Animal Instinct

When I was a little girl I had a German Spitz named Snowball.  She was my first dog and a get well present from my grandfather when I had the chicken pox in the third grade.  (Thanks to Lathan W. and Jason W. who chased me around the playground before they were diagnosed!)  She wasn't much bigger than a snowball when my grandfather first brought her home.  Snowball and I were pretty much inseparable.  She was an outdoor dog, but anytime I was outside she was right there beside me.  The next summer Snowball was out of the playful puppy stage, but she still followed me around and stayed close to my side whenever I was outside. 

I remember playing in the yard at my grandparents one day and Snowball was acting kind of odd.  She ran twenty yards away the first time, barked and ran back.  The next time she ran fifteen yards away, barked and ran back.  She did this several times until she was just a few feet away from me barking like mad.  My grandmother finally heard Snowball barking and sent my grandfather out to see what was going on.  He walked down and found Snowball ferociously guarding me from a rattlesnake that was slithering towards me.  About the time my grandfather got to Snowball the snake had struck at her and she bite it and killed it.  Thankfully, Snowball's fur was so thick the snake hadn't actually been able to bite her. 

I learned then that a good dog could sense danger and would do their best to save you.  Years later, (Snowball had already gone to the happy hunting grounds in the sky) I had another wonderful dog.  This one was a red bone hound named Callie.  She was a truly marvelous dog!  I remember coming home from a date one night.  My date opened the car door, took my hand and proceeded to walk me to the front door.  Callie ran straight to us and kept trying to get in between us.  She actually took her head and tried to bump our hands apart several times.  It was really cute.  At the time, I just thought she was jealous.  A few months later when this jerk came home from college and told me he was dumping me for a girl who would put out I realized that Callie had been trying to tell me all along that the guy was a creep!

For the past seven years, Spike has been the "man" of my dreams.  He's a solid black, miniature Schnauzer.  I love him and he loves me!  Spike has seen me through several relationships to date.  I have learned to not only trust Spike's opinion of the men I date, but now the men actually have to pass the "Spike" test.  He's 100% with his picks too!  Spike can't tell if the guy is "the guy," but like Snowball he senses the danger.  Spike's rather passive.  He won't do anything major like bite the guys hand.  (I wish!)  But he definitely lets me know how he feels about the guy. 

I was dating Mike when I first got Spike.  Spike was crazy about Mike.  He would jump up in his lap and kiss him all over the face.  Needless to say, that scored big points for Mike with me because he was willing to put up with Spike kissing him.  Mike and I didn't work out, but he's truly a great guy.  Just a great guy for someone else.

After Mike came Don, "Don the Dud" as my friends and I now call him.  Don obviously wasn't a dog person.  He treated Spike like he was a vicious killer.  Remember, Spike is a MINIATURE Schnauzer.  He might lick you to death, but he doesn't even play bite!  Don would pet Spike by taking his index, middle, ring fingers and thumb and barely let the tips of them rub Spike's head.  I swear Spike rolled his eyes when Don did this!  (My father still jokingly refers to this as the "Don tease" and will often pet Spike like that in jest.)  Spike didn't dislike Don, but you could tell he wasn't a Don fan either.

Next on the list is Ricky.  From the moment Spike met him until the moment I dumped him; Spike NEVER liked Ricky.  The first time Ricky came to my house Spike came into the living room and jumped up on the couch to meet him.  Ricky got down on his knees and started petting Spike.  (I was actually impressed with how well Ricky responded to Spike.)  Spike, however, felt differently.  Ricky petted him for a minute, Spike jumped off the couch and went straight to his bed.  Anytime after that, when Ricky came to visit Spike stayed well away from him.  I don't want to spoil future blogs, but rest assured Spike was correct in staying away from Ricky.

Spike, the four-legged, furry man of my dreams has proven himself as a date picker.  He obviously has more sense and better taste than I do.  Since he was proven his animal instincts, I now hold all first dates at the dog park and let Spike decide if there will be a second date!  Now if I could just teach him to bite the really crummy ones!  (Maybe not, I don't want a lawsuit!)