That's Norton

The scene. Thanks, Hero, for stealing the shot.

I am skipping some things here, some important events, but just had to share this - a true Norton-ism that happened today, and made me laugh after a long week.

Norton is a really nice puppy, and I don't ever mean to dwell on things he does wrong - since he isn't even 4 months old, and since most of his mistakes are my mistakes anyway, so I just want to stick up for him - he is wonderful - before I share this 'oops' story.

This morning Norton was sound asleep in his brown bed in the living room area, so I stepped over the puppy gate to grab something - out and back in 2 minutes, maybe less - so no reason to wake him and drag him along. He won't even notice I'm gone, I told myself.

But sometimes Norton disagrees with me and uses his advanced puppy problem solving skills to get exactly what he thinks is right. This morning, he problem solved that pesky puppy gate by jumping on the couch and flying off the side of it to freedom. Which means I walked out of the kitchen to find Norton sitting in the hall, staring at me like I forgot him. Stoic and content. That's Norton.

I couldn't help but laugh and sit down with him to share in his tail-wagging victory celebration over that puppy gate. We will work on respecting barriers - it is important for his safety if nothing else - but for now, just for today - we'll celebrate.