What's the cutest thing your dog has ever done? Did you get a picture?
Our dog's very existence is the cutest thing ever but has he ever done cute things? Do you have about five hours to spare? And yes... Many hundreds of pictures have documented his antics.
There's nothing worse than, say... the co-worker who's a new parent for the first time. They think that besides Jesus Christ in the manger, their baby is the most beautiful, smart, etc. child to ever have pushed him/herself into the world. They then proceed to torture you with hundreds of photos of a bald, smooshed-up, screaming, little bugger, along with stories and endless anecdotes. I'm afraid my husband and I are those people with our “baby" but you asked... If I'm not going to bore you to death with “proud parent" stuff, then here goes!
Once upon a time, this beautiful little boy was rescued off the mean streets of Los Angeles and he grew to become king!
His is a beautiful story about a starving, frightened little pup, still with baby teeth, who absolutely just stole our hearts. The story includes a chapter about nearly losing him to a very serious neurological problem and a major four-hour spinal cord surgery that nearly killed us because there was a real possibility of losing him on the surgery table. (I noticed from your profile that you have a Dachshund. Please note what I have included at the end.) This story also happily includes his miraculous recovery and total “cuteness" blankets every chapter.
Teddy's done so many adorable things, I've literally filled a notebook but I'll just pull out a few which have photos that I can easily access without wading through the hundreds stored on my phone and computer. Keep in mind these things were cute to my husband and I. You might just shake your head and say “these people need some serious help”. You may be right but that's OK...
On Saturday, I baked some cookies and they were cooling on the counter. I was outside chit-chatting with the mailman for no more than 4 or 5 minutes. I took another couple of minutes to throw some water on some flowers out front. When I got back inside, I found this:
For the life of me, I have no idea how this little dog got up on the kitchen counter, devoured about six chocolate chip cookies, and knocked the rest into the dishwater in the sink. I panicked about the chocolate consumption and watched him closely the rest of the day. Fortunately, he was fine.
One time, on our very quiet little cul-de-sac of 10 homes, there was to be a police raid. OK... Not the norm, but... I had come home on my lunch break to remind my elderly mother that this was going to happen. The police had warned the neighbors to stay inside later in the afternoon. (Apparently, our mysterious neighbor who lived alone across to the street from us had turned his residence into a marijuana grow house, complete with indoor irrigation and an electrical line he'd tapped directly into the power pole. He must not have wanted to pay for the constant running of TWO central a/c units. Who knew weed had such climate demands? )
Anyway, I came home after work and the raid was still in progress so I had to park and wait at the end of our block. As me and other neighbors are watching this whole thing play out, I noticed this:
“So”, you say... “What's that?”, you might be asking? Look closer...
What the heck?? I ran to the cops and said, “Why do you have my dog?” The cop in the blue jeans said, “He was running around all over the place trying to play with the officers who were already in position. He was going to give us away and alert the perpetrators before we even had a chance. I thought he was just a stray and was gonna keep him. He's cute! My daughter would love him! ” Uhhh...yeah... Right.. That's a great big Hell no! Over my dead body!
See... My husband has this weird thing about taking our dogs’ collars off. He thinks they must be uncomfortable, and something we argue about until this very day. (He's such a weirdo.) Teddy did not have his collar with ID tag on that day. Also, apparently, in my haste to get back to work at lunch, I hadn't shut the front door all the way, which I doubt, considering my concern over the pending police activity. No... More likely my frail, yet stubborn and strong-willed mama did exactly what I'd told her not to do, and opened the door to see what was going on, a fact which she adamantly denied. How Teddy opened a heavy wooden door, if ajar, and just a few feet from where my mom sat AND got out from the entryway through a locked security gate is beyond me, but he did! Whenever we tell this story, we start off with, “There was this time Teddy got arrested…” and then show the picture.
There are so many cute things... Let's see... His obsession with toys.
Teddy's toy box has doubled in size since the picture above. It's to the point that he expects a toy from me each time I come home with shopping bags. (Thank God for Dollar Tree. I have a whole stash in the garage he is unaware of. That way I can grab one before I go inside. He literally becomes frantic and tries his best to get into the bags if I don't get them out of his reach in time. Some of these toys are no more than rags, just little frayed pieces of god-knows-what squeaky toys or stuffed animals. I've tried throwing these scraps away when he's not looking but he always knows! ALWAYS… It's kind of creepy but he will park himself by the tall wastebasket and whimper, cry and bark until I fish it out. He does this as well when balls roll under furniture or toys fall behind the bed. He also freaks out if I have the audacity to try washing these tiny pieces of polyester. My husband and I truly believe he takes inventory. He knocks over his toy box and quickly gives the contents a “once over”. He'll then run around the house picking up the missing items, bringing them closer within eyeshot. And God forbid another one of our dogs even attempt to sniff one of his toys... No... No way! That can get ugly real fast.
Whenever I do the picking up of his junk because I'm tired of the floor of our house looking like an episode of “Hoarders", he looks at me like I've grown another head and proceeds to systematically take out each and everyone I had just put away. I gave up until I finally bought a box with a secure lid. Teddy was not happy with me for days! That little guy can hold a mean grudge.
There's the time he stole my stepdaughter’s snack…
And the constant slaughter of squeaky toys...
The "touch it and die" looks if he's in toy mode...
…and a million other things this little boy does on a daily basis. I could bore you for days! This little angel has grabbed onto our hearts like no other. We adore each and every one of our rescue “kids". With all that Teddy has suffered in his short life, however, combined with all the joy, laughs, and love he gives in return, he is a special little boy in the truest sense of this word and with an infectious personality that seduces everyone who has ever met him.
P.S. Teddy had Intravertebral Disc Degeneration or IVDD. You may be aware of it since Dachshund's fall victim to it in huge numbers. I hope you haven't had to deal with this horrible disease. Complete paralysis when, out of the blue one day, Teddy couldn't move at all. Then to the vet and a race to a neurosurgeon 30 miles away to get him into surgery before his spinal cord is completely eaten away. Then the risky surgery, week-long hospital stay, and 8 weeks of no movement at home combined with physical therapy. OMG! What an ordeal especially for any poor dog that has to go through it. All pups with long backs and short legs, like my little mongrel, Dachshunds, Corgis, etc. are susceptible. The hardest part is not letting him jump anymore or get too crazy when he's playing with his brothers and sisters. It's nearly impossible. If he acts even the slightest bit “off", I immediately think he's hurt himself again and go into panic mode. The vet told us the vertebrae above and below the one which was involved in the surgery are now weaker and can become injured as well and we'd have to go through that nightmare all over again. I mention all if this just to let you know for your dog if you aren't already aware.