Day 44: The Love of a Dog that Hates the World

I love dogs. I love big goofy dogs who wander up to strangers and nuzzle them for treats. Dogs who groan and roll over when a stranger knocks, annoyed only to have their nap interrupted.

But the dog that loves me hates the world. Micky has always loved us, from the moment we pulled up to his puppy home in Grants Pass, Oregon. He abandoned his brother to trip over himself as he explored our laps. The first night at home he cried and cried these lonely howls in our bathroom. Rich got out of bed and lay beside him on our side of the gate. In the morning I found Micky curled against the gate, as close to Rich as he could manage. He shows his love for us in demonstrative ways. If he sees me crying, he'll hop onto my lap. When I get up in the morning he dances good-morning circles around me. And whoever feed him gets a sloppy thank you kiss, whether they want it or not. Sometimes we come home from work to find him cuddled up against my ratty college sweatshirt.

But he barks the angriest snarls at our neighbors. We can only walk him on cold and stormy days because if he sees anyone outside on his road, headed toward (or away from) his beach, he will try his best to drag us, barking and growling in any human or canine direction. Once, Micky saw a man getting his mail and he dragged Rich nearly 30 yards to the mailbox, barking and growling and promising a disaster. The man ran up his driveway as fast as his slippers would take him. It's embarrassing and we've tried everything from classes to training to electric shock therapy.

Having an ill-behaved dog is alot like being married. The idea is considerably more romantic than the reality, and it seems like everyone else has the perfect version of both mutt and marriage, while we are left with the behaviorally challenged. The truth is, most of the time it takes work to love- both dog and husband. But we don't love because of what we get, we love because somewhere along the way we chose- this dog, this spouse. While it might seem easier to drop the two of them off at a farm somewhere and wish them the best chasing rabbits and squirrels, we don't. Instead we wake up to their good morning twirls and we love them for their sloppy kisses and we work through the rest.