Bobby's Tale - The Rascal

After I first got Bobby, I decided that Kelly and Bobby should be separated for a while when I was not home until they get used to each other better. So, Kelly got the living room, Bobby got the kitchen, and a door was closed between them. After a few days I thought, ok, this might be the time to risk it and put them together in one room. I was very busy then, going to school and working took a lot of time. One day when I came home, Kelly was in perfect condition, but this happened.

Exhausted, angry and shocked, I chased Bobby around the house with a magazine stick, he had fast legs and ran all over the place. Finally him and Kelly hid under the desk in the back of my piano room. Bobby being slightly bigger than Kelly, he turned out to be the one hiding behind her. I looked at the trouble maker and suddenly sat down on the floor and laughed.

Last winter when the weather started to get cold, I bought a red hooded jacket for Kelly, she loved new clothes and especially loved to wear it when I walked her in the early mornings when it was still pretty cold. After a few days I realized that I should get one for Bobby too, so the next trip to the pet store, I took the both of them and picked a green hoodie in the same style but a slightly larger size for him. He looked just handsome in it!

Around that time Bobby got ear infection, when I took him to the vet's office, I let him wear the green jacket. Everybody at the vet liked him, he looked like a little kid, and behaved really well. After we finished the examination, I let him sit on the floor while I paid the bill at the counter. In a matter of few minutes I lifted up the leash and there was no Bobby on the other end, I turned around and looked down, Bobby had chewed off the leash and he was free! Everyone laughed at how funny he was, including the other customers, me, and the receptionist. So with no leash, I lifted him up and held him in my arms and carried him to the car. On our way home, I purchased yet another leash.

Bobby loved to play, and he invented many games, one of which was to run after Kelly from one end of the house to another when someone "dared" to walk pass our street. Kelly would jump on the bed to get access to the window, Bobby knew he wasn't allowed, so he barked on the floor. Often times if I wasn't in the room and he forgot the rules, he would jump on the bed too, but the second I stepped in, he immediately jumped off, wiggled his tail and pretended like he didn't do anything wrong.

That night when we came home from the vet's office, I let him wore the jacket around the house, and I went into my piano room to study. When I came out, I saw him sitting on my bed with the most awful look on his face and he didn't jump off as soon as I came in the room. He just sat there and froze. I knew something was wrong, as I walked over to look, he had peed on my bed!!! I didn't scold him this time, it was my fault, and I felt sorry for him. He probably didn't know he could move or pee like normal wearing a jacket and was holding it in for a long time. I took him off the bed and cleaned up the mess, it was another night staying up late waiting for the laundry cycle to end and then another to start. From then on, no more clothes for Bobby, not that I didn't want to dress him up, but I didn't think he enjoyed wearing anything.

There was no question that Bobby liked to explore the house and find stuff to chew. Between him and Kelly, at times they went through $20 worth of chew bones in a matter of a couple days. On top of that, he jumped on table tops rummaging through perfume bottles and papers and find tasty chewy things. His philosophy? As long as mommy wasn't watching, she would NEVER know! He chewed my high heel pumps, tassel off my loafers, button off my cashmere cardigans, pillow from a full set of bedding, expensive leather handbags, CDs, razer blades,  you name it, he even chew on my blouse while I was wearing it whenever I lifted him up and carried him in my arms ( I have to admit, that was freaking adorable though!) . But the worst time of them all, a brand new pair of Ray Ban reading glasses. As usual, I kept them on the night stand thinking Bobby wouldn't get to it, I forgot that he had extremely mobile paws, he could reach almost anything with them. When I came home, the glasses were not on the night stand, it was on my bed all chewed up. I must had my jaw dropped and lost my mind for a second, coming out of the shock, I jumped up and started chasing him around the house to spank him, frightened, Bobby went hiding under the bed. I couldn't reach him, so I called Jeff. He was on the way to see me on that day, and I told him to take Bobby back to the pound as soon as he gets here.  The 30 minutes it took for him to get to my house, I had already calmed down. I went to the bedroom and called him out, he slowly crawled out, peeking out only the nose, seeing that I wasn't going to spank him again, he came out, wiggling his long hairy tail, licked my feet and walked around the house and started sniffling and playing with Kelly again. Then, the idea of sending him back to the cold and harsh shelter to die became unimaginable to me.  Jeff got to my house all prepared to take him back to the shelter only to find me hovering all over him refusing to let Bobby go. After a lot of back and forth, he finally said, "ok, I see how it is. If I took him today, we'd just be back to the shelter an hour later to pick him up. AND I bet the shelter is going to charge us another $80 bucks for adoption fee." I burst out laughing and that was the end of that.

Over time, all these behavioral problems waned off. Whatever problem remained with him, I accepted him as the way he was. After all, how much "chewed up stuff" is worth a best friend forever? If I could have him back for anything in the world I would. He could chew up anything in the house and I  wouldn't give a dime. Pulling on the leash for example, I got used to it, in fact, it always made me laugh because it just felt so comical and he always seemed so silly and happy. After Bobby was gone, I missed terribly the little bundle of energy pulling on the leash and just loved to run and run and run.