My Dog is a Weird Character

Every dog, just like every human, has its own little quirks that make him/her endearing and special. Rocky is no different.

From the day that I brought him home at age 7 weeks, I’ve been totally amazed and flabbergasted at some of the things he does. I have allowed him to sleep on the bed with me since day one, and since at seven weeks he was too tiny to jump on the bed, I slept on the sofa so he wouldn’t get hurt jumping off if he needed a drink or had to use the training pad while I slept. The very first morning after bringing him home, I woke to being smothered. Yep, he’s an alpha! He was laying right on top of my face covering my nose and mouth so I couldn’t breathe.

It’s hard to tell that a puppy that young is growing, especially when you’re around them every day.  The day I realized he had grown was the day he had his back legs resting on the couch, front legs and paws on the floor and he was resting his chin on the coffee table. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a photo of that because as soon as I reached for my phone, he moved. His curiosity about what I was doing wouldn’t let him let me get that great shot!

Then, I started taking him places with me– to the grocery store, the dog park, the library. And, his first trip to the vet. He enjoyed the excursions each and every single time, and because he had fun, he would become super excited when he knew where we were heading! He begins to pace, quiver, jump towards the windshield, and has managed to learn how to turn on my hazard lights. I’ve learned to watch and as soon as he turns them on, I’m reaching up to turn them off. We’ve fought over the window being open/closed when it’s cold outside. He will stand on my lap, with his front paws on the door panel and move my side view mirrors– both passenger and driver’s sides! How he manages to switch the lever is beyond me.

I’ve gotten accustomed to the funny looks I see when coming out of a store to get back in the car. Why am I getting these looks? Because people are amused to see Rocky sitting in the driver’s seat, looking straight ahead as if he’s going to drive and is patiently waiting for me to get in. I even had someone ask me if he did this by himself or if he’d been taught. What it was was that while Rocky was sitting in the driver’s seat, he looked in the rear view and side view mirrors, like he was looking to make sure no one was behind him so he could safely back up!

Here lately, though, he’s doing something a little bit even strange for a dog. While I’m driving, he will climb onto the console to sit by me. And then I feel a pressure on my driving leg, where he’s placed his paw. He’s trying to help me make the car go faster! One time, he was so impatient that he picked his leg up and put it down two or three times, as if to say, “We’re not going fast enough! Can’t you make this thing go any faster?”

We’ve gotten into a daily routine where first thing in the morning, as my body is saying that it’s time to get up and Rocky senses this, he comes over and starts licking my hands or face. This morning, along with waking me up with good morning kisses, I woke up to having a nearly 70 lb. dog crushing my chest! I should have gotten a Pomeranian….. they don’t weigh nearly as much.