Three Years with Mr Hopper

It has been 3 years since my younger dog Hopper showed up mysteriously in my backyard as a tiny puppy. He came through a hole in the fence big enough for him but far too small for my larger dogs.

He has learned many things since he arrived and became my close companion and someone to go to the office with me. On cold days, early mornings and nighttime when I go to the store, he prefers to come along and stay in the car, rather than be left at home.

This last year we have been exploring other boarding options for when I have to go out of town. Hopper does not like the word 'kennel'. When I told him that I was taking 'Hopper and Pepper to the kennel tomorrow' right before our February flight, he became visibly upset. He suddenly looked straight at me, eyes very wide open, and began to shake under the hand that was on his left shoulder as he faced towards me. After a few seconds he 'attacked' me with licks and whines, like he was expressing 'NO !!!' and tried to get on my lap as we sat in my car before driving home.

One of the more fascinating things that I realized in this last year is his ability to lean the correct direction, when he is sitting up in the car seat, as we go around corners. I certainly never taught him to do that!

One of the things I noticed in this last year is that I was using pronouns when I talk to my dogs. I decided that I would use regular names instead. That was last August and I think I pretty much have converted myself to talking that way to both dogs.

I pulled a great practical joke on Hopper while driving down Georgia Street in Amarillo. A large Caterpillar brand truck was going in the opposite direction from us, and I told Hopper, "Look! A Cat!". He immediately changed from his coiled up position on the seat to a sitting position looking in all directions for a cat. That was almost a year ago. Several months later I did the same thing to my wife in the same city, only she didn't bother to wake up.

Almost a year ago I was filling out the census questionnaire, got finished and realized there were no questions about my dogs! What a waste of time.

When I took Hopper to the vet in February I learned that he has stopped getting larger, so I know that I am probably going to continue to have a 50 lb dog.

One of the things that I have taught Hopper this last year, no matter how excited he is to be walking out any front door, he always has to stop and sit for a few seconds as I check to make sure there aren't 'puppies' outside that are going to attack, or some crazy bicyclist traveling 20 mph down the sidewalk at the commercial building. Our neighborhood has had way too many stray dogs this last year. The neighbor's pit bull almost got me yesterday while I was mowing. I had to get veRy loud, and then even louder for him to back off. (I didn't even think to put the running lawn mower between us.) Cats and kittens are always 'cats', and dogs and puppies are always 'puppies'. The word 'doctor' doesn't occur in our conversations either, dogs and humans always go to the 'vet'. So every once in awhile I have to tell him, "No, you have to stay home while I take my wife to the vet."

Two Years with a Four Legged Creature Named Hopper

Two very interesting years with my small dog Hopper !!! 

He is always ready to go anywhere. Now, if we can just improve on him being nicer to brother Pepper. We have spent almost a year going to the park, which is one of his favorite words. He has learned which intersections have slow light changes, (3rd & Main St), so he likes to get out of his chair and try to snuggle for a few brief seconds until the light turns green.

When I leave him behind at the house on the rare occasion he can’t go to my destination, he will invariably chew me out verbally when I return home. He has understood short trips, like to the trash can where I am gone for a minute or two, but if I leave in a vehicle without him, he is very unhappy. But during the last six months I have tried to explain to him verbally and with my own sign language, where I am going and why he can’t come along AND I even (I know this part sounds really silly), yes, I even tell him how long I plan to be gone. Yes, like he is going to really, hah, going to make the connection between my sign language for the hand spinning around on an analog clock 360 degrees with my rotating finger. So after all this effort he has settled down a little bit during his welcome home celebrations.

In just two years we have easily taken a thousand trips together, and remarkably he has never made a mess in a vehicle or my office, except one time that he got sick at my office.

He has learned very well which side of the vehicle he is going to get out, based on our location. He knows that he can always get out the driver’s side door when we pull up into either driveway when we get home, but when the vehicle is parked uptown on Main Street he knows he has to wait until I come around to let him out safely onto the sidewalk. He even understands when we rarely park on the street at home at the end of the driveway, that he has to wait until I come around to let him out the right side of the vehicle.

It is nice to have someone you can say, “I love you” to throughout the day, who responds positively.

Hopper at Day 365

It has been a wonderful year since my little friend Hopper mysteriously found his way into my backyard, and moved on into my heart. He is an almost constant companion. When he is not with me, I am invariably thinking about him.