I have a growing mental list of things that I can possibly return to their default states now that I don't have a Labrador retriever in the house.

• In the shower the other day it dawned on me that the soap is in the rack hanging from the shower because if soap was left anywhere low he would eat it. I lost quite a few bars of good olive oil soap that way.


• The trash in the kitchen is on top of the dryer. It may stay there, as too tempting with food waste.


• All other rooms' trash containers are on counters or shelves. Why? He ate used facial tissues when he could find them.


• The dog food is stored inside an antique trunk because he could nudge the top off of the canister.


• The toilet seat lid is left down, because he would drink from it. That will stay down; even the lid doesn't stop Pepper, she can nudge it up if she really wants. (I sometimes leave a tissue box on top of the closed lid just to see if it is moved or knocked off. That is enough to dissuade her.)


• The large brass "toy bin" that I set up when Zeke came to live here. A friend with a long history with Labs said they thrive when they have routines like a place to find the toys when they want to chew or fetch, etc. And it meant I could pick up toys around the house and he still knew where they were.


• Changing the dog leash setup. I use a woven nylon webbing type, and had knots tied in them at the positions where I held them walking the dogs positioned directly beside me, not out in front. Cookie now has the longer leash and I have to retie the knots since she is shorter than Zeke by several inches.

Other changes will occur to me as I continue to unwind our version of Dog World 3.0; the 2.0 environment is simpler, smaller, and much tidier.