Kitty the Dog versus Our New Sofa, Round One

Let me say first that Kitty is a dog. A mixed breed, two and a half years old, with the energy of a motorbike and a name my daughter gave him when he was a puppy. On the day our new sofa arrived in Silom, though, he behaved exactly like a cat who had been insulted.

The sofa is grey, soft, and very expensive, and I had only just pulled off the plastic. Kitty walked around it three times, sniffed each cushion, and then started digging at the arm with both front paws. My wife came in from the kitchen shouting, and Kitty looked at her with a face that said, 'What sofa?'

We tried everything: a chew toy, a blanket over the arm, a firm voice. He took the blanket and ignored the rest. By evening he had claimed the far corner as his own, lying there with a small grey thread hanging from his mouth.

Round one goes to Kitty. We have bought a second blanket and a very large chew bone. The sofa is still standing, just barely.