Bruce Wayne

#projectlife365 #graceful

Two days after getting back from our honeymoon, the girls called me up front at work and said that we just took in a stray Italian Greyhound from the strike zone and they thought I would be interested.  The strike zone was the main area of the tornado damage that had gone straight through town less than two months prior.  We still weren't back to normal yet in the shelter or our day to day lives.  Curious, I had checked the lost reports and came up blank.  A little bummed, I put the book away and headed to the back.

It was all over before the door even closed behind me in the holding room.  This pathetic, convulsing, skinny dog stared up at me from the bottom kennel.  I say convulsing because this dog shakes on a good day when he's happy but he was terrified.  Putting the dates together, I assumed that he gotten himself picked up because fireworks had startled him and he couldn't find his way home.  Cursing the girls for telling me that this creature existed, I called my brand new husband and that was that.

For such a beautiful, graceful looking dog, he is the most awkward animal alive.  He doesn't particularly like to be touched unless he's doing the touching.  He can reaaaach up and scratch you across the face just to say hello.  He can jump from a standstill so you can make eye contact without bending your head.  He once, to my horror, jumped and dropped a lick on the face of a pregnant friend while landing his front feet on her belly as she was walking in our front door.  He pees on his front legs because he's so uncoordinated and his legs are ridiculously long.  He won't lick your hand but you better believe he'll lick the roof of your mouth if you yawn in his presence with your guard down.

He also, in a moment of my wondering what the hell I had gotten us into, looked up at me and then laid his head on my chest and closed his eyes.  Life is better with a dog.  Or three.

Charlie the graduate

Charlie graduated from his beginners obedience training class!  We're proud parents. :)

Back to School - Dog Style

Charlie's new back to school outfit

Charlie and I headed out for an adventure yesterday to his first training class.  Lily and Bruce Wayne were less than thrilled to be left at home while we went out.  I picked Charlie to go because he basically has panic attacks when people come over.  There's no calming him down and he will scratch you like crazy if you try to take him outside when his house is being attacked visited.

When we walked into the class, the instructor told me that the other people had been warned about us because Charlie is completely deaf.  People looked at me with a little bit of pity that I really didn't understand.  Charlie is awesome.  I don't feel at all like I have a defective dog.  I guess I kind of forget about it because we talk to him just like we do to the other dogs and he gets around well enough.  If he's asleep when we're leaving the house, we'll wake him up so he can see us leave and not wonder where we are in the house all day.  We've been doing it so long that it's just a non-issue.

He picked up walking on a leash really well and even stayed sitting next to another dog when he was asked.  We definitely have some challenges because all of his commands are in sign language and I have to get his attention back on me before I can give them.  I'm really proud of him because he didn't panic when any of the dogs or other people came near him either.  I think it's because he was completely out of his environment but I'm going to consider it a win anyway.

I really like the instructor and I think that he's going to do really well with his next five classes.  My only expectation out of this class is to be able to communicate with my dog.  If he learns a few tricks, awesome. If not, he's still pretty cool.

He just leaned over and licked my hand which is as close to an "I love you mom" as it gets in our house.

Good boy.

Have you ever had any adventures in dog training?  Have any tips?

Happy Father's Day!

Happy "Humans Aren't the Only Ones Who Have Great Dads"  Day.

Love,
Lily, Bruce Wayne, and Charlie

Lazy Sunday

Are there signs that your dog is going to become a serial killer some day? Does it start with innocent insects that he picks up outside and keeps alive to just keep in his mouth and hang out with for awhile?