Pig's Ears, Walks and Peeing

So, last weekend, I made a new friend. His name is Beau. A few of my friends left for the weekend and let me get to know Beau. On Friday I got there and being the attentive watch dog that he is, he attacked me as I entered the house. Well, he jumped on me and did everything in his power to lick my face. I finally gave in and let him. I got him some food and he then took me for a walk. All I had to do was pick up the leash and he was running from the back of the house to the front door in anticipation of pulling me through the neighborhood.

Beau peed on everything along the way. Nothing was left. Mail boxes, trees, bushes, small children. When we rounded the block, he saw his house and got excited again. (This dog is excited about everything.) He pulled me to the house to let me know that this is where we go back inside. I then gave him a pig's ear. It looked like a pig's ear and I'm going to assume that it was. Not really my cup of tea, but he dug it.

He was quietly eating his pig's ear in the other room while I watched the World Series. There was a point where the Cards looked as if they had a homer leaving the park. So I began clapping and shouting "GO! GO! GO!" Well, to Beau it sounded like "BEAU! BEAU! BEAU!" He came running into the room to see what I needed him for. The clapping must have furthered the importance of my chants.

I tried to let him know that I was yelling at the people on TV who couldn't hear me. (Actually at the ball which wouldn't have been able to hear me anyway.) I thanked him for his quick response time. He then looked at me as if I was nuts and went back to his pig's ear.

I spent the night there. I brought my pillows with me because of my weird neck and back. I left the house for only a few seconds to get them and Beau then greeted me the same way as if I were gone for days. I went upstairs and Beau raced me up them. (He won. Then looked at me as if to say "You coming up anytime tonight, slow-poke?!") I got ready for bed and found him laying on the bed. I guess this was his way of showing me where I sleep. I appreciated the heads up on this one. I was going to sleep on the big pillow on the floor by the water dish if he hadn't showed me this.

The next day I decided to see if he would like to play a game of catch. So I took one of his squeaky toys out and showed it to him. He got excited (I'm telling you, this dog is the happiest creature on the planet) and I threw it behind him. His eyes followed it and then turned and looked at me without going after it. He gave me a look as if to say "You get me excited about my toy and then you throw it away from me? What is wrong with you? What if I did that to the remote?" So, our game of catch was short lived. I ended up doing the fetching after feeling guilty for throwing his toy.

We did, however, have a spirited game of tug-of-war. That was fun.

The second night that I stayed there, I went to bed at about 2. Beau slept in the same room on the floor like the night before. Each hour he would come over to the bed and nudge me. I thought that he needed to go outside, so each time I would get up and he would go back to his pillow, circle and then lay down. I'm assuming that I was snoring or something and he had had enough and was trying to get me to stop. I don't blame him.

So, Sunday came and I let Beau know that we were going to take our walk early so that we can watch Da Bears beat the heck out of the 49ers. I'm not sure if he was excited about Da Bears or the walk. I'm guessing both. So, after he pulled me around the neighborhood and marked more territory than Napoleon, we watched Da Bears. I had a pizza, he had a pig's ear.

Now, if you know me, I'm allergic to some animals. I was concerned with Beau, but I didn't have much of a problem. A little congested, but I was ok. I loved hanging out with Beau. It has furthered my love for dogs and my desire to have one someday. He was one of the most well-behaved dogs that I have ever come across. If you are ever in the DuPage area, stop by and say "hi." He'd love to lick your face.