My Dog Bruzer – He Trained Us Well
November 20, 2019
By Tammy Davis
Most dogs greet their humans at the door at the end of the day. Not my dog. My dog, Bruzer, plays hard to get. When we come in from school, we call to him and tell him we’re home. His response? Nothing. You would never know there was a dog in the house. After calling and calling and calling, we go room to room, listening for the sound of his thumping tail. When we spot him and make eye contact, he rolls over on his back and stretches as if to say, “Here I am. Come adore me.” And we do. Yes, our dog has us well trained.
My mother says that dogs have no sense of time, but she is wrong on that one. Bruzer knows time, and he knows our travel habits. If I pull out my overnight bag, the pouting begins. The bigger the bag, the more dramatic the pout.
We don’t board him anymore. That did not go well. You can only call to check on your dog so many times before people get annoyed. The pet sitter route works better for us. I offer an extra $5 for a picture while I’m away. Our drama king dog looks sad in every shot. He’s mad about being left behind and wants to make sure I know it. Usually, he hangs his head low or puts his ears in the anxiety position or turns his head away from the camera, but recently, he hit a whole new photograph low. He looked at the camera and gave a fake smile. If he could write the caption for that photo, it would say, “Yeah, send that to my human.“
At least the welcome home is a better if we’ve been gone. When we pull into the driveway, we see a little head in the dining-room window. We can hear his excitement as we make our way up the steps. But even in the midst of his welcome home routine, he maintains his I’m-still-the-boss status. He greets us and then steps back into the den. He jumps up on us and then goes up a few stairs. We don’t mind the theatrics one bit. We’re just glad to see our dog.
I’ve heard of families sending their pets off to be trained. Some dogs are gone for as long as six months. While the long-term boot camp isn’t for me, I’m sure I should have done better when he was a puppy. People tell me it’s not too late. I could still do Saturday morning dog training sessions. I consider it from time to time, but I think Bruzer would be offended. He’s happy with the status quo.
We’re ok with things the way they are right now. Bruzer is not what you would call a well-trained dog. He’s really not trained at all, but he has us trained. He has us trained very well indeed.
Tammy Davis is a SC writer. She loves supporting groups like Pets, Inc., a local no-kill shelter in Columbia. Visit their website at www.Petsinc.org to learn about the good work they do and to see other dogs like handsome, photogenic Bruzer.
