Dorsi

I've now been in the blogosphere for roughly 3 weeks. It's time to devote a post to Dorsi. She's my 24th birthday present from Dean, who knew I wanted a dog, but I don't think he realized how much of a dog she'd actually be. Dean picked her out when she was about 3 weeks old and continued to follow her growth from there. We have really cute pictures of her as a puppy sitting in a water bowl, curling up on a corner of our fireplace, snuggling with us on the floor.

90 pounds later, she knocks over her water bowl with one swift nudge of the nose and fills up the entire fireplace and still has to have her head hanging off the side (we don't light it anymore). She still cuddles with us though. In bed. Dean started that one when she was a puppy and we're paying for it to this day.

Most people have never met Dorsi and I usually get a "You have a dog?!?" when I mention her. We hide her well. You see, Dorsi is a litle wild. That's putting it mildly. Have you read "Marley and Me" ? I think it was actually written about Dorsi. I swear that's her in the pictures and she's huge and equally as nuts (if you haven't read it, it's on my top 3 favorite books... you need to read it!)

When she was 8 months old and I was 6 months pregnant, we decided it would be a good idea to put her through obedience school. Dean quickly began to dread Monday nights at Mojo's Backyard . There were 3 other very well-behaved dogs and a trainer who took her calling in life very seriously. We always showed up a little late, just after all the other dogs had been seated calmly. Then Dorsi would bound in and get everyone wild. She would literally run circles around each dog until they got up and chased her. Keep in mind that all these dogs were on leashes and so this quickly became a tangled mess. Much to the trainer's dismay, Dorsi was always able to do everything we taught her, she just did it with a little extra flair. I think she thought we must have done something terribly wrong to have such a nutty dog and she probably feared for our little bun in the oven as well.

But six weeks passed and it was time for the graduation ceremony. Dean conveniently had something to do that night so I went by myself with Dorsi to collect her diploma and give my congratulations to the other 3 dogs. When the time came, the trainer switched on a boom box that played a rough version of "Pomp and Circumstance" while she handed out the diplomas and said kind words about each dog and family. It was touching, really. All the dogs sat nicely in a row and seemed very proud of their achievement. When it came time for Dorsi to graduate, she was given the superlative of "most enthusiastic" (read: worst behaved). I had to take her diploma for her because she was rolling around in a puddle in the back of the room... now that I think about it, I'm not sure what that puddle consisted of.

Needless to say, she's forgotten everything she learned.

But with as crazy as she is, she's amazing with Tommy. Any other dog would have bitten him or at least packed their bags and called it quits living with this little guy. He fears no dog and shows it by pulling her fur, her ears, her tail, the whole nine yards. Of course we stop him and tell him how it makes her sad and hurts her and tell him how we don't hurt animals. But she just sits there and takes it. Not even so much as a growl.

We've adopted the appropriate nickname "Dorsi the Horsey" (as Matthew Robinson can attest to), and even though Tommy knows she's a dog, he's convinced she says "neigh" too. We're trying to correct that one.

So that's Dorsi. She's big and crazy, but she's my second "child". And if you're lucky enough to meet her one day, you'll grow to love her too. Maybe.