Now that we are moved into our new house, my wife started talking about wanting a poodle. Poodles are expensive and I don’t particularly like them, so I suggested going to the pound instead, and she went for it.
The pound was more depressing than usual, they have these cards on the cages the adoptable dogs are in, with tidbits of mostly-made-up information to make you feel sorry for the dogs, like ‘Blinks at pretty girls’, ‘Enjoys Ray Charles music’, and ‘Looks good in blue’. We finally settled on a dog that looked like a cross between a chihuahua and something bigger and possibly terrierish. We named him Hector.
Hector has tons of character. He was obviously someone’s pet, as he already knows ‘sit’ and ‘stay’. He doesn’t bark much, but does growl and bark when new people come in the house (he stays on our fenced-in porch which has a big sliding glass door into the living room). He bounces up and down when he’s excited, and a couple of times he’s stood up on his hind legs so he could see farther. At first he wasn’t too good on a leash, will pull until he starts choking, but the last time I walked him he seemed to be getting the hang of it - it’s just that we walk too damn slow for him. When I go out in the yard he runs circles around me constantly.
As soon as I get some film for the polaroid and my computer working again, I’ll scan some pics of him to share.
As soon as I get a proper house with a yard, I’m getting a puppy too!
Post #3
Just 9,997 more to go before I recieve my complimentary Straight Dope Coffee Mug!
Well, we took him to the vet. He’s in perfect health, has all his shots now, and the vet says he is 2 or 3 years old. I can get him to ‘Stay’ consistently now, but nobody else in the family can, so when they want to come back in without him following I have to yell ‘Stay!’ through the sliding glass door at him first.
I used to have a dog named Hector. Thought it was a really cool name. You know the saying, “back when Hector was a pup”.
Well this stalwart beagle we named Hector lived up to his name. He lived to be 19, and was healthy up to the end.
He was a huge beagle, bred for snowshoe hares. He loved the cold, and occasionally he’d fall asleep outside while it was snowing, and get buried. He could easily come in through his doggie door, but he loved the snow.
When he wanted to go exploring, he could lean up against the fence, putting all his weight on it, and eventually it would bend down enough that he could climb over.
Ah, the good old days. Thanks for making me remember.
Oh - a quick tip: think carefully about what you allow the dog to do. If you forbid something now (like jumping up on people, nuzzling to get attention, or begging at the table) it’s easy to deal with. If you allow it now and later decide that it was a bad idea, it’s really tough to change behavior then.