The Cone of Shame

Recently, I got this scratch behind my ear, and it got kinda itchy. So I did the obvious thing and scratched it some more with my paw. I'm not sure why, but it got worse! Then it started bleeding, and got really uncomfortable. The more I scratched, the worse it got!

So Momma put some weird cream stuff on it to help it get better, but I knew how to instantly make the itch go away by scratching it. Momma got really upset, and then she put the Cone of Shame on me!

I've never seen the Cone of Shame before, but when she took it out I instantly felt its power and I cowered. I was so scared. I've never been that scared before. I mean, it was scarier than a thousand dobermans!

"Momma please! I promise I won't do
whatever I did wrong again!"

Momma had trouble putting it on me because I was so strong and fast, so she had to get Pops to help her. Every time they put it on, I squirmed my way out of it, until Momma tied it to my collar and finally I was captured by the Cone of Shame.

So I did the only thing I could at that point - I panicked. I just stood there and shook. I couldn't bring myself to move, because it was like I was held it some kinda fear shield. I felt so trapped... every time I moved, I bumped into something because I couldn't see around me. When my Humans took me outside to pee (they had to carry me up and down the stairs because I couldn't walk the stairs myself), I couldn't do it. I just froze out there. They had to take off the Cone before I could pee.

After the garden, they put it back on and I returned to my frozen, panicked state. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't even bring myself to lie or sit down. Pops stayed up with me for a while, hoping that I would fall asleep but I couldn't. Later on, Momma felt so bad for me that she took the Cone off. And it was only then that I could bring myself to fall asleep.

But I still had nightmares about the Cone of Shame that night...

I'm getting so big and strong!

So here I was, sitting in my play pen and basking in my own cuteness when I started chewing on Mr Elephant, a toy that I haven't chewed on for a while. It was then that a thought popped into my furry little puppy head: I've really grown and things are changing! Mr Elephant was the first proper toy I ever got, and he is so much smaller now than I remember him to be. I looked over to Leo the Leopard and even though I've only had him for a few months, even he's starting to feel smaller.

I started thinking about how things are changing in my life... obviously size was the biggest change. My toys are getting smaller, and I'm able to fling them higher and further. One time, I managed to throw GG the Giraffe onto my humans' bed! I'm also unable to squeeze under the couch and into all those places that I used to love crawling through (squeezing through things is a hobby of mine, especially that gap behind my Pops' back when he sits against the wall). My Momma, being the clever human that she is, made sure to get me a large enough crate when she adopted me, so luckily my room is still quite comfortable.

Oh and the stairs! I remember being so afraid of them and totally had to rely on my humans to carry me up and down, even though I hate being carried. Then I learnt how to climb them, and a few weeks after that I could go down them too. These days I'm faster than anyone in the household on those stairs!

Since I just saw Knuckles on the weekend, I thought about our relationship too. We didn't used to get along too well and fought a lot, but now that we're a bit older and more mature (well, at least I am) I don't need to pin that crazy boy down and growl at him as much anymore. He's still nuts though...

Anyway, it's coming up to my favorite time of the day when my humans get home, so I'm going to wag my tail and wait for the sound of them unlocking the door. I love that sound; it gets my heart pumping!