MUST Love This Dog

Leland was at band practice last night and I was home hanging out with my dog Bacchus. AKA The Bachman. Although I am sure many of you would disagree with me, he really is the coolest dog in the world. When I was sick last week, he took care of me. He put on his nurse’s hat and brought me hot tea all day long.

Bacchus is so secure in his masculinity that he is not afraid to wear a nurse’s hat.

At first I thought he would have trouble bringing me tea because of his lack of opposable thumbs, but somehow he managed. He really is magical.


While we were hanging out together all last week while I was drowning in snot, Bacchus mentioned to me how he feels slighted by my blog. He told me he reads it everyday and was bothered that he hasn’t even been mentioned in months.

He said he was hurt because all of the funny/weird/creepy things Leland does and says make it into the blog, but the million cute and funny things that he does never get mentioned. I told him I would fix the problem right away.

Bacchus is our VERY loving Chesapeake Bay Retriever. He came to us 3 ½ years ago when he was six months old. One of the doctors I worked with at the Animal Emergency Clinic is a breeder of Chessies and Bacchus was the one dog she couldn’t place in a home because he is a genetic reject. He has an under bite and back paws that point outward instead of forward. Because she couldn’t sell him or show him, she gave him to me for free. He is the best free thing I ever got.

Here are some awesome facts about The Bachman:

- He is so excited every time he sees us that he jumps up at least 20 times. He literally jumps straight up, getting all four paws off the ground at the same time. He does this when we get home from work, and even if we are just getting out of the bathroom. Every time he sees us he acts like he hasn’t seen us for hours.
- When he is done jumping up, he starts turning in circles. We call this his happy dance. He doesn’t chase his tail, he just spins in circles. He will even do it on command.
- He never wakes us up in the morning. He will let us sleep as long as we want and hold his urine for as long as it takes. During the week, as soon as my alarm goes off he gets out of his bed and comes and licks my elbow one time. I think he does it to let me know he is awake and I need to take care of him. But after he licks my elbow he just lays next to my bed and patiently waits for me to get up.
- Once I do get up he immediately starts spinning in circles.
- He loves to swim.

- He eats nearly everything. Garlic, horseradish, peppers, fish, fruit, vegetables…he will not eat almonds though.
- He never chews or eats anything he isn’t supposed to, like shoes or furniture.
- He has been known to wrangle a steak out of the sink while it was defrosting and eat the entire thing.
- He loves to give kisses and has learned that he can kiss Leland all over his face but can only kiss my on my chin.
- He loves to play fetch and he is really good at it. He will bring the ball right back and place it in my hand. He makes it so easy that we can play with him with our eyes closed.
- He knows he cannot lay on the couch except when he is invited up. Though sometimes he does like to invite himself up when we are both sitting on the couch together. He thinks he is a small dog.

- He loves people. In the warmer months when people are out walking, he will run up to them barking and wagging. Though most of the people in our neighborhood know him by now, he scares everyone he first meets because he has a powerful bark. But after a while they learn that he is running up to them because he wants to play. He thinks that everyone was put on this earth to play with him.
- He is off-leash trained. When we take him for walks he stays right by our side the whole time. When we stop walking, he immediately sits and waits. When we are walking, he never leaves to run up to people.
- He lets me clip his nails, clean his ears, brush his teeth and give him a bath without complaining at all. I think he likes any type of attention.
- He protects the house. Though he has never bit anyone and I honestly don’t think he knows how to bite, he has been known to chase people out of our house with his strong, loud bark.

Can you tell that I love him?

He makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Hopefully this post will make him happy and he can stop nagging me to give him some blog love. I’ll have to do better to remember his sensitive needs in the future.