Double Boxer

In honor of the Dickens' excerpt today, here's a picture from our double Boxer days, which were crazy. Zoe and Wash, gone now but not forgotten.

Around Here: Dickens and Boxer

This is from 5 years ago but never fails to amuse me.

Boxer, feeling that his attentions were due to the family in general, and must be impartially distributed, dashed in and out with bewildering inconstancy; now, describing a circle of short barks round the horse, where he was being rubbed down at the stable-door; now feigning to make savage rushes at his mistress, and facetiously bringing himself to sudden stops; now, eliciting a shriek from Tilly Slowboy, in the low nursing-chair near the fire, by the unexpected application of his moist nose to her countenance; now, exhibiting an obtrusive interest in the baby; now, going round and round upon the hearth, and lying down as if he had established himself for the night; now, getting up again, and taking that nothing of a fag-end of a tail of his, out into the weather, as if he had just remembered an appointment, and was off, at a round trot, to keep it.

Courtesy of Project Gutenberg where
this novella is available free in a variety of formats

One of my favorite bits in the beginning of The Cricket on the Hearth is accuracy of Charles Dickens' description of the Perrybingles' dog, Boxer. Ours is a "double Boxer" household and ours are almost constantly displaying some of those very attributes.

Chances are that the Boxers of Dickens' day didn't look precisely like those we have today, but they surely acted like them!

This article shows several breeds past and present, among which is the Boxer.

Welcome Jeeves!

We didn't mean to get a puppy so soon after Wash died, but keeping an eye on Craig's List for Boxer puppies led us to this sweet little guy. Though "little" is a relative term. He was the biggest in the litter and weighed 15 pounds at 10 weeks old.

He's Jeeves because we never had a Boxer who didn't take an active interest in the mail, the housework, the social activities, and all the things that a good butler has to manage to keep everyone's lives on an even keel. What has surprised us is how few people (at the vet, for instance) have heard of the Jeeves name before. Oh civilization, what cost progress when we leave behind the gentle P.G. Wodehouse references?

Usually I never worry about bringing a puppy home to another dog. The adult understands that a puppy gets special license. But Kaylee is very dog aggressive. Wash is the only dog she was ever friends with so we weren't sure if her mothering instincts would kick in automatically.

We spent a week with them alternating crates to get to know each other, a day with them on leashes around the house ... and then Kaylee took things into her own hands, racing up and down in play mode. Off came the leashes and no one has looked back. Jeeves is delighted. He's hero worshipped Kaylee since he set eyes on her, plastering himself to her crate and whining.

Kaylee spent a day being very dominant (as is right and proper) and then settled down to enjoying playing and correcting when Jeeves forgets his place (which is fairly often - you know how fun it is to jump on someone's head - how do you just not do that?).

Now we're all settling down to the job of keeping socks and shoes off the floor, endless pull toy playing, and lots of fun as this little guy explores the big world. And at the end of the day ... we're all ready for a good rest.

The End to Our Double Boxer Era — Goodbye to Wash

On Thursday, our gentle 11-year-old giant Wash suddenly went down. On Friday morning we had him put to sleep. Of all the dogs I've known in my lifetime I now realize that he was "my dog" more than any of them. He was embedded in my routine in a dozen tiny ways I never thought about.

As Tom said on Facebook, Wash was the opposite of Zoe, our other Boxer who died a few months ago. He was happy, curious, and playful as a Boxer should be. His soulful eyes added greatly to the Boxer look of "concerned curiosity" and he took that look seriously, he had to sniff every package or mail that came into the house.

Wash always was more aware of the television than other dogs we've had.
He particularly responded to dogs, sometimes without even hearing barking —
in the instance above the animated dog hadn't made a sound. Wash will bound over to
the television and brace himself on the console so he can bark back "in person."
When the dog disappeared mysteriously, he'd look for the interloper behind the TV
and then around the house.

We took it as a good omen that he died on the feast day of St. Francis. I am really glad that right before everything went downhill he went on a walk where he warned the other dogs that this was his street (by aggressively eating a mouthful of grass, an intellectual connection that the other dogs totally missed every time), drank from sprinklers, and checked out all the Halloween decorations in yards. In other words, he got to enjoy his life to the fullest to the very end.

He was a good dog and he will be missed by everyone who knew him.

