In my never-ending journey to find something to talk about other than COVID-19, I could not believe the response I received when talking of our year-and-a-half-old Tucker.
No, he’s not my boy. Tucker is our dog. Kurt is my son, although I often mix them up, too.
Tucker is a goldendoodle but he is mostly golden, rather than poodle, and we have the tumbleweeds of hairballs to prove it.
So he’s an overpriced mutt, but we love him.
Lately, though, he’s taken to eating the light bulbs off my wife’s fake Martha Stewart-type Christmas tree.
Not the decorative bulbs, not the little birds or wacky butterflies, just the electrical lights and sockets.
Get daily news
We have already replaced a set of lights to avoid a house fire or electrocution and thought we had the problem solved.
Nope. We found the telltale shrapnel of green plastic sockets and glass lights beneath the tree this morning.
What makes a dog eat neither the tree nor the decorations on it, just the lights?
We have heard everything from soybean in the plastic to the tree encroaching on his space in front of the window, where he normally perches himself.
I would guess the latter, but I can’t see the tree moving anytime soon — or the dog, for that matter.
No, he did not do this last year.
By the way, the real tree in the kitchen? He hasn’t touched it.
In a COVID-19 world, maybe even the dog has learned what is real, and what is not. And maybe he’s questioning it — just like the rest of us.
Scott Thompson is the host of The Scott Thompson Show on Global News Radio 900 CHML Hamilton.