Bad, Bad Dog

Rudy Fleetwood Deines

Our dog lives like a prince. He gets a walk every single day (weather permitting - key part of the story), he has his own chair and ottoman in our bedroom, his own full size bed in our extra room, he eats premium dog food, etc. Rudy is treated like a member of the family and he lives in better conditions than a lot of people.

Rudy has been known to pull some devious shenanigans around our house. He broke out of our fence, so we bought a dog run. He broke out of the dog run and we started calling him Rudini. He's chewed on and eaten everything imaginable: glass Christmas ornaments, whole socks and gloves, plastic bowls, magazines, a couch, mail, the wood on our house, the old fence, and he's tried unsuccessfully (so far) to eat both of the cats. Rudy has even knocked people down and has bitten several times. Yes, we really love the mutt, or he would have been gone a long, long time ago.

A few years ago, we hired a Bark Busters trainer to come help us with Rudy. He challenged the trainer, but by the time she left our house, he was like a changed dog. He learned to follow George's lead on a leash, how to sit at the door when people enter and leave, and how to come when called. If you've ever heard us use the Bark Busters' "BAH" sound, you know we look like idiots when disciplining our dog. We've come to terms with the humiliation. The BAH works!

We've been super cautious bringing Reese around Rudy and never leave them unattended. Rudy has done very well with him so far, and seems to understand that Reese is a part of the family. We'll have to always be cautious though.

This morning I guess Rudy was a little mad at George. It was freezing outside (literally) and pretty wet, so George decided to not take Rudy for his morning walk. Rudy wasn't happy about that, so after the mean master left for work, Rudy got George's favorite Rancid beanie. I heard him growling at it and when I went to check on him, Rudy showed me his teeth. I learned a few years ago that when a dog growls at you and shows you his teeth, he means business. So, I called George, and he came home from work to rescue his hat. Of course, Rudy knows that George is his master, so he didn't growl or show his teeth to George.

Rudy being BAD

After all of his bad behavior, Rudy got a walk. That was really for our benefit, not Rudy's, because now he's sleeping by the Christmas tree and being a good doggy.