Thursday, July 15, 2010

I Have Well Behaved Dogs?


I'd like to take a break from reviewing books today and bring you another snippet of my life with two ridiculous boxer dogs.

We were on our daily walk through the neighborhood and passed a woman going door to door (note to self: shut front door when you get home to avoid sales pitch). She turned and looked at us, smiled, and opened her mouth to say something. I'm thinking she might tell me they're pretty and ask a question about them, as this is usually the case (please see my previous post about the attractiveness of my dogs). Instead, she said, "your dogs are really well behaved."

I was so startled by her comment I'm fairly certain my only reply was "whuh?" Kind of a cross between "what" and "huh". Don't be jealous now, not everyone can be born with my eloquence, it just comes naturally to me.

This comment was so absurd that I giggled to myself the entire walk home. My dogs are most certainly not well behaved. In the slightest. Griffin (on the right) pulls like a freight train the entire time, earning us the oh-so original statement "who's walking who" from many a passerby. He also feels it necessary to pee on every single tree, bush, leaf, or stick he passes and, as a result, is the proud owner of the entire neighborhood. Well done Griffin, well done.

I've seen dogs in our area that are well behaved. They sit quietly with their owner while waiting to cross the street and walk beside them at a normal, non-frenzied pace. Meanwhile, my dogs have hallucinated a squirrel or rabbit that is invisible to everyone else in the yard we're passing and are hopping up and down excitedly as though it's really there. Pretty fantastic.

Passing another dog on the street is always an experiment in strength and endurance on my part. Luckily, my dogs aren't super vocal and don't bark in the presence of other dogs, but they do however find it highly amusing to spin in circles, tangle themselves up, and then simultaneously try to rip my arms from their sockets while swiping my feet out from under me with their leashes. Passing people on the street creates a similar reaction.

Gatsby and Griffin are both extremely friendly and loving, but "well-behaved" is most certainly not the first thing that would come from my mouth when describing them. They have their moments of brilliance, but on a walk those moments are often few and far between.

Don't let the above picture fool you. That sweet, unassuming pose they adopt is a ruse. Just ask the poor UPS man. Griffin engages in guerrilla-style warfare when he comes to the door. He sits at the front door, looking adorable and innocent, then waits patiently until the UPS man makes it to the front step and deems it safe to approach. As soon as he gets within 2 feet of the door BAM! Griffin jumps up and bangs on storm door, creating a very loud noise and making a second pair of brown shorts a necessity for the UPS guy.

I love these dogs, I should have taken them to obedience school yes, but my life would be much emptier and less entertaining without them both.

11 comments:

  1. That's so funny. For the first time in my life I acutally do have "well behaved" dogs....most of the time anyway :-) But your post makes me think of door to door sales people (or more frequently - people trying to save my eternal soul) anyway.... my guys are usually very quiet, even with doorbells but when the sales people come I kind of whip them into a frenzy of insane barking and open the door like I'm so exasperated and just can't contain the savage beasts for another moment - so sorry I can't talk :-)))
    My first step is to hide and not answer the door at all but sometimes I get caught and use the dogs...hehe

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  2. Karen - I do the same thing with the door to door people! I either cower behind a wall till they go away, or let the dogs bark uncontrollably to strike fear into their hearts;) It's a system that works for me I think:)

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  3. So, my roommate has an 8 month old "reverse brindle" (ie. Black) boxer. He's soo bad. We'd gotten used to how good my 4 year old mini-dachshund is.

    His nickname is Devil Dog. Luckily he's getting neutered next weekend! Hoping that helps :)

    Yours are so cute. And they don't have clipped ears, yay!

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  4. I think your blog is awesome, which is why I have presented you with an award. Claim your award Here

    Keep up the great work!

    As for your cutie pie pups, I feel your pain..lol. I have my puggle Bailey who is the cutest thing, but he can be soo bad sometimes. He also loves to fool people into thinking he is well behaved. He even fooled the dog trainer when I took him to puppy training. He would behave perfectly, then come home and go crazy..lol. They are so cute that you can't help but forgive and laugh (I don't forget - I just try to stay a setp ahead of his insanity - lol)

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  5. OMG...I am crying I'm laughing so hard. Your doggies are sooooo sweet looking. Having a pit I can understand "bad dog" very well. Since his ears aren't clipped(atrocious practice I might add)he doesn't look like a pit. He waits at door, head cocked, all cute with doggie smile. When you knock-LMAO. He goes ballistic. Most people jump about 4 ft in the air. Others do the "scooby" run. Feet scrambling but going no where. I swear he then turns and looks at me and silently laughs right along with me.

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  6. Paromantasy - Thank you again for the award! And your dog sounds entirely too smart for his own good by fooling the dog trainer;)

    Tori - I wish I could hear what my dogs are thinking sometimes, I'm sure they're laughing hysterically when they scare someone and are plotting their next big surprise. I'm glad I'm not the only one with somewhat less than obedient four-legged family members:)

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  7. Jenny, they are tooooo adorable!!! I love boxers! Even though I have a Black Lab/Border collie mix.

    That pic of them is sooo cute! *grins* Good luck with them.

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  8. oh...I love the names you have for them!

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  9. Redd - Thank you! They are very cute, which is their saving grace majority of the time. It's hard to stay mad when they look at me like that:) Thanks for the good luck wishes, I need them with these monsters!

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  10. Your Puppies are so CUTE!
    I used to have a boxer when I was little, they are awesome dogs if a but unruly. Good luck with them.

    You have a lovely blog (came by the way of blog hopping)

    Alex

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