A couple of readers indicated that they want more like my post from Monday,
"What A Good Boy He Is." I'm happy to indulge the request.
FLD GUS IS...
LOYAL
- FLD Gus lies at my feet while I write and entertains himself with a Nylabone.
- He follows me from room to room, just in case I ask him to do something. Anything.
- In the evening, he prefers to plop himself down on the floor against the couch. Next to where I am lying.
- If I leave him in the van with Andy when I run into the drugstore for a quick purchase, he sits and stares at the store door until I return.
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| FLD Gus watching where I went. |
OBLIGING
As is typical with any dog, especially an adolescent intact male, FLD Gus tests me.
- Do I REALLY have to settle while you brush me? YES.
- I don't want to walk easy next to you, I want to go exploring! I know. BUT YOU WILL.
- I want to lick that upside-down-strawberry-pie SO BAD! I know. BUT YOU WON'T.
I remain consistent and insistent. FLD Gus sighs, and complies. Pretty darn quickly, too.
FUNNY
- Gus bows to Gypsy to encourage play, his "Licky Lab" tongue a windmill of solicitation.
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| Gus forcing Gypsy to play with him in the water. |
- He never gives up. He tries to grab her stick to play tug-o-war, and when he is successful, she tugs back, in spite of herself.
- When I tell him to go to his mat before meals, he never takes his eyes off of me and I half expect to hear a back-up warning beeper as he scoots his rear end in a wiggle to his mat.
SCARY SMART
- In the woods, Gus mimics me when I'm clearing our trails. He drags logs and yanks away at saplings. He prances with long, downed limbs balanced like a high-wire-walker, twisting his head to clear trees that block his way along the edge of the trail.
- To get my attention when he's had enough of waiting for me to finish writing, FLD Gus will steal into our bedroom and make away with a dirty sock from the hamper. He doesn't chew it, just coddles it in the living room making noises he knows will attract me.
- Gus learned that if he bumps his nose against the bathroom door, it pops open just enough to stick his snout in and then he can flip the door open with his head--and he's in!
