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dobby
November 2009 
Look at him, isn't he cute?
Posted on May 30th, 2009
by 
tinkonthebrink
tinkonthebrink
That's what I said. Those big brown eyes and this look that's weirdly like a house elf. Which is why we started calling him Dobby. I had no idea what I was doing.
We have three other dogs who are all, not by any means well-behaved, but are normal companion dogs. They hang out, play in the yard, go hiking, ride in the car, sleep on the bed (well, not maggie, but that's another story). They can be left safely in the house while I go to work. Even the baby, Lyra, is fairly trustworthy. But this dog...does anyone out there love terriers? I know people must, they breed them on purpose. He's a terrier/whippet mix, so he slinks around looking guilty in that whippet way (don't get me wrong, I love whippets - but you know, the tail-tucked thing, head down) and also goes and does terrible terrible things in that terrier way. He is extremely stubborn and does not care if I'm happy with him or not. He's horrifyingly clever. He turns on the water at the sink (and doesn't turn it off). He opens the gate latches and lets our other dogs out, one of whom is deaf (Maggie, the other-story-dog). If you don't give him what he wants he stares directly into your eyes and pisses on the floor. Then if you shriek and put him outside he slinks around like you're evil Lucius Malfoy and he is his namesake. I swear to you, this animal is here to test me. I keep hoping he is testing my ability to find him a home elsewhere but NO ONE WANTS HIM. No one in their right mind would want this dog. He is not cute in that Marley-bad-dog kinda way. He's just horrifying. And then after he does something terrible, which is about every 15 minutes or so, he slinks around BEFORE you even figure out what it was and looks at you over his shoulder and looks for all the world like Dobby the house elf.
Also, have I mentioned the barking? He has that piercing terrier bark and he will bark through any bark collar correction. We've tried 4 different ones. One of them gives an increasing shock up to ten times ( - I know this probably sounds terrible to some of you but I've tried them on myself and it's just this little buzz, sort of the level of a static shock when you shuffle across the carpet - I'm not electrocuting my dog, I swear to you) but he figured out that if he just keeps barking anyway, they all have a cutoff point, and then he can just keep barking. Forever. Really loudly.
So if any of you are in need of this dog, please let me know. I will pay shipping. And buy you dog food for him. And nominate you for sainthood. Just let me know.
Access: PublicTagged with: Dobby, the worst dog in the world
I'm not volunteering, but he is cute. :-) back to painting on drywall primer now. it's not that much fun. need more music and mint tea. :-)
that is so hilarious. I can't believe he just pees like that.
where do you get him from?
he lets the other dogs out?
that cracks me up!!!
We got him from a rescue organization. On purpose. I really don't know what we were thinking.
Dawn, there's a reason that paint can openers have a bottle opener on the opposite end. It isn't mint tea that you need here.
Maybe Farland will take him? Have you asked? She's a virtual angel of lost-causes, and she'll be back from the East coast soon… She might enjoy a little difficulty.
yea, he pees right there on the floor and then slinks to the door or usually under the table. he can leap in this crazy way and open door knobs too. but in the rare moment we catch him before he opens the door and we say “no, dobbie” he will pee a few drops just to let you know he is unhappy with your request. the rescue organization refuses to take him back, it is weird………..they just keep telling us we must try more obedience training and feed him before he barks for the food and give him things before he begins barking so he will not condition himself to bark for what he wants. i really believe that he would be happiest if he was placed in a 1 dog only household. the foster parent he had before he ended up at the rescue organization disclosed to us that he was allowed to sleep in the bed, eat from plates at the table and jump into his arms (wonder where he got some of these weird habits) even he took him back a few months back when we were thinking that we had no other options and it only lasted for 22 hours before his wife insisted that he return him to us asap. he returned with a top of the line correction collar, no go on that collar either. he is now hanging on the front porch because he attacked 1 of the cats over a juice box Jeannies client left on the coffee table. when no other dogs or cats are around and it is just him and us in that rare moment in the earliest hours of the day, he is a sweetie and we think ahhhh, this is what it could be like and then someone else wakes up and he starts barking and snarling and attacking kitties and i want to tear my hair out. i never go near those rescue organization adoption days. if he did nothing else, he cured me or the rescue bug.
Consult a dog trainer!
yes, we've done the training thing, and also gotten books, gotten dvd's, and sorry but he's a terrier and it seems he doesn't care. And like I said, the other three are pretty reasonable, even the crazy deaf dalmation. We're really not the worst dog training people ever - I mean, I'm not the dog whisperer but I'm decent. He's just…special. He IS entertaining, I have to say. Infuriating, but certainly not boring.
Siona, maybe I will just tie a bow on him and send him along. I'm sure Farland would forgive me eventually.
farland might forgive you, but gnomi never will. she's so happy being in a one dog family. farland says she's happy being a one pet person too. but you never know……..
oh and mint tea – yes. i'll have to make do with that. i haven't had any alcoholic beverages since we got back from our roadtrip and I think I won't have any again until after my big 100 mile bike ride in the fall. if I drink the night before, even just one, then I don't get my act together for the bike ride the next day. but it is a stay home vacation right now….. maybe…. nah. I don't need it. ;-)
Dobby is the perfect name for your House Elf (much better, probably than Son of Satan)!
We've got (or shoud I say, “We're had by”) a West Highland White Terrier (or should I say West Highland White “Terror”)! But we love her more than tongue can tell. We live in the Chicagoland area so she's perfected the “drive by.” Only in her case, it's the “bite by.”
If you look for the silver lining on the cloud … perhaps we're paying off some huge chunk of karmic debt. In fact, we almost named her Karma instead of Claire. That we, depending on her bahavior we could shout, “Good Karma!” or “Bad Karma” depending on the circumstance :)
Oh Laurie, Karma would be such a great name! And yes, I've thought more than once that I must have done something really really terrible in a previous lifetime…