<p>*We have Batman, a 3 yo Black Lab. He is the best dog in the world.</p>
<p>2350 SAT and a 35 ACT. 4.0 UW and 6 APs. His essay will be about overcoming elbow dysplasia at the too-young age of 2. ECs include marathon sprinkler hopping (he’s so good that the neighbors stop to watch), deer chasing, and helping his master unload the car. And, despite all those over-achievements he’s still the most gentle, lovable and adorable creature I’ve ever met. <3 *</p>
<p>This is all kinds of awesome. </p>
<p>My Lucy failed deer-chasing. She just lays in the yard and watches them eat my hostas.</p>
<p>Wow, my doxie didn’t score high on SATs but he figured out gravity. We are on a slope. If I don’t pay attention to him when outside, he takes a ball to the top of the driveway and rolls it down to chase after.</p>
<p>Best breed? That’s easy - Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. We had one for almost 14 years. He had the fearless confidence of a big dog, tucked into a small, cuddly body. Okay, ours was overfed and pudgy. He actually thought he was a person. Every repairman and contractor who came into the house loved our dog. He’s been gone for several years now and they still ask for him.</p>
<p>So my dog on the couch, or the bed, or my lap is a Brittany. I have decided that bird dogs are bad,bad, bad for the first seven years of their lives, and then pretty good for the last six or seven. Mine is 12 and I love the dog, but he is a bird dog and every body who comes into my house gets a goose. lovely habit. </p>
<p>Yesterday, darling dog pulled the tablecloth to get to the Hershey’s kisses and Peppermint Patties from Valentine’s Day. He ate the kisses and took the peppermints and hid them around the house. I guess for one of these days when he needs to freshen his breath. Today a part of him sparkles…</p>
<p>Well, this dog thinks he is human. He ate the greater part of a chocolate cake once. No problems. Perhaps because it was milk chocolate. He has not had problems with chocolate, and when he was younger I worried more. This probably sounds awful reading it on-line, but the dog is a garbage disposal.</p>
<p>My dog is a garbage disposal, too. Which is why this chocolate thing is so interesting to me. We usually eat it huddled over or when the dog is in the yard so he won’t get any. Maybe I can relax now!</p>
<p>I am a doxiemama. When I was little, we used to play in the street with a dachshund who lived across from my uncle, and I vowed to have one someday. H & I got Fafnir when we bought our first house. He was an amazing singer–we nicknamed him “Poocherati” and he lived to be 15. Our second, Tristan, had to be put down at 8 after back surgery. We were assured that it was 98% successful and that neurosurgeons “send their kids to college based on this operation”. Tristan was not all that smart, but totally obedient to a fault. If he was in a “stay” he would hold it for an hour. He was too good to live.Now we have Argos, a 9-lb anxiety-ridden bundle of issues. Loving and sweet, but totally velcro. He is ten. We cannot move from our house because he would not survive it. We love him, but he is more work than the kids were. I cannot imagine not having a dog. And it will have to be a dachshund. What else could it be after 35 years of collecting items for my “weiner art” museum?</p>
<p>I can’t imagine being without a dog, either. And I don’t mean generic “dog”, since it’s always a very personal, very individual relationship.</p>
<p>I get a kick out of my 7 year old pup. She watches my face as if it would tell her the secrets of life. If I start to smile, even the tiniest little curve, she starts to smile and wag her tail. If I contract my eyebrows and look serious, her ears go down and she looks so sad. </p>
<p>She chases squirrels, rabbits and deer without compunction. A rabbit gave birth to a litter in a depression in our yard last year, and I was not happy about the idea of my sheltie going after the babies. One evening I saw my pup with the bunnies - she was herding them around the yard and licking them. Guess I didn’t have to worry.</p>
<p>Standard poodle. Mine is so lovable. She really gives us hugs. </p>
<p>My twins were out back and for the first time I was not there. The poodle stood guard over them. She just stood there looking back and forth to make sure nothing got them while they played. The twins are right now teaching her how to jump over the swings of the swingset. She is a very smart. Maybe to smart.</p>
<p>Like many modern hazards and warnings, I think the dogs and chocolate thing is overblown. Our small (~12 lbs) dog got hold of and consumed an entire bag of Hershey’s Kisses and didn’t bat an eyelash. Poison? What poison?</p>
<p>My dog likes to wrangle the chipmunks on our patio. He once spent about an hour with one trapped behind a bin. The poor chipper was so exhausted that when he finally made a break for it that he fell out of the tree he’d climbed. The dog was totally baffled by this turn of events and eventually picked up the chipper with a soft mouth and set him down by his hole.</p>
<p>A friend of mine, who is a children’s author, turned the tale into a book for me for Christmas and it’s now available as an iPhone app. :)</p>
<p>Just what our friend/vet says re: dogs and chocolate. Some dogs have issues with it (affects their heart rate and can lead to death, although I think that’s rare); some dogs do not. Our lab ate a whole plate of brownies (with chocolate chunks) and was fine. (Poor guy had to ask his mother not to feed her dog chocolate <em>right in front of him</em>.)</p>
<p>FWIW–we seem to have settled into corgis and lab rescue dogs. Now we have just a really wonderful corgi and a dog we thought was a black lab mix but turns out is <possibly purebred?=""> flat-coat retriever. Corgis really are interesting–lots of personality, very playful, totally bossy. Our flat-coat/whatever is beautiful, so sweet, but dumber than a stump. Not sure any dog will replace our chocolate lab in my heart, though, who we had for 12 years. Adopted him as a nine-month-old. Came with the name “Bill Gates”. (Really?) Immediately changed it to “Buddy”. I mean–what else are you going to call a chocolate? (This was <em>before</em> the Clintons.) He was the ur-lab. Would fetch a stick all day. Got in the garbage whenever he could. Had a hand in a llama stampede in the neighborhood. (It wasn’t his fault! I swear!) When we lost him we thought long and hard about getting another chocolate. Just not sure another one would ever seem quite right.</possibly></p>
<p>Chocolate can be fatal but it depends on the type. I have been told pure baking chocolate is very dangerous. It also depends on the size of the dog. Our Setter Rufus loves chocolate and during the holidays my wife always tries to hide it or store it up high. There were several times he pushed doors open and got to the chocolate. He once ate several bags of Hershey Kisses at Christmas. The green, gold, red and silver foil wrapping and all. He decorated the yard for a few days in colorful " christmas poop". We really try to keep the chocolate away from him but he knows when it is in the house. We do cave in to his Twizzler addiction however.</p>
<p>I have a border collie/aussie mix rescue that we got from the pound when she was a pup. She is right at 10 years old, and is the most devoted and intelligent dog I have ever had. She sheds an amazing amount, but hey it makes me feel VERY productive when I vacuum. :)</p>
<p>For all you dog lovers, here is a very impressive video…my dog can do a lot, but not this!</p>