The Tallest Dog

I’ve never had a dog as large as Matisse.   She’s about thirty pounds now and will likely not grow much more.   I didn’t think I’d ever want a dog that was even close to this large, but I keep telling people, “she’s a great size.”  I’ve heard people say that lots of times about their dogs and I didn’t see what the draw was.   If you could have a smaller dog that took up less space, fit comfortably in your lap, could sleep on the bed with you without getting in the way and was, well for lack of a better phrase, “tiny and cute”, why would you choose a larger breed?

To be sure there are lots of reasons to have a bigger dog with some people preferring very big dogs—I just didn’t feel the sane way,   But I’m really enjoying her size.   She’s not so fun to carry around, but since I don’t need to do that, it doesn’t really matter.  And not only is she the biggest dog I’ve ever had, she’s also the tallest.

She can do some things my smaller dogs couldn’t, like get to the toilet and drink water out of it.   Or at least I think she could do this if she took a notion to.   So far, she hasn’t tried.  I’ll keep hoping she doesn’t.

She can also reach up onto the counters and tables by standing up on her hind feet.   She hasn’t gotten food off the table yet, but we haven’t forgotten food at the table.   There’s been a lot of food left at the bar seats where the children eat, but since that’s another level higher, it’s remained safely out of the reach of the dog.

Today the dog was in the back yard with the girls.   She came in with my daughter, who didn’t know she had a large stick in her mouth.   I took the stick away and put it on the table at the front door.   Later I found the stick, or rather what remained of it, along with shredded stick bits, all over the living room carpet.

I asked my daughter if she’d given the stick to the dog.  She was confused, not even knowing about the stick.   That’s when I realized the dog had seen the stick through the glass-toped table and had stood up and picked if off the top.   I have a lot to learn about what a larger dog can do that I just never encountered before with smaller dogs.   I’m having to have to rethink the height of a lot of things.

The Big Boy Update:  One of the chaperones at my son’s Lower Elementary campout sent pictures of the students hiking into the woods with their backpacks on today.   She said they’re having the best time.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter has made something for me for Mother’s Day this weekend.   She can hardly wait to give it to me.   She wanted to know if she could give it to me today but we decided to wait until this weekend.