Thursday, July 3, 2008

This Dog's Life

Now that G has been a member of the household for more than 72 hours, I thought I'd share some of my observations. Being new to this whole dog ownership thing, some of these will seem kind of 'duh' to those of you who have or had dogs. Oh well.

1) He is still camera shy, but my father-in-law tipped me off that if I took pictures outside when the red light flash doesn't work, I'll have better luck. And, he was right. There's a pic of my new man at the end of this post.

2) He farts daily. The silent but deadly kind, and uniquely doggie. I don't think I need to state that we have plenty of gas in the house already and don't really need anymore. Just when I begin to articulate this particular thought out loud, he gives me that How-Could-You-Not-Love-Me look and all is forgiven.

3) He's not above pooping in the street. That was yesterday's revelation.

4) While he's partial to ladies, he loves anyone with two legs. Men, kids, ladies. He must. get. to. them. And, they must pet him. We think he'll make a wonderful therapy pet.

5) He's not much into retrieving. He will happily chase after the ball, but then he'll toy with it and ultimately hide it somewhere in the yard. I'm still searching for the tell-tale day-glo green peeking out of the bushes.

6) He loves to go through any and all bushes, plants, planters, etc. He is particularly partial to monkey grass and boxwoods. He has transported quite an array of fauna into the house via his coat this way.

7) He sighs. A lot. As if the burden of being a dog is sometimes too much. Life is rough, buddy, and if I had to lay around all day with regular breaks to go run in the sunshine and roll around in the grass, with catered meals everyday, I'd be sighing too.

8) One brushing will yield enough fur to constitute a tribble. And there's still more fur. I have tumbleweeds of fur floating around my hardwood floors.

9) He will try to cram all 73.8 pounds of himself into impossibly tight places, usually during a thunderstorm, despite the fact that we got him a perfectly lovely crate and covered it so that it's nice and dark and enclosed and give him Quiet Moments tablets. He still prefers to cram himself under my desk.

10) He must roll in the grass at least once a day and pause in mid roll to give me that, oh don't you pity me look. And then he sneezes.

11) He has the most wonderful habit of laying down next to the bed and throwing his weight against the sides so you can feel the gentle thump as he eases down next to you while you sleep. And then he sighs.

12) He has discovered the forbidden joy of kitty kibble. I was struggling to open a can of green beans with which I was going to supplement his diet, since he's a bit on the pudgy side. While I was doing this, G mysteriously disappeared. I went around the corner and there he was, head fully engrossed in kitty bowl chowing kitty food while kitty looked on. Now, the kitty who's food was being purloined himself has been guilty of stealing food from others, namely his brother. So, I could not help but feel a little poetic justice while reminding G sternly that we do not eat the kitty's food. So, now Fluffy eats his dinner in the laundry room to prevent the Bad One from stealing it. The Bad One now eats in the guest bathroom to prevent G from stealing it. I don't think G will have any worries since Mr. X and I are not into dog food, or green beans for that matter.

Despite (or in spite of) all of this, how could you not want to take this home?

I wasn't able to resist either.

5 comments:

JellyBelly said...

you have the cutest dog EVER!!!!

i can't wait to read more of G's adventures!

Tiffany said...

He is gorgeous! (at least his butt is!)

And when you said "kitty kibble" I was envisioning kitty litter. Thankfully as I read further along I realized that it was indeed kitty kibble and not kitty roca.

Congrats again. Doggies are the best kinds of friends!

FarmWife said...

I'm relieved to find I'm not the only one with large bundles of fur hiding under my desk during thunder storms. Lilly May (my wirehaired fox terrier) is petrified of them. If a storm is coming & I can get her in her kennel, all is well. If not, she must be up my hiney or crammed under my work space, panting like an obscene phone caller.

And what a cute backside! I can see how you fell for him instantly!

luna said...

congrats on your new addition. he sounds like a sweetie. I love #11.

Erin said...

He is so lovely! If the shedding gets to much try the furminator. It's a brush (a bit expensive) but it helps pull out the undercoat and then they shed less!