"My dog is one part Lassie, one part Snoopy, and one part Harvard."

Tweet By Jason Tanamor

I take my dog everywhere. He loves going for rides and as a result, ends up getting treats in the process. At the bank, while I’m waiting for the teller to process my request, inevitably she always asks, “What kind of dog is that?” Then, with my receipt, she’ll throw in a dog biscuit.



My dog, Rowdy (named after the stuffed dog in “Scrubs”), which is part Collie and part Beagle, looks as if Lassie and Snoopy had a baby while Timmy burned in the fire. He’s the best pound puppy ever. He is house broken, good with kids and good with cats. However, Rowdy had been beaten. When I first started looking for a dog, the no kill shelter’s row of dogs was filled to capacity.

Each dog was fighting for my attention, jumping up and down, barking loudly, one was doing push-ups, and I swear, one dog slipped me a twenty. Rowdy, on the other hand, was sitting in the back of the cage, terrified. I saw that he was a beaten puppy, so I was determined to adopt him.

And that’s what I did. For a few days, Rowdy stood still in the middle of the living room, which is how he got his name. My wife and I watch “Scrubs” a lot, and during a scene when stuffed Rowdy was on screen, it looked as if my Rowdy had a twin just a few inches away. My wife and I were able to get Rowdy out of his funk and bring him to his natural personality.

Now, he’s playful, excited and whenever I grab my keys, he runs for the door. I used to have an issue with him riding with me. I don’t anymore as he’s the best passenger. He doesn’t yell at me for speeding and when I inadvertently cut someone off, he licks my hand and then barks at something out the window.

One of the things Rowdy does when I leave the car to run into a place is jump into the front seat. Often times, in the winter, I’ll leave the car running and my dog will jump into the front seat and sit there. It’s really quite comical. What adds to the hilarity is the fact that my wife likes to dress up my dog in frat boy type sweaters, as if he is being accepted into Yale. So the thought of Rowdy sitting in the front seat while the car is running is a funny visual for me. I am sometimes tempted to put a jar of Grey Poupon on the dash to complete the picture.

On one particular occasion, I ran into the post office. On my way out, a woman whose car was parked next to mine, was looking into my car at my dog. She was trying to make eye contact with Rowdy while he sat in the front seat. I watched this from a block away and thought, “I have a remote start.” So, I started my car, and I tell you, the look on the woman’s face when the car started while my dog in his Oxford sweater was sitting in the front seat was priceless.

“How in the world did that dog start this car?” she thought.

I watched from afar, and laughed, only to reveal myself to her. We both chuckled and before she could say anything, I said, “Now that he can start the car, I really need to teach him how to put the car in reverse and back up.”

BYLINE:

Jason Tanamor is the Editor of Zoiks! Online. He is also the author of the novels, "Hello Lesbian!" and "Anonymous." Email Jason at jason@zoiksonline.com.

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