By now, I’m pretty sure you know who our adopted fur-child of a son is…
Meet Roadie
Roadie is part Rhodesian Ridgeback, part hound (we think). He is around two and a half years old and has been part of the Hesington family for the last year and half.
I’ve never really gone into detail on this blog about how we ended up with a dog in our condo, so I’ll give you the cliff notes version:
• We found him wandering in the parking lot on a cold, rainy winter night in December of 2010.
• We took him in for the “night only,” gave him a bath the next day and put up fliers up all around the neighborhood to find his owner.
• After a week with no response, we called around and finally took him to the vets. During that visit we updated his shots and found out he had heart worm, hook worm, and skin irritations.
• He had been well behaved, he got along with our cats and it was then and there that we decided to keep him and name him Roadie.
Here’s an old look back to just a few weeks after we took him in, when we still called him “Pup.” As you can see, we didn’t really plan on keeping him, but that’s just how it worked out. Oh, and sorry for the scattered video and long exit… I was still getting used to filming myself ramble back in 2010.
That’s our Roadie.
He did always follow us around you know…
He’s such a good dog. We weren’t sure we were ready to take on the responsibility of having a dog when we got him, but he really has made the process pretty easy… except for an occasional unexpected expense or incident.
Regardless – if Scott and I would have gone out to seek the perfect dog for us, it would have definitely been something close to this big ball of fury.
Anyone who has a dog knows exactly what I’m talking about when I say his personality is very human like. He sighs, yawns, stares, raises eyebrows and looks for any way to talk to us with body language. What I still can’t figure out is what triggers his protective instincts. We try to teach him who and what is okay to be around our house and front door, but he still seems to go straight into “attack mode” at any sign of a doorbell, footstep or elevator chime.
Guard Dog
Roadie is actually pretty intimidating to most strangers, maintenance staff, or anyone in any kind of delivery uniform.
When he is unsure of a a noise, person or situation he is not shy in letting us know about it. If he hears the slightest thing at any time of the day, he will jump up and charge the front door – and he can open them. Our front door is always locked, but if it wasn’t he would then continue to open it and charge whoever is on the opposite side.
He does not play around when it comes to being protective, which I guess is a good thing when Scott’s out of town.
Yesterday is a perfect example of how this animal goes from perfectly content and sweet to ferocious in 0 to 60:
I got home from the studio around 11 a.m. yesterday, hopped in the shower and only had enough time to throw on a quick coverup to answer the doorbell. After missing both a delivery from FedEx and UPS the day before, I was not about to get another missed opportunity to get my packages.
Eventually, I made it to the front door and when I opened it the poor FedEx delivery man was hiding behind the wall of the trash chute directly across from our door. He left the package on the doorstep and was waiting to see if I answered the door, making sure to keep a good distance at all times.
I’ve seen this man a few times and each time he asks, “Why does he hate me SO much?” Each time I assure him it’s nothing personal – it’s his dark uniform, hat and big boxes that Roadie doesn’t agree with. Here was a grown man well into his thirties afraid of precious little ‘ol Roadie.
But don’t let those puppy eyes fool you…
I later took Roadie out for his afternoon walk around 3:30 p.m. We walked down to the neighborhood lake where I usually let him roll around in the grass and even dip his feet in every now and then. We always seem to have impeccable timing with UPS and wouldn’t you know as soon as we made it down to the lake, there goes the big brown delivery truck zipping by us.
Knowing this was one of the only opportunities I had to both get my package and get Roadie to do his business, I encouraged him to go quickly and knew we had to make a run for it. Luckily, the UPS delivery man had a stop right across from where we were and I was able to ask him if he had any packages for the condos next door.
“Yes… Heather right?” Wow. I had talked to him once before in the same situation – asking him if he had a package for our place while on a walk outside with Roadie – but didn’t expect him to know who I was or recall my name.
“I remember that dog,” he went on to say. As soon as those words came out of his mouth, Roadie stood up on his hind legs and barked his head off at him. Something about delivery men really get him worked up.
Needless to say, there we were in the middle of the road, trying to figure out how to safely deliver this package to me. I finally got Roadie to calm down, sit and just as the FedEx man had just done before, he left the package and the signature pad for me to sign alone, while backing away and sliding behind the truck.
I guess you could say Roadie is a little bit of a trouble maker…
Being the man of the house while Scott’s traveling, I can’t really complain about his protective side coming out. It’s very appreciated that he wants to watch over the house and take care of his momma. I just wish there was somewhere in the middle of incredibly sweet and mellow to hell on wheels! What are we going to do with you Mr. Roadie?
Taking him into our home just a year and a half ago was one of the best things that could have happened during a year of uncertainty for Scott and I. Although having a dog is a huge responsibility, the benefits outweigh the negatives by a million to one.
Whenever I’m having a rough day, I go lay on the floor next to Roadie, scratch his belly and get his toys out for playtime. I think I enjoy those fifteen minutes of distraction just as much as he does.
Question of the Day
Do you have your own “Guard Dog on Duty” or any funny stories about him/her? Do Share!
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