A-Z Challenge: D - Dog

D is for Dog

I inherited  was forced to live  agreed to look after my husband’s dog when we moved to the US, along with his children. Although the dog (who is tail-less and called Stubby) was psychotic, she was less frightening than my new step-children. At least I had had a dog before. 

Stubby would have ‘mad moments’ when, for no obvious reason, she would race around the garden at top speed, barking and snapping at anyone in her way, like an out of control Gremlin high on E numbers (and not the cute one). And like a Gremlin, she chewed and ate everything in sight: shoes, flip-flops, books, my favourite sunglasses, socks (which I would then find half-digested in her poo dotted around the garden), whole boxes of donuts (stupidly left on the kitchen counter within Stubby-reach), you name it and she would eat it.

I started walking her regularly, first on the leash at the dog park, but that was way too scary as she kept fighting other dogs and their terrifying owners used to shout at me. So I took to the beautiful Marin countryside and we both loved it. Eventually, I trusted her enough to let her off the leash and, barring one or two incidents we won’t talk about, she has been great ever since. We also stopped giving her all the scraps and treats.

Stubby is now transformed into a calm, friendly, wonderful dog, who never (well, hardly ever) chews anything and adores me and the kids. Although a vast improvement on being pinned against a wall, this can be a trifle irritating when I am trying to creep around the house early in the morning, as she wakes everyone with her over-exuberant welcomes: barking, jumping around and, bizarrely, sneezing. 

Do you have any stories about a badly behaved pet?