Bad to the Bone

Yes, as the title suggests, this story is about my dog, Burgess. He's earned the title many times before, but there won't be any photos this time, and other names are omitted to protect the innocent.

Since I last wrote, I started a tutoring business out of my home. Yes, I actually like helping kids with homework and learning struggles, but if that idea makes a root canal sound good to you, I'll address your disbelief in another post.

When a tutoring session is over, I reward the students by letting them play with my dog. Yesterday, a young student was throwing the ball and chasing the dog around the back yard. Quite an idyllic scene was created. I smiled as I looked out, anticipating the parent's pleasure at this sight when she arrived to pick up her child.

Instead of amusement, I saw the mother's eyes grow very large as she looked into the yard. "Uh-oh," I thought to myself, as I turned to look through the sliding glass door. There was Burgess, my "fixed" golden retriever, humping the heck out of the little kid, who was face down on his knees. My turn for the eyeball enlargement.

Luckily, the mother has a very good sense of humor and like most people, is generally charmed by Burgess's usually sweet demeanor and good looks. She just chuckled and shook her head.

Several weeks prior, I had Burgess demonstrate to this student and his mother that he can give a hug when a person pats his/her own chest and tells him "Up!" So, when the child and the dog came bounding in the door together yesterday, the kid said, all smiles, "Mom! This time Burgess hugged me from behind!"