Monday, April 1, 2013

Black Betty's Birthday

In 2010, After a year of proving to myself that I could survive on my own- keep a roof over my head and food in my fridge- I determined it was time to get a dog.  Enter into my life Black Betty, a fluffy muppet pup, also known as a labradoodle.

Now folks, I chose a labradoodle because the breed's reputation is a cross between the best of labradors and standard poodles- personality without the shedding.  (Short haired dogs can make me itch and I'm iffy about little dogs- some of them are fantastic and some of them are demonic little ankle biters.)  True to this reputation, Betty doesn't shed, hair.  She "lints" which is to say there aren't millions of little dog hairs all over the house, but I do find clumps of Betty hair akin to dust bunnies.  But let me tell you, Betty's nickname around our house is "Velcro" because things stick to her like, well, velcro- leaves, grass, pollen, sticks, moss, etc.  They all cling to her, particularly her derriere, and get tracked all over our house as they fall off. You cannot simply wipe them off, just as you cannot simply wipe off velcro.  Someday I will get a picture of it worthy of posting on dog shaming.

She is a joy to me and this Saturday we celebrated her 3rd birthday, which meant that she and her sister, Kati (an Australian cattle dog mix) enjoyed licking the remnants out of large peanut butter jars.

Shockingly the blending of our two dog families has never been an issue.  "Inspector Kati" who is suspicious of all other dogs, is content to boss Betty around.  Betty, the giant pushover, either does not understand or does not care when Kati bosses her around.  She will simply take the correction and try again in another 30 seconds.

Betty loves: squeakers, other dogs, peanut butter, ear and chin scratches, socks (the dirtier and bigger the better), tall men, swimming/water, wiping her mouth off on clean clothes, breezy car rides

Betty hates: grooming, overly-enthusiastic people, knocking, medicine, hats

<-- Kati snuggles a shame-faced Betty before her spring shearing.

1 comment:

  1. no wonder Betty (and Ashley's dog Coco)were scared/shied away from me: I'm too enthusiastic. ha, ha

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