ABOUT 2 years ago, I wrote a column about my border collie's hoarding habit.

While our beagle prefers to steal vittles from the trash, our border collie, The Bunk, has a more sophisticated palate.

He likes to swipe goodies off the kitchen counter--and sometimes out of the Lazy Susan--and spirit them back to his hidey hole, a small patch of grass next to our back porch.

Over the years, his spoils have included a wedge of cheese, a pan of quiche, a tube of toothpaste, a container of Italian bread crumbs, a can of cinnamon roll icing and a loaf of fresh rye bread.

And those are only the items we know about.

A few months back, I started compiling photographic evidence of his exploits, mostly for my own amusement but also because if this keeps up, our losses could be substantial--and having pictures will make it easier to make an insurance claim.

--Edie Gross

I bought this can of boiled peanuts for my husband, against my better judgment. Between their mushy texture and their briny taste, they have all the culinary appeal of a sweaty gym sock. I find them akin to something you might be forced to eat on "Fear Factor."

But for reasons incomprehensible to me, he loves them. I'm not sure why The Bunk grabbed the can out of the Lazy Susan. Maybe he liked the colorful label?

In any case, he apparently thought better of it because he left the can unopened and settled instead for a banana. And if you think that's because he's incapable of opening a can, you have not met this dog. He once disassembled our living room couch--stuffing, springs and all--in about 10 minutes. A can is no barrier for a border collie.

This was some pretty good egg drop soup, courtesy of Formosa Chinese restaurant in North Stafford. It's better if you put those little crunchy noodle things in it, but it appears that The Bunk didn't bother with them.

It also appears he didn't use any utensils, but instead slurped the soup directly from the container. We generally don't allow that kind of behavior at the kitchen table, but perhaps the hidey hole dining standards are more relaxed.