Leonidas

Other names for our dog:
- Leo
- The Leo
- Crazy Man
- Little Buddy
- Bubby
- Psycho
- Poopy Butt

We adopted our little boy Leo from a family in Hobart, In. At that point in our lives we were engaged, planning a wedding and had just bought our first condo (I can’t wait to show you all pictures). What better way to make our life even crazier then to adopt a dog???

My husband, fiance at the time, found a posting online from a family looking to give away their Boston Terrier to a loving home. Jim had always wanted a Boston Terrier so we agreed to meet the little guy. Let me take a few steps back and explain a few things before my husband reads this and calls me out for making him sound like the one who wanted a dog.

From the first day Jim met me, he would probably have to say that I always talked about getting a dog but never could because of the apartments I lived in, my work schedule or money. So the first thing I suggested when we moved into to our condo was: I think it’s time to get a dog…..

My husband fought me for a few months but then finally gave in and our search for the perfect dog began. (PERFECT IS ACTUALLY THE FUNNY WORD IN THE SENTENCE).

As I was saying, Jim found a posting online from a family to adopt their Boston Terrier. So we agreed to make the trip to Indiana to check this dog out. Of course we were a little hesitant as to why they wanted to get rid (bad word- put up for adoption) but according to the post, it said they did not have the time to take care of the dog and to show it the attention it needed. Hahahahaha……… I’ll get back to that in a second.

As we pull up to the house and enter the front door and the first thing that greats us is Leo (Max was his name at the time). He is jumping up and down, knocking things over, running into their two small children, pulling tupaware out of the cabninets to show us and, all in all, just being crazy. At that point I knew the really reason why they could not take care of the dog……he was crazy. The picture below explains it all:



After we talked for a few minutes, I pretty much ruled out in my head that Leo was not the dog for us until my husband blurts out……WE’LL TAKE HIM!!

WHAT???? Can we talk about this for a second?? Nope, like a good wife, I kept my mouth closed and went with the flow. At that point, I was thinking what have we gotten ourselves into?? Maybe Jim saw something I didn’t? Can we really train this dog? Is he potty trained? Holy Shit….

And so the story goes, we brought him home at 9 months and have had him ever since. He is now 2 years old and is every bit as crazy as the first day we got him. We house trained him after 4 months, taught him to sit after 9 months and finally just taught him to lay and give paw after 18 months. It’s been a long process but I wouldn’t have it any other way. We love our dog as he is our child…..I know it’s pathetic but it is so true.

Jim and I have learned to deal with his craziness that we even coined the phrase “being a Leo”. Anytime we see a dog misbehaving, acting all crazy or prancing like our gentlemen does, we always say: “He or she is just being a Leo.” His name has become an adjective to describe a crazy behavior in another.

So does anyone have any suggestions on how to calm a dog down without wrestling him to the ground or to get your dog to look or listen to you when he is distracted by eight million other things??? We tried dog classes but that didn’t work. Too much stimulation….Hopefully he grows out of it. Actually come to thing of it, we met a Boston at the park that was 12 and had the same energy as “The Leo”…..it’s going to be a long time coming!!

P.S- Poopy Butt is because he has the worst gas ever….Could it get any better!!