For the last month, Mom’s been checking out the top of my head several times a day because she says she thinks I have a cyst, whatever that is. Well last Thursday, something bad must have happened because they took me to the vet on Saturday. That must have really caused a stir because I had to take pills for three days, I didn’t get to have any treats after dinner last night and I had to go see the vet again this morning.

I’m now missing fur on the top of my head, I have two funky tubes sticking out of my bald spot, I have to wear this huge clunky plastic cone thingy around my neck and I haven’t been allowed to play with Kisa or Larkin all day. The vet said I did have a cyst, but my hairs grew into it and caused quite a mess… and I”m supposed to wear my cone for five whole days so I don’t scratch and accidentally remove the tubes.

To make matters worse, Mom’s calling me divot-head. You just wait ’til the next time she’s having a bad hair day!

After dinner, Kisa and I were playing with the ball and it rolled under TV tray. When I tried to recover it, the tray attacked me! I tried to get away, but it chased me all the way across the room, its claws on my collar and it wouldn’t let go. I wrestled and ran and ran and wrestled until Dad finally caught up with us and helped me get away.

It was a very close call and I was so scared. After all, I am still a puppy and that tray was huge. Bad tray!

Life has been a little dull lately. Dad’s been commuting to Boston a lot lately, so he’s leaving the house before 0700 and not getting home until well after 1900. Mom only has to go to the office once a week, but her job has been a really crazy, so she’s on the phone or Skype almost all day.

With both of them so busy, I’ve had to find things to keep myself occupied during the day. I have lots of toys, but a puppy needs new, interesting objects to keep him entertained.

Today, I had a real treat. Mom forgot to put the toilet paper on the high shelf in the bathroom again. And lucky for me, it was a full roll so I was busy shredding for at least a couple of hours.

Look, Mom... textile arts!

Shredding toilet paper is very hard work.

So Mom’s always bragging about Kisa ’cause she apparently fetches reliably and everyone knows that Leonbergers don’t fetch. Truth of the matter is that Kisa only fetches her favorite squeaky soccer ball. I couldn’t figure out how come I had all these toys to play with from the minute I got here. Turns out it was all the toys that Kisa wouldn’t play with.

Mom says she bought all sorts of toys trying to get Kisa to play and she wouldn’t have any part of it until Grandma Bell showed up on Christmas with the famous soccer ball. Mom was afraid Kisa would get jealous if she gave me the soccer ball so she waited until I had lived here a while before she brought that one out. Boy, did Kisa perk up. Mom says she hasn’t played with that ball for five years, but she was fetching better than a retriever and as fast as I am, I never got to put a paw on it.

I’ll probably never get another chance because the soccer ball has mysteriously disappeared. I wonder where it went?

I think Dad’s a little jealous because when Mom walks into the room, I get really excited. I don’t know why — but when I see her, my tail starts spinning like a helicopter and I just can’t contain myself. She’s being very good about the whole thing as long as I don’t jump too much, but she says I absolutely must start getting used to the fact that she does not need my help going to the bathroom. Last time she left me out in the hallway and no matter how hard I ran at that door, I just couldn’t get it open. Good thing I’m just a puppy — that door’ll never stand up to a full grown Leonberger.