Louie Meets the Family

Louie looks up to Poncho, literally. 2006

Meet the family

Louie's introduction into our family was interesting. My parents were convinced he was a "Rottweiler or Doberman or whatever those dogs on the news for attacking and killing kids." No he's a lab mix, I always insisted, lab and pit bull.
"Pit bull! That's it, they're the breed that suddenly turn on their owners and rip their faces off."
I would argue how dogs are a product of their surroundings just like children and this breed gets a bad name because people use them for fighting dogs. They have a coolness factor to bad and irresponsible people. The dogs are 'cared for' by people who only want to make the dog tough and mean. This would not be the case in my house. No play fighting, no "Get 'em, Get 'em!" and encouraging chasing cats or fighting dogs. I was raising a nice family dog, just like Poncho.
   

 

Poncho showing off his sock fighting skills and his shiny pink butthole.2002

 
Rewind about four years.

Poncho was an eight week old puppy I brought home from Olympia in 2002. I went to visit a girlfriend and we went to a pet store in Lacey to buy her a fish. There was a man outside with two black puppies. I was looking to get a dog soon, I knew I wanted a black lab. I  had just turned 18 and was sure I'd need a road trip companion soon enough. I looked down at the puppies, one was lying motionless on the cement. The other puppy happily greeted a lady and a little kid who were kneeling down to pet him.

I suddenly spoke sternly toward the puppies "Alright, if one of you stupid puppies wants to come home with me you have to give me a sign." One puppy did not move. The other stopped what he was doing and turned his attention from the lady with the kid. He ran over to me and started pawing at my shins then licking my hands as I bent down to pick him up. "Oh, You no good son of a bitch! Smelly little bastard. Now I have to take this fricken dog home with me? Look at it's stupid face! He doesn't even know anything." The lady glared at me and snatched her kid away. I was full on into my tough guy phase and was not concerned if strangers approved of my use of describing words. I asked the man for details and he said the pups had a chocolate lab for a mom and a blue healer lab mix for a dad, he thought. The puppy was free of charge. I took him back to my car with me.

Poncho and me with my awesome hairdo

I left Olympia later that day. My new puppy, who I called Turbo fondly named after my favorite character from the movie Breakin', sleeping on the front seat of my car the whole way home. By time I was home I decided to call him Poncho, ode to the Townes Van Zandt song Poncho and Lefty. I love Willie Nelson's version of this song.

I was not ready for a puppy. I hadn't put much thought into caring for one. I got home and showed my family. I got a call from a friend soon after letting me know they were hanging out at a nearby house. As quickly as I came in, I left again. Leaving Poncho in bed with my dad, I went out to be with friends and didn't come back for a couple of days.

When I got my own house a couple of months after that I took Poncho with me. I would take him to my dads house for him to stay while I worked. Before you know it, he was my dads dog. He went everywhere with my dad. Dad just worked on rental homes he had so Poncho was always in the truck or exploring someones yard. They were inseparable from then on.

Poncho and Louie playing at my parents house, 2006

Back to 2006

When I got Louie I was sure I was mature enough not to repeat the same mistakes I had made with Poncho. I knew a puppy was a lot of work and very high maintenance. I wasn't as social as I once had been. I liked to stay home, watch movies, go to parks or take drives. All things a dog can join me in. My parents, however, were not so sure I had learned a lesson. "Oh, great now dad's going to have two dogs? We're not taking in a vicious breed."

All these statements were made before they actually laid their eyes on Louie. Things changed quite a bit once they saw him. My dad came over to help me fix the steps to the front porch a few days after I got him. Louie continuously falling through the broken step made me finally fix it after I'd been living with it like that for nearly a year. See, he's already helping me be more responsible.

Poncho came along with my dad of course. Louie was beyond excited to have another dog there. Poncho on the other hand, not so much. Poncho immediately started marking my yard, peeing on every tree and corner as Louie ran behind trying to keep up. By time Louie actually caught him, he was peeing on a tree. Louie walked right through the stream, soaking himself in Poncho's urine. Poncho seemed pretty pleased with this. Now this was his puppy too.

Two happy dogs, Louie and Poncho

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you.

It didn't take long for my family to fall in love with Louie. He was just a nice guy. Playful, loving and so eager to please. I had no problem teaching him to sit and he was soon wowing my folks with his hand shaking skills. He always missed the hand the first few times but he kept throwing his paw at you until he would get it.

Louie loved to snuggle, when he was on the bed he'd wiggle his way under the covers and close up next to my body. He always liked to have his head and face covered by the blankets, which I'd never seen a dog do before. Louie did a lot of stuff I'd never seen a dog do before. I just figured it had been a while since I'd been around a clumsy, dopey, happy puppy. There would soon be some glaringly obvious differences between Louie and other dogs that I couldn't explain.

Next Installment:There's Something a Little Off Here