Spoke too soon

"Yes, I know what you said, Mum - but look, I'll even let you tickle my tummy if you'll just let me stay here"

When I said yesterday that Jack only came onto my bed when invited, what I meant of course was that that is the only time he joins ME up there; however, when I nip to the loo, he sees it as his duty to nip up on the bed. I suppose there's some sort of canine logic about it - after all, what is an empty bed if not a bed awaiting an occupant?

He also transgressed in the garden today: having not attempted to chew or steal anything (apart from tissues) since he's been with us, we'd been lulled us into a false sense of security - and thus had completely overlooked Canine Rule no. 27b: 'A non-chewing dog is simply a dog who has yet to encounter the one thing he finds totally irresistible to chew on'. Jack had already checked out all the bushes for new smells, made sure that the patch of bare soil was rolled as flat as he could get it, helped to plant some raspberry canes, & had awarded himself a snooze on the lawn whilst we sorted out the veg cages - for which, in an attempt to secure the netting, we had bought some special clips which are meant to hold it tight on the upright poles; we thought it was odd that the netting didn't seem to be getting any tighter, & hadn't even realised that Jack had come to 'help' until we suddenly heard a clattery chomping noise coming from beneath the bushes; we found him trying to choke himself on one of these clips, & also found that a Jack Russell's jaws can clamp together so tightly that not even the combined efforts of two determined - & worried - owners can prise them apart; in the end I grabbed the last training treat from my bum bag, & he loosened his jaws sufficiently for hubby to extricate the clip from the back of his mouth; it seemed wrong to 'reward' him, but perhaps we need to train him to release his jaws when told to? We assumed that Jack must have found a stray clip which we'd dropped on the ground, but now that we were keeping a (much) closer eye on him we saw that he was removing them from the cages almost as fast as we were attaching them, and, having found his personal answer to Rule no. 27b, no amount of telling off or threats would stop him. In the interests of Jack's safety/our sanity, we've had to abandon the clip idea & have gone back to using wire ties.

The rest of Jack's day passed without incident - although he did bark most ferociously at a delivery driver (who, even before being barked at, was sullen, surly, & had neglected to phone us with the promised hour's notice, so perhaps he deserved it). The delivery was an arbour, which arrived in about two dozen pieces; luckily it was 'meant' to arrive in that number of pieces, & the plan was for it to be erected when we could nab an offspring or grandson to give a hand, but by the sound of things hubby doesn't want to wait that long. I'd better prepare my delicate ears for hearing some rare bad language tomorrow.
In further gardening news, it turns out that the Weigela ('Bristol Ruby') we put in last autumn isn't dead after all. It was just resting.

Things we've learned about Jack today:
He knows about Canine Rule no. 27b
Lumpy black plastic things are irresistible to chew on
Equally irresistible is the warm spot in a recently vacated bed
His 'sit & stay' lessons are progressing: he'll now stay for, oh, all of 20 seconds (well, it's a start)