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Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009

Carol Reiter: Looking past the bad habits

Moss is growing up, too quickly it seems sometimes. I love this dog, but sometimes I don't know why.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I love Moss dearly, more than I thought I could. I love all my dogs, but for some reason this rotten little dog has made me fall head over heels in love with him.

And it isn't because he's a good dog. Boy oh boy is he not a good dog. He jumps as high as my head, although he has learned, mostly, not to touch me. We went through a couple of weeks where he slammed into me and knocked me head over heels. He's already a big dog, and he has no knowledge of how strong he is.

But it's not just his jumping that does me in. As soon as he comes in the house, Moss goes on a hunt for something, anything, to chew on. And it can't be something that I don't care about him chewing on, like a dog toy or something. Oh no, no dog toys. Not for Moss. He wants something that has some worth to it, like a cell phone or my glasses or a book.

And he is fast. I know that he's looking for something as soon as he comes in so I try to head him off. But he can grab, run and slam into his crate in about 2.3 seconds. By the time I hobble down the hall to my room, he has halfway destroyed something.

But despite his bad habits, and he has them, believe me, Moss is an absolute love. He is so excited to see me, every single time I come home. He barks and whines and wiggles and follows me around like, well, like a puppy. If I talk to him, he can't hardly stand himself. He buries his head in my lap, and drools and shakes and pretty much lets me know that he absolutely adores me.

It's kind of humbling how much our dogs love us. Well, some of them anyway. I know that Len loves me, and Jan and Peg, but not like Moss. Maybe he's just a different kind of a dog. He's certainly not a normal border collie, because a lot of border collies are not the friendliest of dogs. But not Moss. He loves everyone.

It's nice to have a dog that likes people. It took my neighbor months to get Peg to come up to her. And this nice lady can pet wild cats that I can't even drive close to. And Peg is pretty typical of border collies. Even Ty, who was the most socialized dog in the world, didn't really like a lot of people. He liked his owner, her son, her best friend, and me. And that's it. He would let people pet him, but he didn't really like it.

Jan isn't very friendly either, but she's not as bad as Lenny or Peg. Jan has her people that she likes, and that's about it. She doesn't go looking for a friend, like Moss does.

I have said many, many times in the past that I don't like puppies. And Moss does everything that makes me not like puppies . He makes messes, he doesn't mind me, he jumps, he chews, he runs where I don't want him to go, and he just generally slams through life being as destructive as possible.

So why do I like him? I have thought a lot about that, because I really do like Moss. And I like him as a puppy.

I think it's because Moss believes that everything will turn out just fine. My life lately has not been fine, but every day when I come home, there is a little life that greets me with the absolute certainty that I am the greatest thing in the world. When everyone else is mad at me, or not speaking to me, Moss is always there. And no matter how bad I feel, that big, stupid, goofy looking dog with one blue eye and freckles everywhere makes me feel a little bit better. I can't wait for him to grow up, but I hope he stays a puppy for at least a little while longer.

Reporter Carol Reiter can be reached at (209) 385-2486 or creiter@mercedsun-star.com.