April 28, 2004
For those of you
who do not know us, our family adopted Teddy Blue from the first
M&M litter. He flew to us with his brother Merlin to Atlanta,
where we picked them both up and drove to Knoxville, where I live
with my lovely wife and mischievous son. (Merlin’s family
picked him up from us in the mountains of North Carolina; had
they delayed even one more day, we would have stolen Merlin away.
“Nope, haven’t seen ‘em.” “Who is
that gorgeous, sweet, smart black dog playing with Teddy Blue?”
“Hmm, don’t know. Stray?”)
Teddy Blue is a wonderful,
remarkable addition to our family. He is glued at the hip to our
eleven year old son. He shows remarkable restraint when playing
with kids; loyalty and love when fooling with me; and love and
reserved protection when with Deb. I can’t imagine a better
dog. I believe he would give his life to protect Bentley or Deb.
Here are a few TB stories to fill in some gaps:
We
had a new babysitter. She started playing the game “Chinese
egg roll.” (Is that not politically-correct? I don’t
mean anything bad or racist by it.) CER involved wrapping Bentley
up in a blanket and then tickling him. Great fun is had by all,
and there is a contest to see how long you can avoid laughing.
Teddy didn’t like it; but look how he responded: rather
than get bent out of joint, he separated Bentley and the babysitter.
He didn’t use his teeth, he didn’t bite or growl,
but he kept them apart. He used his doggie brain to make sure
everything was ok with his favorite sheep.
Teddy
Blue has learned to run while I bike. I can’t run every
day, and alternate with other exercise. Teddy is leashed. We practiced
once in the yard, and after one correction Teddy got it –
you just can’t pull. While there is a certain amount of
risk involved in biking with a 110 pound dog connected to your
bike, we have not had a single problem. “Back,” and
“Let’s see how fast we can go,” are part of
our vocabulary.
TB
continues to be an extraordinary tracker. I think he can find
my son anywhere, and many other people, too. He can also find
(and gather) small plastic objects that smell like his favorite
people – pagers, cell phones, remote controls – although
this has pretty much stopped since we told him not to. I am pretty
sure he got the concept – I can’t just avoid this
particular item, but I have to avoid all items like it.
I
think Teddy can roll his eyes, although I wouldn’t swear
to it. I went to my office one night and took Teddy with me. We
walked by a restaurant with an outdoor seating area. It was late,
and some poor women who had too much to drink was seated close
to the sidewalk. She said, “That’s a dog” in
a way that indicated she wasn’t sure. I looked at Teddy,
and he at me, and I am sure I saw an eye roll.
Teddy Blue is the
most amazing dog I have ever owned.
Best to all,
Ross
Teddy
is a Merlot/McKenna son. He is a brown sable smooth. He lives
in Knoxville, Tennessee with his human brother, Bentley.
OFA
Hips - Good