It appears my little brother is a late bloomer.  Whereas most dogs go through a shoe phase when they are puppies and then grow out of it, Asa has recently discovered shoes at the ripe old age of two.  Luckily for Mom and Dad, at least Asa is mature enough not to chew on them.  He just happily carries them, and playfully bounces around when caught in the act.  Quite frankly I see his behavior as a juvenile attempt to get attention.  Me, on the other paw, as a puppy contributed to the well-being of our household during my shoe phase, which I might add was over well before I turned two years old.  You see, while Asa simply grabs the first shoe he finds and happily trots around with it, I had obvious problem solving skills associated with my actions.

When I was a puppy, I would spend my days seeking out all the shoes throughout the house.  Asa just focuses his attention on either Dad’s Crocs or Mom’s slippers.  Not me!  I would crawl under beds, explore the dark corners of closets, and climb into the mudroom’s tub to gather all the shoes I could find.  Mom even complimented me on finding shoes she forgot she owned.  But that’s just the beginning!  Next I would carry the shoes from all directions upstairs and and down, basement and garage, and bring them to my bed in the living room.  Thus gathering these shoes that were once spread throughout the house and placing them in one convenient spot.  But my work wasn’t done!  After the shoes were on my dog bed, I would then meticulously organize them, by putting the matching pairs back together!  Ok, so I admit at first I had a little trouble with the matching.  However you have to admit it is impressive that after carrying them one by one I was able to eventually reunite them with its mate.  How many puppies do you know do that?  Not only did I not chew the shoes, I made them easy for Mom and Dad to find them when rushing out the door to work.  Oh sure at first Lemmy would grumble that there were shoes piled on the bed, and he would ruin my hard work by moving them.  However, even Lemmy eventually appreciated my efforts and would simply lay on top the shoes, thus further helping Mom and Dad by keeping them warm until they were ready to wear.

As with most things in my youth, I eventually grew bored with my labors, and moved on to other hobbies.  Besides, Mom and Dad were getting a bit too complacent and just expected their shoes to be on my bed, and stopped marveling at the skill involved in matching them.  Mom even started keeping her shoes there preventing me from searching for them!  So just like that, I stopped.  As for Asa, although his shoe obsession shows no thought and doesn’t contribute to the well-being of our household, I must admit he does look really cute when he’s trying to get Mom and Dad’s attention.  So for that reason alone, I hope my goofy little brother keeps this phase up a bit longer.