Well, who needs two control keys anyway

Today I went on the first "long" run of my half-marathon training program, long being only 4 miles this first week. And I felt fabulous, thanks for asking! I took Toby along with me, since he and I have finally become well-suited running partners. He had a great time and apparently, he has more friends than I do. We ran into three dogs that he knows - a Doberman named Ringo, whom we know from the park (so I don't really know his person), and my friend Jane's two dogs, PD and Koya, who were out with a dog-walker.

Now Nelly is none too happy about being left out of the fun, but I just can't run with the both of them and besides, she's slowing down more than he is. So when I got home, I immediately took her on a little walk by herself - just around the block, as my cool-down. But she was thrilled, you could tell.

Toby cannot be left to roam the house by himself. A complete extrovert, he absolutely cannot stand to be alone. When left alone, he responds by eating the worst possible thing he can think of, I believe on the assumption that if he does something really, really bad, we will have to come back at least to punish him, which is better than being alone. (Oh, the blogs I could write about the stupid things Toby has eaten...) The remedy for this is to shut him up in the den, where he generally sleeps at night, and where he stayed by himself whenever we went out during the first couple of months after we got him. He feels safe there, kind of like a crate. We actually even call the den "Toby's room."

And I figured, he just got the 4-mile run, he's tired, he's happy - it'll be no problem. I left him the water bowl and a little rawhide chewy as a bonus.

But oh, was he pissed. And he did what I always vaguely worried he would do but dismissed as one of my many unfounded anxieties - he jumped up onto the desk and thus, ONTO THE LAPTOP.

How do I know that he did this in my absence? The first clue was the fact that somebody had searched in Windows Explorer for "xxihenuyoei" (or something along those lines). The second clue was that one of the Control keys was (and alas, still is) detached from the computer. And the third was that the Internet connection was off, which turned out to be because the recycling basket had fallen onto the floor and landed very tidily on the switch to the power strip.

Yes, hell has no fury like a golden lab spurned. From now on, I'll be sure to close the computer before locking him in his room. And I've been meaning to start saving for a new computer anyway.