

Of course he really topped himself the other night. It was bed time here at the lair, and because I'm far too soft on that dog, I let him sleep on the end of my bed at night. Actually this came about when I started working midnights because he would roam and pace the house all day while I tried to sleep unless I made him lay on the bed while I slept. However when I stopped working midnights, I couldn't bring myself to boot him back tothe floor because he has this habit of coming in and standing next to the bed, waiting for an invite. After all this time he still won't jump up on the bed without my permission, but if I don't give it to him, he'll stand and stare, and if I keep ignoring him, he'll whine.

So the other night, he came in as I was reading in bed, and he stood waiting for his invite. I patted the bed and told him to come on, but he turned and ran out of the room, only to return a few seconds later with--the hedgehog! It's bad enough that he has to sleep on the bed, but now he has to take his stuffed animal to bed too.


Sometimes I cannot believe that this creature actually used to be a fierce and vicious police dog.