"Royal, NO!" - Part Four

I'll admit it. I've developed a bad habit of taking pictures of Royal's bad behavior. The behavior continues until I've gotten the pictures I want, and then I discipline him. 

It's not good. (I know, I know. I've got to get it under control before it's a small child of mine that's misbehaving. So noted.)

He's just so stinkin' cute! Anyway, I'm working on it.  I must say, as he's destroyed more things, it's gotten easier to look past the cuteness and just see the trouble he's causing. 

But, for now, back to his cuteness....

You should have seen him that afternoon...rear in the air, dirt clumps flying, his little nose snorting around, paws going a mile a minute. He was as happy as could be!

There are holes all over our backyard now. This was one of several that he dug in the span of a few days. (He did unearth a very old dinner plate in one of his excavations. Impressive, right?) He does seem to have largely worked through this hobby of his since then (see? I discipline!), but it wasn't before he wreaked havoc on the lawn. 

Dirt on the tongue and everything...he's a mess.

I can't blame him entirely. I like digging in the dirt, too. 

Here's my garden these days. It's been a busy spring and summer, so I only had time to weed a small section of the overgrown garden, and plop in a few tomato and pepper plants. 

At this point, there's only one lone tomato. (Which is especially sad, since this photo was taken over two weeks ago...and there's still only one tomato.) I did get a late start with my planting, so I'm trying to stay optimistic that the rest of the plants will follow suit.

But, wait. This is about Royal...who has clearly also taken an interest in gardening. After using an old pair of pantyhose to tie a tomato plant to a stake, Royal ripped it off...and broke off the top half of the poor plant. I'm hoping it can rebound.

(On a side note, the pantyhose seemed to work really well before Royal's intervention...a smart tip from my green thumb/pinky/& pointer-fingered father. Thanks, Dad!)

One pepper plant was taken out during the struggle, too, and sadly it couldn't be saved. 

I was not happy.

But, I also can't stay mad at this little not-so-little guy for very long, either. What can I say? He's stolen my heart.