The Shrimp of the Perverse

We like to talk about our dog Rudi, and how his antisocial tendencies make him a little hairy Stalin with a tail.  But the true rogue of our family pack is little Maddie, or as Mrs. UF likes to call her, The Shrimp of the Perverse.  There's the way she likes to lick the insides of our nostrils, for instance.  And the way she insists upon sleeping between Mrs. UF's legs at night, and growls every time Mrs UF tries to switch positions.  But what really gets our goat, as it's her leash we hold during evening walks, is her insistence upon crawling under cars in search of rats.  Except search isn't the right word, because if Maddie crawls beneath a car there IS a rat under it, and we have to pull for all we're worth to get her out from under there before she causes the rat to flee up our pants leg.  Maddie is a 100 percent ratter, whose sole commitment during walks is to flush out hiding rodents.  Since our threshold for rodents is zero, we spend the entire walk watching her like a hawk.  If she wants to root into shrubbery, you can bet there's a rat lurking in it.  Or even worse, two rats.  This should tell you something about the city we live in; namely that's it crammed with rats, both of the traditional four-legged and political two-legged varieties.  She also likes to howl at other dogs, and pursue them barking--that is until they turn around and confront her, at which point she wraps herself securely around our leg, whimpering.  She's a lot like we are: brave until confrontation. 

Comments

[Jan Martin Löhndorf]

Perhaps she can pee on the leg of the infamous sculpture and it rusts?

[gillian]

Jan Martin, I support that idea.

Mike, that picture of Maddie is wonderful.

[UF MIKE]

What an idea, Jan Martin! We can set the dogs a daily task, to pee each separately on a different leg. Until the thing topples over, sometime (if our metallurgical calculations are correct) in 2098.

Thanks Gillian! That's a very characteristic look for her. If you want her to look at you, she looks up. As if to say, God, save me from this putz.