Isn't my dog so good-looking?
Good afternoon! I just finished with school, (yeah, I know, a bit early isn't it? but don't forget, I'm home-schooled, and this is one of the advantages...) so I thought now is a good time to show you the newest pictures I took of Arlo (notice the new collar).
I been thinking about what I would say if I wrote about my crazy dog, so I shall finally put it down here. Besides the first post I ever wrote, which was about him, (way back in 2008 when I didn't know how to write good at all) I haven't really told you about him.
Well wait, let me correct myself, I talk about him, but not about him ...you know what I mean right?
Well anyhow, as I posted before, I got Arlo in Tucson Arizona (close to where I live) from a lady who buys dogs from animal shelters, then fosters them until she can find someone who will give them a home. Well, after having Arlo for a few days, she may have realized what a task she had cut out for her with that 'find someone who will give them a home' ...easier said then done with this dog!
Of course, I don't know if that's true, but we are talking about a pit bull-boxer mix puppy, who got his training too late, and who will knock you around, scratch you up, and will literally pull a nine-year old around on their face while chasing a rabbit (hey, that's what happened to me...).
So anyway, she had her work cut out for her! So the for years and years, ever since our old dog, named Doogie, died, (and he was the most phenomenal dog to have around kids) I wanted another dog. I have been a dog-lover since before I could remember, so naturally, I begged my parents for one. Being very little at the time, they told me that they will wait until I can feed, clean up, and give enough attention to a dog all by myself (with their help if I really, really needed it). That was disappointing for a while, but one day, my aunt told us about a friend of hers who was fostering a dog (yes, you-know-who). I was extremely excited because my parents had been saying that maybe we could get a dog (this was about when I was seven by the way). So after my aunt went back to where she lived, she called her friend, saying that we were interested, and would like an interview... well to me, instead of interview, I was more thinking a time to meet, and buy my dog. There was a problem with that though, the lady who was fostering this dog already had an interview scheduled, so we thought we had slim chances... Nuh uh! Boy, I am so happy and thankful my dog is the jump in your face, I-don't-care-how-many-times-you-tell-me-not-to-do-it type of dog, because after those people's scheduled interview, my aunt called, and said the people weren't interested! Right after she hung up, I called a friend to announce that I had a dog!! (of course, I didn't but I thought I did then). It was quite ironically awkward when the friend asked me what my dog looked like, because I didn't know!
So a few days after that, we drove down to Tucson, and met the dog and foster at my aunt's house. All of my wanting to get a dog excitement made me completely blind to this puppy's faults (and when I say puppy, I don't mean little, cute, snugly puppy, I mean, big, almost full-grown, hyper puppy). You'd imagine a little kid's first dog to be the calm, collected, be there for you always, older, experience dog... uhhh, well, that's the opposite way to describe this dog! but I loved 'im anyway!
We took him home the next day, and got him a dog house the day after, (which is still standing on our porch, but much, much nastier then it was when we first got it).
That summer was one of the most fun summers I've ever had! I spent a big chunk of the day out in the 100 degree weather, just hanging out with my new dog! It was then that we got to know each other, and that's when I became his closest buddie. See, we don't have any other dogs for him to hang out with... in fact, he's what anyone would call (ahem) 'anti social' so I became the dogglikeyest friend that he had!
We've had Arlo for about five or six years now, and in that time, the pink skin that spotted his black muzzle got white fur, and the white fur got in bigger and bigger patches, and now it's flecking all the black, but that white fur is turning gray now!
Another thing that's different, is that over time he has gotten slightly more mellow, but only with people he's met many times before!
My dog has taught me a lot... Most of the time I know what he's thinking, by the way he has looked at me, or pulled back his ears, or pawed my arm, trying to get me to shower him with attention, (I think he's right-pawed most of the time, but pretty ambidextrous). After reading books that people have written about dog body-language, and watching how Arlo behaves, I can read almost any dog's thoughts, and I often feel as if sometimes Arlo understands what I say out loud... for example C'mon (Come on) will often get him to follow me around when said the right way, and other little things like that.
Anyhow, Arlo does have some very bad habits, for example, after teaching him how to bark (he never did before we got him) so that we could add 'Speak' to his amount of tricks, he has turned into a very barky type of dog... Oh why did we do that?!?
When we first go him, we didn't realize that he was going through his chewing stage, and of course, we hadn't really dog-proofed the yard or anything! So after we got him, we went through with chewed up water-noodles, a rug that had is borders riped and un-raveled, (we just threw away that rug last week-end) wood beams that had bite-marks in them, chewed flip-flops & socks, pool toys got demolished, and once he even chewed a hole in the bottom of his food-container, so that it would spill out unending like a bubble-gum machine! To this day, he is still obsessed with food, and we still have to keep his precious little kibbles in a metal trash-can container, with the lid tied down!
Well, as I've said I've learned a lot about Arlo, but one thing I've realized, is that though I know how to push his buttons, he knows how to push my buttons! In fact, Arlo's best communication is with people! he knows how to maneuver you to give attention, food, and playtime to him... and he is still perfecting his techniques!
So I'll wrap it up with another one of his pictures!
See ya!
-A.Lover
