"Wilderness is not defined by the absence of certain activities, but rather by the presence of certain unique and invaluable characteristics."--Nick Rahall
My once 8lb little ball of fluff has now become a 53lb giant ball of fluff and energy. He is probably the best dog imaginable, which I know anyone with a dog who is reading this will instantly disagree because they have the best dog, but let's agree to disagree :) Atlas is my best friend, partner in crime, fluffy child, and can be annoying while at the same time being as cute as possible, which is an accomplishment in itself.
Atlas usually needs to burn off a lot of energy and LOVES walkies. He was practically born for walkies. We go for walks in a nearby neighborhood about 5 days a week depending on weather. For him, the colder the weather the better...for me? Not so much, but I do it anyway. I bundle myself up so I end up looking like that poor, unfortunate child from "A Christmas Story" who couldn't put his hands by his side because of the billions of layers he was forced to wear in the snow.
Today we went for a walk right as it started to flurry. There was a winter storm warning, so I wanted to get the walk out of the way before we couldn't drive safely anymore. Atlas was trotting along being ridiculously cute and well-behaved while enjoying the weather immensely. I was bundled up and enjoying the snow that we had FINALLY gotten. For about a week now, there has been a flattened, desiccated, (obviously) dead squirrel carcass sitting in the middle of the sidewalk where we pass by. Atlas knows the command "leave it" and whenever I see it I always make sure to tell him that and he usually, keyword there, USUALLY leaves it alone.
Today? Not so.
Today, I saw "Atlas. Leave it." What does he do? He pretends he can't hear me, walks up to it, and grabs it by what I can only imagine was a leg...Everything after this happened so fast that I'll just give you a play by play.
Me: Atlas NO.
Atlas: Screw you mom. This is delicious. Can't you smell this beautiful aroma?
Me: DROP IT
Atlas: What mom? I couldn't hear you? Yum yum yum
Me: Atlas no. Drop it right now.. don't you dare...
Atlas just gives me this look that can only be described as "hmm... I wonder what would happen if I shook this with all the energy I have right now. Mom would really like that"
Me: EWWW NO. Please for the love of everything just drop it.
Atlas: Okay I'll drop it... AS I SHAKE IT VIOLENTLY. HAHAHAHA
At this point he finally listens and I get exactly what I asked for in the form of a disgusting, partially rotted, road killed squirrel carcass flying at my face at full speed while it was simultaneously exploding fur ALL OVER THE PLACE.
If I hadn't been paying attention and ducked at the last second like a super awesome ninja with moves straight out of The Matrix I would have gotten a face full of dead squirrel. Thanks Atlas...
It's days like these that make me wonder how I got through life without things like this happening on a daily basis. With Atlas, things like this happen ALL THE TIME. Oddly enough, I couldn't imagine my life without it.
On a MUCH cuter note...Later that day we decided to cut our cats' nails. We could tell wherever they both were in the house by the clicking noises their nails made on the floors so we decided it was time to break out the clippers. We have one cat, Boo Boo, (no we didn't name him that god awful name) who HATES having his nails cut with a fiery passion that could only come from the 7th circle of hell. We have to wrap him in a blanket or as we like to call it "A Purrito" so we don't get disemboweled, bitten, scratched, etc. All went pretty well after much screaming on his part. This entire time Atlas was by his side with his nose right up against Boo Boo like he was comforting him. Once we released him from the purrito Atlas chased him down and laid down next to him.
That's not even the cutest part. Our other cat, Natasha, is much better about getting her pedicure so we don't have to wrap her up. She grumbles, but she's all talk. Boo Boo is a newer addition to the fur family, so Atlas is much more attached to Natasha. Will was cutting her nails, and I was holding her in my arms while we sat on the bed. Atlas jumped on the bed next to us and would cry at us every time she meowed. Once we let her go she jumped down and tried to fix the hair that had gotten all crazy. Atlas went in to the other room and started bringing her his toys to cheer her up. He would follow her around and make sure he was in between her and us for a little while to make sure he protected her.
My dog can be the most annoying thing on the face of the planet one minute and then do something so sweet the next. Needless to say, this guy has stolen my heart. I have, by far, the best dog in the universe.
"As one who has often felt this need, and who has found refreshment in wild places, I attest to the recreational value of the wilderness."--George Aiken
No comments:
Post a Comment