Bad dog!

When my husband and I moved to Omaha and began making friends outside of the Air Force community, it just so happened that everyone we met had a house and a dog. At the time, we had neither and were jealous of doggie playdates they used to have with each other. As soon as we moved into our house we mace a bee-line for the Nebraska Humane Society to find our very own fur-baby. We adopted a 4-month-old Maltese-Poodle mix and named him Briscoe, after Jerry Orbach’s character, Detective Lenny Briscoe, on the original “Law & Order.”

It took a couple of weeks, but once Briscoe was potty-trained and understood a few basic commands, it was time to introduce him to our friends’ dogs. We couldn’t wait to see the dogs romp and play together. Upon meeting his friends Lola and Plato, he went wild. It was like he’d never seen another dog! You could actually tell that he was smiling. And because of all the excitement, he would have accidents in the homes of my friends.

At first they chalked it up to Briscoe just being a puppy. He didn’t know better. But now, a year later, he’s still peeing and pooping in other people’s houses. He knows better than to do that sort of thing in our house, but, sadly, he has made a name for himself as a VBD–a very bad dog. A couple of months ago I actually caught him lifting his leg and marking my friend’s new living room chair. And last month, when the same friends watched him for one night, he peed twice–once on their carpet and once on the bottom of their curtains. I was mortified and, of course, volunteered to pay to have them cleaned.

In two weeks I’m heading up to Chicago for the Renegade Holiday Craft Fair, and I think I’m going to have to board him at an overnight doggie daycare center. I wish I could leave him with friends instead of shelling out the cash, but I don’t want to burden them with the responsibility of watching Briscoe 24-7 to make sure he doesn’t mark his territory indoors. I hate to think that they don’t like Briscoe as much as they like other dogs, but I’m afraid that’s the case. It breaks my heart because I love my dog terribly–even when he is being a VBD. I can’t help but take it personally!

Do you have a well-behaved pooch or a VBD? How do you handle it when your friends don’t like your pet… or am I the only one?!

(author’s own photos)