Sit, Stay, Quiet - and That Goes for the Dog, Too

I guess I'd forgotten - selective memory perhaps - the joys of an adolescent dog. Especially a rubber-headed bulldog that bounces off walls like SillyPutty with about as much effect.

Between my son and myself we finally managed to convince my husband that we were the perfect home to adopt our little foster bulldog girl.

Did I say little?

Figuratively speaking, of course.

She is finally learning manners, learning that sitting to have her collar put on her is much preferable to Mommy sitting ON her to have her collar put on. This hyper little bulldog girl has more wiggle built into her than Charo on speed. She's learning that sitting and "leaving it" is a better choice than dodging after a car and landing on the ground on her back when she hits the end of the leash and has her feet yanked out from under her by her own momentum while I play "be a tree."

She is sweet. No one can dispute how wonderful her disposition is. The problem is no one ever took the time to teach her manners, and that combined with a fifty-plus-pound exuberant bulldog is not a combination destined for success in most households.

Her heartworm treatment was a success, but then she went into heat. It's a good thing I don't have any intact males in my household. Keeping her quiet after she's spayed should be an interesting experiment. Perhaps I'll take out stock in Valium. Poor Scudder, who until now was low dog on the totem pole, walks up to her and tries to look domineering.

I've got news for him, once she's allowed out loose in the general population she's going to kick the snot out of him. She's not aggressive, but she's just overpowering in her enthusiasm. I have no doubts the girls, who make up the upper echelon of doggie hierarchy in our house, will put her in her place immediately, leaving poor Scudds still at the bottom of the pile.

No doubt she was adorable as a "puppy." (Let's face it, a 12 month-old dog is still technically a puppy.) But because her former owners either didn't want to or know how to train her, they ended up giving away a dog with problems that, if it wasn't for me, probably would have eventually ended up on a euthanasia table after being adopted out and returned several times because of her being "too much to handle." Not many people will put up with being woke up at 3a.m. (Like clockwork the past few mornings!) combined with a bouncy bruise-inducing bulldog. The several days of cleaning her crate more than once a day because she got an upset stomach due to either her being in heat or tapeworms (which we discovered she has today) alone would have had most people taking her back to the shelter.

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