Walk With Personality, Bark With Personality (Tomorrow Is Another Day...)

I'm not sure why it came as such a surprise to me that much like people, dogs all have VERY DIFFERENT personalities. And not just in terms of their breed's traits, but some are silly, some are serious, some crave attention, some just want to eat your shoes. Some eat quickly, others can have a full bowl left out all day and not finish it. All of them make you wonder what exactly is going on in that space between their ears.Things got off to a pretty rocky start when I brought Jack home from a Little Rock animal shelter in 2005. First, there was the shocking revelation from the vet's office when I went to pick him up from being SPAYED that he was a boy, not a girl, so they neutered him. Then he got crazy sick with approximately 14 different worms, an eye infection, and a nasty case of distemper that came pretty close to killing him. But we pulled through, and in short order he became my most favorite little buddy.He quickly turned from a shy, frightened, shell of a puppy, to the loudest, most boisterous animal you can imagine. We suspect that he sustained some neurological damage from his battle with distemper, so he'll never win any brainiac awards (which always surprises people when I tell him that he's part border collie--but we think he's also got some chow in him, and those dogs be DUMB), but he is just so sweet, and goofy you can't help but love him.

When Jack goes on walks, he is at his most focused and determined. He marches forward, looking back only to make sure you're still behind him. If we are walking on the grass, and he can see a path or a road, he makes a beeline toward it--he hates a walk with no direction and has no time for your typical dog behaviors of smelling objects on the side of the road or even worse, taking breaks to get pats. He is incredibly loving, and all you have to do is look at him to get his tail thumping, but it takes some convincing to squeeze any cuddles out of him. He prefers to lie down across your feet or lean against your leg to show his affection.

He's our special snowflake, but we love him.Ellie, in true second child fashion has far fewer photos from her early life with us. Whereas Jack had multiple photo shoots each day from the time he walked through my door at six months old, this is the earliest shot I can find of Ellie. She joined our family when she was just a little four-month-old baby, and in this photo she's six months.

I got her from a different shelter, and fortunately didn't have to deal with any life threatening illnesses, but oh, this girl has a little bit of the devil in her. For many months I wondered if I had made a huge mistake. The first thing she did upon entering the apartment was walk up to Jack, sniff him, then started a tussle that ended up with this ~20 pound girl pinning his 40 pound butt to the ground. She made it clear from the start who was in charge, and nothing has really changed since.Ellie is incredibly stubborn and independent--we can't decide if she's more like a teenage girl or a cat. She refuses to get out of bed to go outside in the morning until she's good and ready. She spends her day rotating through the various sunny spots of the house. She loves a good cuddle and will happily pounce in your lap, but you have to make it seem like her idea. She has been carrying on a torrid love affair with a succession of tennis balls throughout her life, and when Ellie goes for a walk, it's more like a thorough investigation of the neighborhood in which she leaves no stone unsniffed or leaf unpeed on. If she's not sprawled in a patch of sunlight, she can be found curled up, sleeping in a tight little ball and should you dare to disturb her, you will get the most scathing look imaginable.

And if all of that wasn't enough to convey their personalities and relationship with one another, this picture sums it up pretty perfectly.
An unsuspected nose bite is worth a thousand words.

Comments

Going back to your old entry, in some ways they really ARE like having a baby. I mean, Teddy is like a toddler most days. Mad if he doesn't get his way, everything is his, learns by putting things in his mouth... One of my friends says that if Teddy had thumbs, he would be sticking things up his nose.

We do not have nearly as many pictures of Teddy as we have of Rufus. Second child syndrome strikes again.

Posted by: Jenn | November 13, 2011 at 11:55 PM

I love how animals have their own personality - I see that across the board with all of our guys too and it makes things so interesting :) I really hope I get to meet your puppies one day!

Posted by: Caro | November 14, 2011 at 02:26 AM