Dexter the Terror

        I missed Dexter while I was gone on vacation. Not that I didn't miss my dog, Max. It's just Dexter's a puppy and changed so much in a week. He grew. He's almost as tall as Max now. Before I left, he just learned how to crawl down the stairs. It was the morning before I left. Having taken Dexter upstairs to do some writing, Max followed. I left the door to my computer room open so Max could escape if Dexter became too annoying for him. It didn't take long for Max to jump up and run down stairs to safety. Moments later I heard a muffled cry. I got up to find Dexter sprawled on the top of the stairs stuck with his front feet spread down a step and his back feet caught on the top step. He had tried to follow Max down stairs. I rescued him, but of course I told Gary where I had found him when he got home from class. Gary didn't say much. He took his dog and headed out the room. The next thing I heard was Gary calling to Dexter over and over. By the time I got out there, Dexter had made it down the last step with Gary's encouragement. No longer was the little one trapped by his fear or contained in an area by his size. He was freed to bound around and unleash his will! And he has no problem unleashing his will!
       Not everything is Dexter's fault I will have to say. The mishap in the car going to the airport was mine. Gary tried to tell me that taking Dexter in the car wasn't a good idea. Oh, he's fine if there is someone else in the car to give him attention, but Gary loves his Momma and he took Dexter with us to drop us off at the airport. The trip to the airport was fine, but the trip can be a little long for a puppy when all he got to do was drop us off and leave again. After we went through security, Bob's phone rang. Gary. I thought it was a little odd. Gary hadn't had time to get home and he wasn't. He called to tell us to have a good trip and oh, by the way, Dexter had...well, let's say the pup probably should have been walked before going returning home. Gary was riding with the windows down. I heard him end the call with "tell Mom Happy Birthday!" Okay, so I owe my son.
        Coming home, I found Dexter's still the same loving and adorable dog, but he's bigger, more confident. He bounds and leaps around the house now. He loves to go on walks and you can't leave Max behind. He annoys Max constantly. Yet Max won't leave him. He may leave for the moment, but a minute later he's back and Dexter is at him again running around him, barking. I have to admit, though, I think Max is jealous. The two are like little kids. If Dexter has a toy or a chewing bone and you take your eyes off of him a minute, Max will steal it. And then the chase is on.
        Dexter loves water. No, I mean, loves water. Water seems to be an adventure to him. At the moment its his water bowl. He can't leave any water in the bowl. He digs into it, literally. After he drinks, first you see one paw go in; then its two; then its both going ninety to nothing trying to get the water out of the bowl. It's a routine now. He eventually drags the bowl around and turns it over. At that point the game is over until he needs to drink again. He wallows in the spilled water.
       He also loves books. While he's with me while I'm writing, I'm constantly having to snatch books away from him. I let him have one that he had already destroyed. I think he's spent longer on the pages of that book than my son has on any book he's read! But Dexter loves to sneak the books off the bottom shelf of the bookshelf, a little game he plays for my attention.
       His antics makes me laugh. I love to see his little face glued to the door when I get home with Max by his side. He keeps me on my toes. He's so loving. His whole ambition in life is to have eat, sleep, and have fun. He loves life. So the little terror has rubbed off on me, but its not just me. It's all of us.