Until now, no man in my life (other than Dad) has ever, would ever, could ever, make me do something I didn’t want to do. Or – more to the point – stop me from doing something I really wanted.
Then came Vito.
Vito is my new prison warden family member. He is a 3-year old Great Dane and is the sweetest, softest jailer I can imagine. Greg and I adopted him from a rescue a week ago today. He is well mannered and incredibly affectionate. He loves everyone he meets, doesn’t beg at the table, comes when he’s called and just wants to be loved. And therein lies the snag.
Within an hour of meeting each other, he bonded to me so securely he could be the poster boy for Krazy Glue. He’s my shadow. He follows me everywhere – and I do mean everywhere. Let’s just say I’m glad my shower has doors and not a curtain. I was told he had mild separation anxiety, but that was a serious understatement. Perhaps he just didn’t quite bond in this way with people at his foster homes. If I leave the house, he whines, cries, moans, fiddles with the doorknob and scratches at the door. It’s truly heartbreaking. So I don’t leave the house unless he goes with me. The darling boy just needs to trust that he’s truly home now and that I’ll always come back to him. So we are working on his issues and running the drills according to behaviorists. His doctor prescribed Prozac, but I’m going to hold off on that because I want to give him time to settle in and let the training take its course.
Meanwhile, I don’t know of any golf courses that would be cool with having a big, clumsy goofball trailing along with me out there. So golf (and many other outings) are on hold for now. In fact, I was supposed to be in Las Vegas this weekend but I stayed behind while everyone else left today for the festivities. I’m happy to have Vito in my life and we’re going to have a fun weekend together, but I look forward to a healthier relationship when my new man will let me play golf. And go to the bathroom in peace.
May 3, 2008 at 1:29 am
Yay! I guess your mom is going to have to make you a new custom headcover for your 3-wood!
It looks like you may also have to enlist mom to dog sit if you want to play golf anytime soon.
“I don’t know of any golf courses that would be cool with having a big, clumsy goofball trailing along with me out there.”
I’m glad the golf courses in the Pacific Northwest don’t have restrictions against big, clumsy goofballs. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be allowed to play. They might have an issue with the 4-legged goofball variety however.
Congrats on the family member GC!
May 3, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Congratulations. If you haven’t already, Ian Dunbar’s books re: dogs are definitely worth checking out.
May 3, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Congratulations Kristen & Greg.
The “poster boy for Crazy Glue” is adorable!
Reading this post just made me so happy.
May 3, 2008 at 9:39 pm
Vito is such a cutie!
May 6, 2008 at 6:11 pm
VERY cool dog (don’t challenge him to a long drive contest !) – good luck with breaking him of the “separation anxiety” problem. I used to have 3 daschunds – the 2 males would play “water the garden” all over the furniture and when left alone – this went on for a couple of years. (had to put one of them down due to a back unjury)
Dogs are the best pets ever, but they do require attention. Hope he gets less destructive as he gets more comfortable at home. (now you know how WE feel when you don’t write your blogs regularly !)