What About Larry?

I feel like I don’t write much about the Larry dog. Junebug is our medical mystery and constantly having tummy troubles. Howie is our little old man with a lot of issues going on. Larry, at roughly 5 years old, is a consistently healthy little dog.

He does not have any major behavior problems, besides being overly energetic. He feels the need to guard the house, especially from the evil motorcycles, unless I’m already in bed and he can be cuddled under the blankets next to me. In that case, the motorcycles can drive by without doggie comment. In fact, the best way to get him to settle is to let him under a blanket with either C or I.

Sometimes he gets taken on walks without the other dogs, which really bothers them, but generally does not do much more than take the edge off of his energy. In fact, the most frustrating thing about Larry is his ability to conserve energy.

With Moree and Smokey, we would take them to the dog park and they would run and run and run until their tongues reached their knees, and we would need to give them baby aspirin when we got home. They would be worn out and sore for at least a few days.

Not Larry. Even when we go to the dog park every day during the summer, he never runs himself out. He always manages to moderate his energy output. It’s nice that he’s not sore, but at the same time, it can be frustrating when after spending a morning or afternoon at the dog park, he’s still ready to sneak attack the Junebug, or run around the house like crazy when a motorcycle drives by. At best, we’ll get some peace while he takes a power nap.

This is not to say Larry is uncontrollable or unable to settle. Neither is true. He is just highly and constantly energetic. If nothing is going on, if we’re all closed in the room together, he’ll settle on the bed, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t lying in wait for the perfect opportunity to pounce.

Some days I think it would be so nice if he started to calm down with age. But then other times I think how sad it will be when he’s no longer able to jump as high as my nose when he sees his harness come out, when he can’t beat most other dogs to the ball, and stops thinking he’s a match for the Great Danes. I don’t think I’ll be sad when he stops jumping over dog park fences, though.

I love my little man, crazy as he is.