And with her brother's two dogs: Tucker, a big, white, hairy mutt, and Sam, a feisty little doxin. I didn't grow up with pets, except for a stray cat we adopted for a year, Kitito. But even then, we just let the cat roam the neighborhood and then would feed her when she came around. It was a pretty low maintenance affair. Only in the past two years have I decided that I actually like dogs enough to perhaps want one as a pet. Most of my life I've actually been scared to death of most dogs due to witnessing a huge German Shepherd bite my mom when we lived in Argentina. He just came up and bit her leg...for no obvious reason. Ridiculous! After that I was always certain that most dogs have a vicious angry devil in them just waiting for the right moment to jump out and attack you.
In the neighborhood where I grew up, I swear EVERYONE owned a dog. But they were all aggressive, mean creatures. And I recall one specific instance when I was out for a run around the neighborhood and this yippy, ugly, little dog came charging after me. He was actually trying to bite me in the heel! So, for a good block I was sprinting to try to escape the darn animal. Then two things happened: I became incredibly winded and incredibly angry. I was so mad that I actually stopped, yelled at it, and I kicked it right in the face. Then I felt even more evil for laughing when he flew up and flipped over. (I wish I could replay that moment in slow-mo...it was hilarious.) Stinkin dog! He was asking for it.
Then I was called to serve a mission in Uruguay...the country right next to German Shepherd infested Argentina. The only thing I was NOT looking forward to were the dogs. I knew there would be many. During my first week in the field, as my trainer and I walked from house to house, I looked at each dog with fear and paranoia. And, they were literally EVERYWHERE! And what's worse is they weren't chained up or fenced in. There were dogs, several dogs just roaming in the street. You could count ten per block, small blocks. But, after a week, i realized something. These dogs were free dogs. They didn't have all this pent-up anger like the dogs in Argentina or the dogs in my neighborhood. I took note how they would just sprawl out in the middle of the dirt road to take a nap without a care in the world. Not only were they too happy to want to bite anyone, but I honestly think they were too lazy. There's no way any of those dogs would be chasing me at full sprint down a long dirt road. And thank goodness! After my mission, I was cured.
So, being cured of my fear of dogs came first. Then I sold pest control two summers ago in the ritzy neighborhoods of Sacramento, California and realized that not only was it possible to encounter friendly dogs, but that some dogs are even so well trained that they're a ton of fun to have around. And that's when I decided that one day I'd like to own a nice, expensive, well-trained dog.
So, going back to Tucker and Sam...these dogs are my test. After the next three months of living with these dogs, and caring for them I should know if this is something I really want to do, or if it's simply a romantic idea I've dreamed up in my head...but not one I really want to come to pass.
Well, as part of this test, today I gave a dog a bath for the very first time. Make that Two Dogs! Sam was smaller, so I bathed him first. It's easy to control a Doxin in the tub. However he was completely freaked out and shaking all over, poor little guy. But, in the end I triumphed, and he NEEDED a bath! Then came Tucker. He was actually just fine with getting a warm bath in a tub (It was too cold outside today to hose him down in the yard). but then I experienced the mutual dog bath. That's right...as soon as I had wet down all of his hair so that I could shampoo him, he shook it all over the bathroom, and more importantly all over me!
In that moment images from movies like Beethoven came into my mind. Then I realized...I should have seen that coming.
As of today...I'm reconsidering the dog for a pet idea. But, I'm still undecided.
