Gus

Position: 47°33’42.1″N 122°23’12.4″W

If you’ve not met Gus, you’ve missed a treat. For Gus is a character. Once you’ve been introduced, he remains unforgettable. His ability to forge lasting relationships is due in equal parts to his direct, friendly interactions and his reputation for wreaking wilful destruction in his home. If he weren’t so darned charming, I’m sure he would have been sent on a one-way ferry trip across Puget Sound years ago.

FOMO

Part Labrador/Newfoundland and part Chow/Blue Heeler, your first impression of him is a perfectly well-behaved house dog that would be wonderful with children. But as the saying goes, still waters run deep. There’s a lot going on underneath Gus’s calm demeanour and he’ll let you know in the clearest terms what he expects. He also makes clear his dissatisfaction if his expectations are not met.

Perhaps more than anything, Gus suffers from FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out). Going to the store for groceries and leaving Gus at home can trigger his FOMO. Even if he looks implacable when you leave, by the time you return, he may well have torn off all the plaster surrounding the front door. Up to a height just above his head. And it’s not only the front door, but he’s also ripped up the door into the garage. The ruse of leaving him outside meant Gus took his ire out on the rhododendrons instead. It’s a good thing rhodies grow quickly and appreciate aggressive pruning otherwise the front garden would be bare. Over the years, his long-suffering parents, Diane and Mark, gave up repairing the damage to their house and garden and instead began taking him to as many places as was practical for a 75-pound dog. In other words, they embraced his chaos.

Willpower

Walking Gus is an exercise in willpowers. As dogsitters our instructions were to go with the flow. Wherever Gus wants to go is always the path of least resistance. No amount of calling, tugging on his lead, treats, or any other standard doggy inducements will make any difference. Gus will stand stock still and not move for far longer than your patience will last. To say he’s stubborn is to do a disservice to stubborn dogs. Diane tells a story of having to pick Gus up when he stopped in the middle of an intersection and wouldn’t move. My interpretation was the need to get Gus to safety outweighed the embarrassing titters of the other, knowing, dog walkers that swarm West Seattle.

Lean In

Countering this tsunami of attitude is Gus’s unrivalled charm. He’s a loving schmoozer that knows how to wrap humans around his dewclaws. He can turn even the most ardent ‘non-dog’ person into a fan. When he turns on the charm, he’ll give you all his attention and lean in hard in response to neck-rubs. He also remembers people. We sat for Gus last year and again for a couple weeks this February. When we arrived at the house, despite his attenuated hearing and sight, he sniffed us and leaned in, clearly remembering the good times we had had last year. Trust me, there are few things in this world that make you feel better than being remembered by a dog. Gus doesn’t bark. He bays, fetchingly and unmistakably. When you take him for a walk, everyone knows him. He is a fixture in the neighbourhood and immediately recognised by other dog-owners. “Is that Gus?”, they call out and then inquire about his welfare.

Cupcakes

At 14 years of age, his stubbornness does him no favours. His back legs have suffered over the years and don’t work reliably these days. Nevertheless, he wants to walk like he did when his legs worked – for long stretches, stopping at every opportunity for a sniff. Because he’s in his cupcake years^[1], that’s not practical. To protect his hips, Diane and Mark installed a ramp that doubles as a treat vending machine. Since Gus doesn’t want to take the long cut down the ramp, he’ll take the short cut and skip clumsily down the stairs instead. Treats garner his attention long enough to trick him into walking safely down the ramp, but it takes time and lots of cajoling. Recently, he’s showing signs of capitulating to his infirmities and taking the ramp more routinely.

Did I mention that Gus is good with children? He is. And here’s the cutest photo we have ever posted on this blog to prove it. Hail Gus! Long may you reign!

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^[1] In a dog’s cupcake years our job as owners is to make them as comfortable as possible. If that means eating cupcakes, so be it.

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