Well, today in our household we celebrated the fourth birthday of our wonderful Shichon (Shih-Tzu / Bichon Frise mix) Ellie. I remember boldly thinking two years ago that by the time Ellie was four she would calm down. Considering that she emphatically stole my slipper just night, well, I guess that's her way of telling me that such was wishful thinking on my part. Anyway, in honor of her fourth birthday, I thought I would share some of my favorite one-liners about and nicknames for our mischievous little dog, as I think they capture so much of her personality...
"Ellie's toys look like lost characters from a Tim Burton movie" and "Ellie's former toys is like a who's who of Petco" - Ellie, simply put, destroys her toys. She is a power chewer, even for being just 10 pounds. She bit off and ate (and later redistributed around our back yard) her teething toys when she was a puppy, and she has surgical precision at ripping open toys. We've had a series of headless monkeys, giraffes, frog-bears (don't ask) in our household; and they continue to be torn apart appendage by appendage, until they eventually end up being nothing more than a rag. She even goes through the hard, nylabone chew toys in regular fashion. But being a chewer exemplifies her personality - she generally likes to play by herself, never lasting in a game of fetch for more than a few throws, or a game of tug for a few seconds.
"Ellie is to a bull as our house is to a china shop." - Ellie gets so ramped up at times, that she loses all sense of self-control and perception when she is running around the house and jumping between furniture like a flurry white pinball. Often, this results is careening across the kitchen floor, or launching herself directly into the back of the sofa, or sliding off the side of the ottoman. She has a complete lack of awareness at these times.
We say that Ellie's American Indian names are "Huff and Puff" and "Little Thunder" - Ellie has put it on herself to let us know whenever there is unapproved and unauthorized activities happening within her sight outside our home. There is no threat too small (like a cat) or too great (like the woman hanging laundry three houses down) that escapes her attention. We have a back patio sliding door looking into our backyard and into several neighbor's yards, and a picture window in the front that looks out at the street. Ellie can see out the picture window by sitting on the 2nd or 3rd step heading upstairs. Oftentimes, she runs back and forth, across our kitchen floor (which is the faux wood laminate) between the two places, huffing, puffing, gruffing, growling, and generally being disgruntled, and then barks vociferously at each place. The huffing and puffing earns her the name "Huff and Puff" (obviously), and "Little Thunder" comes from all the racket she makes jumping down and pounding across the kitchen floor.
Another odd thing about Ellie is that she rarely, if ever, comes to you on the command "come here." We always say it has to be on her terms. However, she suffers from a severe case of FOMO (fear of missing out). So much so, that Jackie and I can guarantee that she will leave her spot to join us if we are both sitting next to each other on our sofa or sectional. The only exception to this is if she has something she is not supposed to, which usually leads her being in our dining room (which we never go into, so it ends up being referred to as her naughty room - as whenever she is in that room, its because she is being naughty). We can always tell by the sound of way-too-happy paws on the floor.
Well, I suppose that's enough mundane sharing about our furry loved one. But as look across the room and see her curled up and sleeping; and when I think how she sleeps in the crook of my knee most nights, and how jumps up on the back of the chair to greet me each day I come home from work, with a happy wag of her tail and an affectionate kiss, I reminded of how much I love having a dog, and how much I love having Ellie be that dog.
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| Ellie, approximately 4 years ago. |
And Ellie, playing with her new toy tonight (and I would note, for the record, that the squeaker tube is already destroyed and pulled off the rope).
"A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." - Josh Billings
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