| | Zorba is an Airedale Terrier. The primary reason we are housesitting is so that we can give attention and take care of the dog of some friends of mine.
This is very much what Zorba looks like. He has been wet and muddy looking before, but thankfully not all the time! The dog in this picture has a tail about twice as long as Zorba's. Zorba's tail is just a stubby little tail, that wags like a clock ticking. Most dogs with long tails have a more "swoosh" effect when they wag, but Zorba's tail is so short that it can't swoosh, it just ticks and tocks.
He's a sweet dog, with a good temperment, loves to be played with, and loves weird things like eating snow that's thrown at him, and is constantly at war with his arch enemy, Sammy the Squirrel (who always annoys Zorba by trespassing in his fenced yard).
Zorba has been a source of frustration and annoyance for both Luke and I. But there are plenty of moments when he is cute, and when he has had our sympathy and affection. Some of the frustrations come from his mild obedience. He's not too bad, but he seems to be constantly testing to see if the rule "Stay out of the kitchen!" is really a permanent and perpetual command. Zorba will usually obey us, but some days he'll just saunter into the kitchen as if he always goes in there, and we have to be quick to command him to get out and stay out. Once he's out he'll rarely try it again right away, he usually waits a few hours or til the next morning. Luke thinks this is good practice for us for when we are parents.  Just as with children, we are trying to be quick and consistent with rules and punishments. We also want to be consistent with praise and give him lots of love and attention.
But there have been days when we've both been busy during the day, and we are tired and want to sit and read together in the evening. Zorba is outside when we are gone, but he doesn't give himself exercise. He's not as self-disciplined as the people in workout videos. So Zorba has all this energy and need for attention, and he's feeling playful and wants to be chased, to play tug-o-war with his toy duck and us. We've been better about giving him good walks recently, and are learning that he needs not only the exercise but the attention and time with us.
The other day Zorba heard a car alarm go off, and started whining desperately. When I let him inside, he dashed up the stairs and proceeded to whine there for a while, and would not come down to eat. I brought his food up to him! The poor guy was lonely and scared and ate it later in the night.
A few weeks ago, I had a habit of putting a stick of butter on the heat vent while it was on, to make it softer. This house doesn't have a microwave, so this little trick of thawing butter worked really well! Until I forgot to get it off the heat vent, and Zorba was let inside. He found it immediately, grabbed it and ran back outside. Luke stood in the doorway yelling for Zorba to drop it, and Zorba thought it was all fun and games, gingerly holding the stick of wrapped butter in his mouth. Luke found his shoes and ran after Zorba to the end of the yard. Luke tried to make him drop it, but in the next moment Zorba swallowed the butter stick - wrapping and all! I laughed. But I also don't soften the butter on the heat vent anymore.
About 15 mintues after the butter episode, Zorba got into a trash can and ate some tissue paper. He had plenty of fiber that day.
Although it was a change for us to get used to a big, smelly dog in the house most of the time, and although he will steal my slippers at any opportunity and triumphantly run through the house with them, and pushes his wet nose over the table to get a whiff or possibly a bite of our food, we have learned to like him.
Luke and I have talked before about getting a dog that would be able to be a semi-guard dog but also good with our future children. And now that we've experienced a dog that has access to almost every room in the house (the kitchen, and our bedroom are majorly off limits) we have definitely decided that we are not getting an indoor dog. It will be welcome inside every so often, but not for all day and all night.
I find, from past experience with my family's dog Penny and now with Zorba, that I can love them much easier when they are outside most of the time and are only visitors when they are in the house. Penny has gotten into mischief before, but because of her timid and humble nature she doesn't really try to create havoc when she's inside. Zorba thinks he has rights wherever he goes, but he does know that Luke and I are master. Luke is the one Zorba is mildly afraid of, and Zorba doesn't seem to fear me but often will sit next to me and follow me around like he's supposed to guard me. He also will sleep upstairs or by the back door a lot, but when he acts like he's attached to me, it sure is cute! And it shows that not only does man need dog, but dog needs man
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| | Posted 1/14/2009 1:59 PM - 48 Views - 6 eProps - 3 comments
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Was the wrapping paper or foil?
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