Pastimes
Running
Tug-of-war
chewing
Snuggles
My Boxer buddy, Athena, is one of my favorite dogs ever. She is so happy when she sees me each day that her whole body shakes in excitement. Immediately she’ll grab a toy and run around with it, as though she’s looking for an outlet for her excitement. Despite her athletic build, once we start walking she’s a surprisingly reluctant walker. For the first half of the walk (the whole time we are walking away from the house) she will walk slowly behind me, and sometimes she’ll stubbornly stop altogether. If she’s bored by the just-plain-walking she’ll grab her leash in her teeth and whip it back and forth wildly, just daring me to play tug of war with her. I’ve learned to give her a stick to hold while we walk. She really loves to chew, and having a stick seems to make her forget that we are doing her least favorite thing - walking. Before we return to her house, Athena and I always go for a run in the park. Once we hit that park, she’s like a different dog, an enthusiastic athlete and an unfettered ball of happiness. We run back and forth or play fetch. It seems that even though she hates walking, she really loves running - not jogging, though, running full blast. Even in all that playing, Athena is a loving dog. If I sit to take a break she will come close and give me some licks to let me know that we’re still friends, even if she lost at tug-of-war and was sore about it. Once we return home, if we happen to pass another dog, Athena will start shaking from excitement, but she’ll also be a little afraid. It’s all so exciting and scary! Ha! If we should meet a cat - oh, the glory of the day can’t be matched! Athena will pull to sniff closer and closer to the cat, then suddenly pull back in abject terror. And then pull to sniff again. In fact, she has the exact same response to Christmas decorations in people’s yards. Finally, as our playtime together comes to a close, Athena will give my face a few hundred licks, curl up next to me on the couch, and silently thank me for showing her a good time. ...Overall, I would love to one day own my own Boxer. Yes, I believe they are stubborn (not just Athena! The last one I walked laid down on the floor and made me drag her [carefully] up the stairs to her kennel by her harness! [With the owner’s permission!]) but they are adoring, playful, entertaining pups which would make any home a happier place.
3 years, 2 months ago