Yesterday I posted a story about Simon shortly after we got him, but today I thought I'd post a few more good times or silly things that he did over the nearly 16 years he was with me.
The Chase Me Chase Me Game
Simon liked to run when he got out of the house. He had free roaming of the back yard, but if he got out the front he would just bolt, and he wasn't easy to catch because he was very fast and had unlimited stamina. I guess perhaps that is how he came to be with us because he was found and never claimed. He easily could have had the same thing happen to him with us, though he always came back if we waited long enough, say 15-20 minutes.
The least convenient time he pulled this on us was one morning as we were getting ready to head down to Cedar Point for the weekend. We were loading the car and out he went, and of course immediately ran. The thing about it was that if you ran after him, he'd just run faster. It was like a game to him, and he always won. In this case he made it halfway around the block before he decided to run toward someone's back yard only to find out there was a fence and then something interesting caught his nose and we were able to catch him.
As time went on it became clear that he was really just playing a game and the more you chased the more he ran, but if you stopped chasing he'd come back. In fact if you watched him he'd look back to make sure you were following him. He continued to do this until he got pretty old, and I recall the last time we played the Chase Me Chase Me game. Again he made it out the front and bolted. I chased him for a few minutes but then decided to stop and hide behind a tree. As usual he looked to see if I was in pursuit and when it was clear that I wasn't he immediately turned around and started walking back. He didn't have his stamina that he once had, so he was ready to come back pretty quick. When he passed the tree I was behind I jumped out and grabbed him. He looked shocked and surprised that I suddenly appeared like that which was amusing for me, but he never ran for it. Though, we also began to go on longer and more regular walks, so he was less inclined to run since he got a long walk every night all around the neighborhood.
Out The Window
When we first got Simon we lived in a bi-level house, and we had a large family room on the back of
the house with a desk and a computer as well as a couch and tv. We didn't have a lot in this room probably on account of at the time we had been poor so long that we didn't have enough stuff to fill the whole house. One trick I liked to do was take Simon's ball and throw it out the window. Being slightly below ground, that meant the window was about four feet off the floor of the house, and the ground was about a foot or so off the other side. Sometimes this meant Simon would run upstairs to be let out. Well one day when I wasn't at the computer desk I threw the ball out the window, and he jumped up on the desk, onto the ledge that was below the window and right out the window. It became a fun trick because it was very fluid, almost like watching tigers jumping through flaming hoops at the circus or something.
Christmas Gifts
Simon had a pretty good nose, which we found out very quickly. Every year we'd get him a doggy christmas stocking with balls and toys in it. The first year we had with him for some reason we wrapped it up and put it under the tree. He never touched the presents, but when Christmas morning came we told him to get his present and he picked out his and then proceeded to open it himself. It always took a bit of work because he never really figured out that he could hold it with one paw and then rip the paper with the other. He also never tried to rip the paper off with his mouth. So we would spend a good few minutes watching him knock his present around the living room trying to get the paper off before one of us would eventually hold one side of it so he could properly rip the wrapping paper off.
Carry All The Toys, Hide All The Toys
In a related story, these gifts usually came with a few different toys, sometimes holiday themed with a candy cane, or a wreath and they all had squeaky bits so when he chewed on them they would make noise. It was fun because we could squeak one and he'd come running. Often I'd hid it under me or in the couch cushion before he made it to me and he'd look at me like "WHERE IS IT!?" I'd then tell him I didn't know where it was and he'd start sniffing around and practically push me over to find where I put it. He was VERY intense about his toys. One of the things I loved most was he would always find a way to fit the most number of toys in his mouth at any given time. So if he had five he'd find a way to pick them all up. Sometimes this meant finding the right order to pick them up so that he could get the maximum number of toys in his mouth. He'd then take them all outside, and usually hid most of them under the deck, in the bushes, or just leave them strewn about for us to play fetch. The best was if he was outside while you were mowing because he obviously assumed that if you were outside the purpose of that was to play fetch with him. So, as you would mow he would suddenly bring out all the toys that he had hidden about the yard. You'd think that he only had one or two left that hadn't been thrown out, but you'd come to find he had a dozen in strategic places in the yard. And to be sure you threw them he'd put them down right in your mow path so you had to stop and pick it up and throw it.
The worst was when one finally was destroyed to the point that it needed to be thrown out. So you'd send it to the trash thinking he'd never notice, yet he always seemed to know. Inevitably when we throw one out he would spend all his time looking for the missing toy. He'd pull all his toys out of the basket we kept them in. He'd line them up and then go back searching the basket, around the basket, he'd then bark to be let out to no doubt search his little hiding spots outside. It was amusing, but also kind of sad because it was sort of like a kid with their favorite toy trying to figure out where it went. But, he was clearly a smart cookie.
All The Rest
There are a few other memories that I quite enjoy, but not necessarily stories. He used to have a yellow
Tupperware container that we put his food in. He was a big of a pig, and liked to eat, but whenever it got empty he'd walk around the house carrying it flipped up over his nose and kind of snorting around. I wish I had a picture of that, it always cracked me up.
He also took to sleeping with me in the bed. It really wasn't a big deal because I had a queen bed and it was just me. He'd lay out at the bottom of my bed and snooze there. Though he also liked to spread out, as did I so there was more than one occasion where he'd be taking up space and my feet would push on him. I remember one particular night where he was in the way and that happened and he just snarled at me like he was going to eat my foot, then got up, walked over to the couch jumped up and glared at me from across the room.
He also loved the snow, he particularly liked eating it. I always enjoyed making snow balls and throwing them for him. Sometimes he'd be either close enough for far enough to jump up and catch them in the air. That was always fun. However I also like making snowballs and throwing them far out into the yard where he'd try to get them, like a ball. He'd usually come to where they landed and start snorting around trying to find them. He was unamused by my evil witch craft.
He also kind of reminded me of my grandpa. He liked to go out on the deck and just sit and watch. When we moved to our current house he'd sit on the landing where he'd get a good view, or stand at the back door, or lay at the front door during the summer and just watch. Had to see what was going on, and of course bark at anything that might be moving around.
Sometimes he could hold his poos as he made it to the end. That was terrible. What was funny was that he would drop a giant dude in the living room, then look around all offended like he couldn't believe we would do such a thing. Though this also comes from the dog that pooted so loud he woke himself up and look at his buns as if wondering what that sound was.
He also was not above stealing things that were totally in his reach. Last year at our annual christmas party one of the guests had their pizza sitting on a cooler full of bottled water and was chatting. Simon walked right up and assuming it was his just ate the pizza right off it. He did the same thing when living at my mom's when my step dad was trying to broil some steaks. The broiler was under the stove in the drawer like many stoves, so he had the steaks on the broiler rack ready to go in and was doing something not paying attention. When he went to put them in he realized one steak was missing and found it in the living room being nom'd up by Simon.
He had funny eating habits. I loved it when I'd try to trick him into eating something like a carrot and I'd throw it to him so naturally he caught it in the air, but in a very fluid and slick movement he'd seamlessly spit it right out rolling it off his tongue and you could almost hear him say "NOPE!" He also wouldn't eat pancakes without syrup on them, and preferred them on a plate. He was fancy.
There are so many little things that I could probably go
on and on. If you knew him please feel free to leave a little story you
find amusing in the comments. He was a real character and I'd love to
read about what other say about him.
