Christmas 2006 Teddy makes his debut

Someone in my family (you know who you are) had this bright idea that I should get a dog. I don't like to get up early so having a dog was not on my agenda.

Since there are few modes of transportation that are dog-friendly and even fewer places that let dogs come within ten feet of their front door, as far as I was concerned, a dog was a nuisance. Then there was the stuff about taking it out every hour to two hours for the first couple of months. The more I heard about it, the more I fought it. But once the idea was planted, it was like trying to stop a train. HEY ARE YOU GUYS DEAF? I DON'T WANT A DOG!

Two weeks before Christmas, 'my present' arrived. He had a red and white candy striped collar with little brass bells sewn all around it. Two minutes later, he'd chewed the thing to bits. Smart dog.

Roped in with ball and chain

Anyway, he's a mix of standard poodle and golden retriever. He's got all the bad traits, including the jumping and the barking, of the poodle. Okay, he's got some nice traits too, but no one sticks around once they've heard this dog bark. He's LOUD. Too bad I can't plug my keyboard into him.

HEY TEDDY, welcome on board. Do you like jazz? Not that you have any choice.

Smiles are so deceptive

My sister's dogs weren't too friendly. Probably because even at eight weeks, he was already bigger than they were. One's a silkie and one's a little gray mutt.

I’m in for it now

What was I to do? I figured he was here, so I might as well make a go of it. I decided to call him Teddy because he looked like a teddy bear, that is until he got shaved for the summer a couple of months later, and looked like a mangy rat, but by then it was too late to rename him.

It’s all very well to hang on to your dignity

Spring 2007 - First haircut - the pompadour. The trouble with poodle mixes is that they need clipping. The trouble with groomers is that they forget that guy dogs should look like dogs. What did they use? A bowl? It's a good thing he's got attitude.

Carnivores

Spring 2007 - Because Teddy has grown up with three small dogs in the house, he thinks he's small too. When he plays tug-of-war with my sister's Yorkie, it's weird how he matches his strengh to Mackenzie's. I mean, he could rip the stuffed animal they are fighting over right out of Mackenzie's mouth with one toss of his head, but he lets him get in a good tug too.

When I first started taking him to the dog park if a big dog came near him, his tail went down and he'd run away. He'd play with pugs, even a couple of blind ones. But after he'd peed on a pug twice - I'm not sure why - he started playing with the bigger dogs.

David and Goliath

2008 - Teddy aka Goliath & Kato aka David.

All growed up.

Kato is my brother's dog and though he's the smallest of the pack, he's the alpha. He's boss man. Teddy doesn't mess with him. They play tug-of-war by the hour. Most of the time Kato's feet are off the ground but he doesn't let go.