… sometimes Emmett and Lucas drive me crazy. I feel particularly guilty saying that now that I’m away from them all day. But the reality is there are times when I just get so annoyed with them!
Emmett, for example, is a fuzzy piece of Velcro stuck to my pant leg. I love spending time with him and would take him with me everywhere I go. Except for sometimes. Like when I trip over him for the three-billionth time because I turned around or stopped or whatever before he could adjust himself.
And Lucas. Oh, my little Lucas. But when he howls and stomps his front legs – really, he does this; I will try to get it on video – because I had the nerve to put away the toy he wanted to play with or because he wants me to chase him but I’m washing the dishes or whatever. He has a temper tantrum at me!
Or when they start wrestling and even though we have a whole house with a yard, they have to wrestle on top of my feet, so I get pushed around by 145 (combined) pounds of dog. Or when Emmett forgets to chew his treat, hacks it up, then re-eats it. Drives. Me. Crazy.
I suppose I’m just a little grumpy, just a little too over-extended right now. The little things are getting under my skin. But then they do things like this:
And this:
And this:
And I get over it.
Tell me: What (if anything!) does your dog do that annoys you?
If MY Emmett doesn’t stop jumping through the screen to get INTO the house (thankfully, he doesn’t try to jump out), I’m going to scream – and then head off to Home Depot to buy heavy-duty, pet-proof mesh… or bars for the windows. 🙂
Oh no, Kim! I have to admit, though, your story made me laugh! I’ve never heard of a dog going through a screen to get INTO the house!
My Kelly stares at me. She will just sit and stare when I am on deadline working. I’ll stop to see what she needs or play with her, but if it’s not enough she will just go right back to staring!
Hilarious, Peggy! What a way to distract you from your deadlines!! Thanks for sharing!
OMG if my pittie Kenai doesn’t stop finding socks from who knows where and redistributing them around the house I’m going to go crazy!! I’m finding socks EVERYWHERE! 🙂
Also the fact that both dogs sit there and “lazy fight” which is basically just kinda mouthing at each other but they are both laying on their sides cause they are too lazy to actually get up and making lots of noise! 🙂
gotta love em!
“Lazy fight” is a great term! Emmett and Lucas do that, too, but I never had a term for it. I think I’m going to have to steal that!
As for the sock thing, that cracked me up!
I love my beagle Lucy. She would never hurt a fly, and she has been beyond patient and understanding since our son was born. There are times in the evening when we’ve been going all day, and we sit down to relax, and we notice Lucy just laying there. She patiently waits all day for our son to go to bed before she wants to play, which is very thoughtful.
But…
Our walks. Oh goodness, our walks. Most of the time, she will stay by our side with a loose leash, which is great. Then, she’ll pick up the scent of a french fry that was there 4 years ago, and she’ll dart into the grass and almost take me off of my feet. A twenty-two pound beagle almost upends a 185lb grown man. Once she gets there, she will smell. And smell. And smell some more.
Then there’s hovering in the kitchen. I’m gonna feel like a horrible monster when I accidentally spill a pot of boiling water on her because she’s waiting for me to drop something.
Still, she’s the most loving dog I have ever known (sorry, Emmett & Lucas!). She’s family, so there are times when she gets under our skin. When she brings that toy up to my wife or I after our son has gone to bed, and those eyes say, “Is it my turn now?”, we absolutely melt. We can’t wait for her and our son to be best of friends.
Mickey will sit just out of reach when I want to put the leash on him. Just. Out. Of. Reach. And he freaks out when there is a dog or weird looking baby on TV. Every time the TV is on we have to do this big “dontyoudareyoulittlebrate Go! To! Your! Mat! Go right now!” and then he chills out. But we have to go through this every time.
I have to tell Kayloo to get out of the kitchen a million times a day. She always leaves when I tell her to but I have to tell her over and over. She is getting a lot better on the leash but sometimes she forgets everything she has learned and pulls me around like she’s on some some of mission to put my back out.
But then Mickey sits at my feet and waits ’til I say “okay” to come and sit with me and Kayloo nudges into me for a hug (she likes hugs)… and it’s easy to remember why there will always be dogs in my home 🙂
Thanks for sharing those stories, Shauna! I love hearing about how different all our dogs’ personalities are… While they all seem to love to cause trouble, they do it in such different ways! This has been such an entertaining thread for me!
I think I have you all beat. Imagine living in a 8 x 24 foot space with your spouse and two dogs. 24x 8 … and those are the exterior dimensions! The bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen, the sofa – they all take up space. Ty (my son) is an angel. He is the best traveling dog ever. Buster (Amy’s kid) is a big, clumsy goofball with a shepherd whine. Wanna go to the bathroom, Buster is there. Cooking, Buster is right behind you. Trying to get out the door, Buster is ahead of you. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!
You would think that after 11 years of obedience training my Bailey would have caught on to the fact that I will not let him out the back door when he is trying to shove past me.
Every. Single. Time. I have to tell him to stop, tell him to back up, tell him to wait, tell him to back up and wait again because he lost his mind and jumped forward, then tell him to WALK when he goes out the door. Every. Single. Time. I have no hope for this behavior becoming automatic. Ever. Some days it makes me want to scream. Most days I just come to terms with it and realize that I will miss this irritation when he’s gone.
Thank you for the wonderful comment, Amanda! You’re absolutely right… those frustrating, repetitive behaviors are what make them them!