OCD Dog

Maple, my Shih Tzu, has a thing about seeing his toys lying neatly in their plastic basket. It's too much for his chaotic soul to handle so much tidiness. Whenever he sees the basket, he tips it over and scatters the toys all over the living room. Then he stands back and surveys his work smugly and is satisfied.

Enter Brio, the new puppy, who it turns out has a streak of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in him. Or else he's a shepherd at heart. All he wants to do is collect and round up. Several times I have watched him rush over to right the basket and then busily collect all the toys and drop them one by one back into the basket. He'll stand and consider them for a while, choose the one he wants to play with, and frisk away with it. When he's done with it, he returns it to the basket and selects another. I can't get my teenagers to do that!