A Beauty Queen In Boots

Sky's New Boots

Even though they’re not cheap, we broke down and bought someone else’s brilliant invention, little Velcro dog boots.  Our gorgeous little girl has an uncanny talent for getting as much mud and gunk jammed between her toenails as possible.  She’s even mastered the art of finding every poo pile we haven’t picked up and stepping in it.  Obviously, it’s easier to wipe this crap off these smooth little boots than to stand out in the cold and scrub four little paws.  I just have to show off my little beauty queen in her new booties.  A mom’s gotta brag!

Sky's New Boots

I'm One Hot Pup

You Can Quit Staring Now

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Who Says Dogs Aren’t Human?

I read the newspaper column “Dog Talk” every Sunday.  The guy trains and understands our canine friends very well.  However, he believes dogs behave only as dogs and that we falsely attribute human emotion to them.  Perhaps my dogs, being of the utterly superior boxer breed, are more advanced than your average canine.  They seem quite human to me.  Some examples:

The other night we were watching TV.  Sky, as usual, had staked out the best spot on the carpet to sprawl out.  All of a sudden, a doorbell rang–on the TV show.  Sky jumped up ready to run to the door–then suddenly stopped, realizing the doorbell sound did not actually come from our doorbell.  I’m not kidding–she looked thoroughly embarrassed.  She tried saving face by cooly walking over to Big Daddy, like that was her real intention all along, and laid her little boxer head on his lap to be petted.  I laughed ’til I cried.

Some days, Sky follows me around like a two-year-old.  I’ve read that dogs have an intelligence level equivalent to a toddler.  Like toddlers, I’ve found my dogs to be dumb enough to be cute and smart enough to be interesting.  But dogs stay this way.  Especially when we’ve been gone a lot, Sky won’t let me out of her sight until it becomes annoying.  Last week, she actually stood up on her hind legs and wrapped her front paws around my waist.  She was hugging me!  She’s sooo my baby.

Our first dear departed boxer, Prudence, had a lot more rules to follow than Sky.  We didn’t allow her into the formal areas of the house (dining and living rooms) or upstairs into the bedrooms.  She was well aware of this and never disobeyed–while we were home.  However, more than once, we almost caught her lounging on the living room couch.  She would jump off and pretend she’d never been on it when she heard the car pull up.  Unfortunately, she was not quite bright enough to brush off the telltale dog hair on the couch cushions or to pick up the pillows she had knocked to the floor in her haste to escape.  Sometimes when I came home from work at lunchtime, I would see an old chewed up tissue that she dug out of one of the upstairs wastebaskets.  Of course, she’d be sitting in the family room like a saintly pup by the time I got in the door.

Sky loves her toys.  She plays with every toy she has.  When I first brought home a new pair of jeweled flip-flops, she sniffed around them, not sure if they were for her.  I told her “No, those are mommy’s” and she’s never touched them since.  She never messes with anything that’s not hers, except to roll around in our dirty wet towels when I’m sorting the laundry.  She does love to mess with fluffy little animals, however.  She hasn’t physically hurt any of them so far; she’s just scared the crap out of them and their owners.  J sent some pictures of the cutest little kitten to our computer.  Sky would love this critter, too.

chew toy

If You Need A Laugh–Get A Boxer

When the world gets a bit nasty (like politicians) or scary (predictions of alien landings), you need to take your mind to a happy place.  This is when the benefit of having a dog outweighs the cost.  I get at least one good belly-laugh a day from her antics, and she’s not even trying!  To me, there is nothing cuter or funnier than a boxer dog.  Their posture is regal.  Their facial expressions are hilarious.  They’re playful and energetic.  I’ve had two boxers, and neither one has ever tried to chew anything that didn’t belong to them even though they constantly play with their own toys.  I am now hooked on the show, Greatest American Dog, which is on TV Thursday night at 8pm EDT mainly because of the gorgeous young boxer dog Presley.

Seriously, to have a boxer is to love a boxer.  One caution though–if you plan to get one, make sure you have the time and space to exercise them and let them run.  I can’t really walk mine because she’s so strong, she’s pulled me down onto my belly and dragged me (more than once) when she’s taken off to greet another dog.  But we have a nice-sized yard and she runs until she tires herself out.

Silly Boys and Playful Boxers

Back in the day, playing with the dog meant dressing her up in silly glasses and rolling around on the grass. Later, it was fun to play keep away with her, but a little scary when she’d jump up high and try to snag the ball right out of your hands. Now, the big tattooed boy, who has no fear and feels little pain, likes to “rassle” with the pup. The sound of this play fighting strikes terror into this mother’s heart. It sounds like I imagine a pit bull fight would sound. But take my word for it, no dog is getting hurt here. Our current boxer, Sky, is having the time of her life. And my crazy middle son, J, is half-laughing and half-rolling in pain. And he keeps asking for more. Sky’s tail is wagging like crazy, but she sounds like she’s fixing to rip J’s guts out. She nips at him, and swipes at him, leaving red scratch welts and even little bite marks. Even though I know she’s just playing with her pack brother, I worry she might forget she’s playing. So J tries to reassure me by acting like he’s hurt. Immediately, Sky stops growling and lunging, and starts licking J. She really doesn’t want to hurt him. She just wants to give him a good match.