Being a creaure of habit myself, I follow the same cleaning pattern every week so this story will begin us in the bathroom. Because of the chemicals I do use in the bathroom, I don't allow anyone near there until I am ready to do the floor and mirrors. We have a full length mirror behind the door, that rarely gets used, but always gets spotted. Kimi sat there on the floor beside me watching me while I worked. At least I think she was watching me work. Maybe she was just checking herself out in the mirror! I had the whole mirror almost spot proof and was just making a few last swipes across the bottom of it when Kimi walked over to the mirror, stood up on her hind legs and reached up high with her nose. Now...keep in mind our Kimi isn't very big, so yes she does have to stretch it a bit to reach certain things. That does not mean to imply it slows her down one little whit. She still managed to stretch herself up high enough to see her own reflection in the mirror...which she then proceeded to lick! So much for a spot proof mirror! I grabbed a dry paper towel and spirtzed the glass with my cleaner again, and told her "Kimi no...this tastes yucky." Like our good little girl Kimi just sat there watching me work.

My mirror once again spot proof I turned to pick up my cleaning stuff. After gathering up my stuff I noticed Kimi back at the mirrow again...not licking this time. This time she was just gazing into her own eyes...geesh talk about love struck! I must have let out a rather unlady like snort of laughter because Kimi raised her eyes to mine..in the mirror still and let out a "YIP". Then she licked the mirror again!

"Gee thanks a lot Kimi...at this rate I won't make it out of the bathroom before lunch!" And once again I spritzed my mirror with glass cleaner. This time I had 'shooed' Kimi out before I cleaned it. You may think this an unfair thing to do, but I had other things to clean yet too!

Next came the floor which as all of you know you have to sweep before you mop. Uh-oh...open warfare! Kimi...like most shelties I suspect, has an internally bred dislike for brooms everywhere! Once I had placed it on the floor, it became within reach of her territory, thus making it 'fair game'. Kimi quickly jumped forward with a feirce gumble and tried to grab the bristles. The broom made a speedy get away and Kimi drew herself back for another lunge at it. She has yet to make contact with this broom, but I suspect it is only a matter of time before our gallant crime fighter succeeds in tearing it bristle from bristle. We almost had an instant replay of this while I was mopping, but our bathroom only sports so much floor space.

Next I moved on thru the kitchen and the living room where it became time to dust. Choosing my dust rag in favor of the feather duster (which has seen better days anyway thanks to our cat) I set into the routine of spraying and wiping, spraying and wiping. I knew as I was dusing all the upper level items first Kimi couldn't be getting in the way here. WRONG!! While I was busily wiping out all the dust bunnies from the upper reaches of our home, Kimi proceeded to shredd and destroy this fine feathered foe. I turned to set my dusting items down and spotted her amidst a pile of crumpled green feathers. Now she's a bird dog in disguise??? Kimi has become quite the master of all trades hasn't she? Caught up in my surprise I yelled sharply "KIMI NO!"

Kimi's head came up quickly from her task a this loud command from mom. Oh what a sight she made!! I laugh as I write! Here she was laying on the floor on her tummy, surrounded by all these green feathers she had plucked out, with a wide happy grin on her face...even while trying desperately to look 'cool' while spitting out the remains of one poor luckless lone feather. What a character she is!! Tell me...how is one supposed to be the 'tough disciplinarian when she just looks so darn funny!" Laughing when trying to admonish someone just doesn't make it believeable. Even to a puppy! Especially not to our Kimi!

So, while grumbling to myself I try to excuse it all away...I have to vacuum anyway right? The feather duster was old and falling apart. Heck...she probably smelled the cat all over it and that's why she went after it in the first place. How much can it cost to replace this cheap thing anyway? And after all...she did look awfully funny with those green feathers hanging off her tongue! I do love to laugh. " Oh...ok Kimi I forgive you...and you did such a good job of killing it too, didn't you sweetie??" And with this Kimi jumped up and down, yipping and yapping in pure Sheltie fashion. She was definitely pleased with herself!

So that now brings me to the vacuuming part of this story. We all know what they are for, we all know how loud they are, and we all know how much our Shelties love to bark at them! What I bet you are NOT aware of is WHY our beloved pets carry on so madly at these mechanical creatures. They are possessed! Truly! They are!

Think about it...what self-respecting appliance would go around sucking up the things that even our pets or small children won't eat off the floor or out from under the couch cushions? Have you ever once watched either one pass up a tidbit of something dropped there last night..or two weeks before? And yet they too must have some remaining shards of taste for there is always stuff on the carpeting. And this we pick up with the vacuum. Shelties being of extra-ordinary smarts anyway have figured this out way before we humans ever did. That's why they go so nuts when you turn it on. Kimi, the dear savior that she is, figured it out this morning. And ballistic she became. She ran around in circles barking and yipping. She dashed up to this thing...face to face...brave soul that she tries to be. As it backed up away from her, out of sheer cowardice I am certain, she rushed it. As it advanced onto her, she backed away cautiously. Yapping all the while. I still say she tries to scare everything off before deciding she must go ahead and 'kill' it. Kimi does believe in giving everything a second chance. If it would just leave willingly and peacefully she would let it go, but this vacuum just wasn't that smart!

Braver and braver she got until she actually made contact with this evil loud thing. She bit at it, she nipped at it, she even tried 'herding' it away from me, but it just wouldn't go. When Kimi disappeared from in front of me I thought she had finally given up and made for an easier, quieter target. Nothing to easily done for Kimi! She hadn't given up, she only changed her plan of attack. This I found out when my vacuum suddenly became quiet and still, winding down like a toy being operated on cheap batteries. I flicked the switch a couple of times, I hate to admit this, but I even jiggled the thing once, hoping it would mystically turn itself on again. Only when I turned to check the plug did I discover my Kimi had "killed" it all by herself. From this point on don't anyone ever try to tell me Shelties don't think for themsleves! There stood Kimi before me with the plug in her tiny little mouth! Not to worry..she didn't rip the plug from the cord, she just pulled the cord, plug and all from the socket! And there before me, smiling bravely, tail wagging proudly, stood Kimi with the 'evidence' of her victory hanging from the corners of her upturned mouth!

And with this I took the advice from the one who was clearly, the more intelligent in MY house and I put the cleaning stuff away. I was done for the day. As finished as the evil monster who sucks up the left over goodies from Kimi's floor. And as I sat on the floor playing with Kimi and her ball-in-the- ring toy, I finally figured out what she had intended all along. Today was not a day for cleaning, but just to be spent playing with Kimi. After all, we will have the house for another 20 or 30 years. Kimi will only be a puppy for a brief time. Which again goes to prove who is the smarter of the two in my house!

In many ways she teaches me to stop and smell the roses...and to take the time to play in the dirt underneath.

Kristi & Kimi