Saturday, April 14, 2012

M is for Man's Best Friend

Many of you have heard me talk on Twitter about Dog. Dog is my two-year-old rescue pup, a regular Heinz 57 mutt. Seriously, we had a DNA test done on her. They were only able to figure out half of what she is. The rest came back "unknown." My personal belief is that it includes cat, sheep, pig and possibly some human.

My first dog died a couple years ago, about seven months before we got Dog. Olderdog was a very sweet, very well-behaved watchdog. Perhaps a little aloof sometimes, but she always knew when you were upset. When I had a lymph node removed one summer, she stayed on the bed at my side until I felt better, protecting me.

Dog is very sweet. Dog is most definitely not very well-behaved. Dog is mischievous (Dad says Dog is Trouble). Not long after we got her, we got pizza. We left the pizza box on the kitchen table while we ate in the other room. When we came back, we found Dog had opened the pizza box, pulled out a slice, closed the pizza box, and eaten half the slice. Other things she's eaten or chewed include: four chocolate chip cookies at Christmas time, a stolen chicken breast (twice, same breast both times), half a candy bar, at least three (probably more) boxes of gum, several pens, more paper than I care to think about, sticks, a battery, my Nook (most the cover, thankfully), and pretty much any type of food we deign to give her. She's particularly fond of carrots (and, you know, meat).

Dog is also needy. We're not sure what happened to her before we got her. We know she came up from one of the Carolinas where she was apparently a free-range dog. We also know she lived with a family for six months before they accused her of biting their toddler. When they found out she'd be put down for that, they began to backtrack. Dog's trainer said she expects pain sometimes, so maybe she was hit? She was definitely neglected. We can tell because she has an unquenchable need for love and affection. I think we do a pretty good job giving that to her.

There's something about this dog that makes every person we pass want to pet her. I don't know if she exudes some type of desperate "love me love me love me" pheromone, or if it's just that there's such a sweetness to her, but even people who are normally afraid of dogs want to come over to her. And don't get me started on her effect on other dogs. She's like dognip!

We've had her for a little over a year now, and she's come so far since we got her. When we brought her home, she wouldn't leave the family room. She just couldn't seem to turn the corner at the doorway. Now she wanders around the house like she owns it. She wouldn't let us even touch her paws or come near her with a towel. Now she hands me her paw to wipe off when she comes in from the rain. She's still skittish sometimes, but she's learning to trust us. And, in doing so, she's wormed her way so far into our hearts that we'll never be able to let her go.

What's your best memory with a current or past pet?

7 comments:

  1. Just dropping in from the A-Z list.

    Our dog is really enjoying Esster - half an egg and 4 German chocs. All chocolates are now very, very high up!

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  2. My hubs wants a dog so bad, but I'm keeping my foot planted on this one till the kids are old enough to help take care of it. But I did have a puppy growing up and I'm a huge fan of dogs, so it's not like I'm some bad person for asking him to wait, lol.

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  3. Aww, dogs are so much more rewarding than cats. They give a lot more love, and yours sounds adorable!

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  4. Very sweet post. We had a cat growing up. She was affectionate, but mainly in order to get something to eat. She loved being cuddled and tickled though, which is not the case with the cats my parents have now - one of them runs a mile if you even look at her!

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  5. Aww, Dog sounds awesome! I had a rescue Kitty that I often wondered what happened to her because of the way she acted around men. Sadly, she died last year after getting bit by what we believe was some kind of spider. Sweet post.

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  6. This story about Dog touched my heart. How could people mistreat a four-pawed friend?

    http://francene-wordstitcher.blogspot.com

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  7. Dogs are such personalities. Sounds like your mutt is one of the special ones. I'm trying to visit all the A-Z Challenge Blogs this month. My alphabet is at myqualityday.blogspot.com

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