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.