Saturday, August 15, 2009

Another exercise in embarassment

I get to go shopping today! I should be thrilled that not only do I need an interview suit, but I have the money to buy it.* But I am not. In my typical eating-is-the-best-way-to-deal-with-stress way, I have gained entirely too much weight to fit in my nearly new, very stylish pin-stripe suit. So now I have to go out and buy another, slightly larger, stylish suit. I shouldn't be complaining, I know! So many people in this world would love to have the problem of too much to eat, and I should be able to walk away from the cookies, candy, and ice cream that I have been stuffing my face with. I have a membership at the local gym and no reason not to go, but here I sit getting bigger and complaining about it. I am a self-loathing mess today. Not the best frame of mind to go try to jam my over-sized derrière in a pair of slacks. Hmm. Maybe I'll try a skirt. Blargh!

*I won gift cards in a church raffle earlier in the year.

The wonder that is our boy


I mentioned before that we got our boy, Gonzo, from the Humane Society, so there was an adjustment period for both sides, as Gonzo was getting used to us and we got to know this fully grown 4-6 year old mixed breed that decidedly has some border collie in there somewhere. He's awfully clever, our boy. Every day was a new realization that there was really not a lot wrong with this dog.
He has only had one "accident" in the house in 3 years, and he was very sick at the time so it really wasn't anything he could do about it. I used to be out of the house for 12 hours at a time when I was working, too. My husband works crazy long hours as well, so Gonzo must have amazing control, of which we are too grateful.
He tolerates kids well, with the pulling and tugging of the ears and tail, although we know he would rather just be with my husband instead.
He doesn't harass our cat. At first, he really wanted to be friends with her, but Emma wasn't having it. (My husband claims that he saw Gonzo running through the house with Emma attached to his butt by her claw, but that's pretty far-fetched, dontcha think?) They just stay apart and give each other wide berths. He does have a dog aggression issue, but if he's on the leash, you can keep him under control.
Our boy definitely had some training in his background, too. He has basic commands down, like sit, stay, down, off, no, stop, leaveit, and come. He has a few odd ones we discovered, like if you say,"gogogo," he will run or get out of your way and not be underfoot (very handy!) and "back up" gives similar results if he's facing you. Also, he will "turn around," although only at certain times, like when he's sitting next to you on the sofa or by your feet on the floor. He'll turn around to sit down leaning up against you. So a sweet well-trained dog, all around.
Sometimes, he surprises us though. (We had our boy almost 2 years at this point.) One day, I was in the fridge getting a snack (imagine that!) and I had the container of cold cuts in my hand as I closed the door. The container went over Gonzo's head and he sat up! Spontaneously, without a command, all by himself, he sat up. So I tried (in vain) to get him to recreate it. "Sit up, Beg, Pretty-please..." I tried all the commands I could think of, but nothing. Ah, well, he did it once, so maybe he had done it before and I hadn't seen it? I told my husband about it when he got home to see if Gonzo had ever sat up for him. Well, his reaction was a bit over the top. My husband reached down, hugged Gonzo around the neck and said," I can't believe anyone would ever have gotten rid of this dog!" I mean, really. I said the dog sat up, I didn't say he spoke French! But I have to agree. I can't believe anyone could ever not just love our boy. Good boy, Gonzo. You're home now.

More to come, so come back if you're interested.

1 comment:

  1. I am jealous! I've got one dog who is good with most commands, but the other two seem to know "sit" when it means food is involved. Stay is one that none of them have figured out. And our boy, an Australian leopard/terrier mix never got used to the cat so they can't be in the same room together.
    I am glad Gonzo is home now, he sounds like such a sweet and amazing boy. I agree, who would give up on a dog like that?

    ReplyDelete