In the meantime, Kaylee is doing her best to fill the void. As Tom says, "Even though we lost a pair of Boxers this year, we still have a half pair of briefs. (Sorry for the pun)"

Here are a couple of memories from the "double boxer" years.

The early years, Wash and Zoe

More grown up and tired out from "watching" football with the family.

From the Archives: Boxer Report

This was originally posted in October of 2009. I did it to update the girls, both of whom were living too, too far away.

Coming across it, looking for a boxer picture to post for Tom's birthday today (his favorite kind of photo), I enjoyed it so much that I'm rerunning it. Oh those double-Boxer days ...

How our baby has grown!

Baby Wash and almost year-old Zoe.
This is probably from late June? Maybe early July?

I think this is from about when you both left to go to school.
Maybe a bit earlier than that.

So in answer to questions about how big Wash has gotten ...

He is now taller than Zoe. Though you can't tell it from this photo.
They were "watching" the game yesterday with us.

And as you may recall, though this is an old photo,
they both are usually much more active.
That hasn't changed a bit, no matter what the age!

Hurricane Lexy Zoe Has Landed

Oh me, oh my!

A 10-month-old Boxer (Zoe, formerly known as Lexy, who we must still call that until we get her somewhat used to the household) who has a limitless supply of energy being dropped into a household with a 10-year-old reclusive Lab/Dane mix (Pepper) and a 9-week-old Boxer (Wash) is ... well ... exciting to say the least.

The two youngest like to play but Lexy/Zoe overpowers the baby to the point where he is constantly seeking out shelter (under couches, under chairs, between peoples' leg) from the relentless onslaught of fun, Fun, FUN!

The venerable oldster had retreated semi-permanently to his bed in our bedroom to escape Wash. However, when Zoe/Lexy showed up we were delighted to see that he, surprisingly, was interested. All of us have experienced a bit of disorientation when he and she come running into a room as our brains automatically reference the previous pair of Daffy and Pepper and then must shake free to adjust to Lexy/Zoe and Pepper ... and their shadow, Wash. Clearly, Pepper feels that Boxer familiarity also. He was interested enough to follow her outdoors and then to assume his post on "Pride Rock" (also known as the top step into our sunken living room) to keep an eye on proceedings. They occasionally do a sniff-down, "nice to meet you" ritual. Biggest of all, Pepper actually has growled and bared his teeth at Lexy/Zoe when he had a bone and she tried to take it. Perpetually gentle and allowing himself to be bullied by any dog but Daffy, his self assertion was cheered and praised by the family ... and he is accepted by all as king of the pack.

She is a really sweet dog, with good manners (and house trained!) except for the occasional lapse of following someone up onto the furniture in a fit of enthusiasm. At which reprimands, she often just proceeds over the back of the couch onto the other side.

It is like a three-ring-circus but we can already see her quieting down occasionally. If we all live through this huge wind of energy she is injecting until she adjusts to everything, this is going to be tons of fun for everyone in the household. Already we have been laughing our heads off most of the time.

The Other New Member of the Happy Catholic Household

Also joining us will be a 10-month-old female whose family travels so much they gave her up for adoption.

Rose and I will be going to pick her up today for her 5-day trial period, meaning that the check won't be cashed until after that time. She sounds like a dream dog ... still puppyish but house trained (woohoo!)

There was quite a lot of conversation last night about names. In the end, the only set of names we could agree on was either Buster and Lucille (from Arrested Development) or Zoe and Wash (from Firefly).

The winners: Zoe and Wash.

Although calling the puppy Wash does seem rather odd right now.

However, Zoe and Wash do both typify our family's personality (TV-wise) especially since Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog didn't have any memorably named characters that we wanted to be caught shouting in public after our dogs. Not that we're Joss-Whedon-centric or anything. Ahem.

As well, Zoe and Wash's personalities fit the Boxer personality best. Although all this is after-the-moment rationalization. But you knew that already. Right?

The Newest Member of the Happy Catholic Household

9 weeks old, he is known currently as Boxer Boy since we are trying to decide on a name. As we plan on soon acquiring a worthy playmate in the form of a Boxer Girl, we are looking at names that work well in pairs.

So far here's what we've come up with. These names reflect either Boxer personality traits or our family funny bone. We're waiting for Rose to get home to see if she has anything to add. If y'all have any ideas, just speak up!

• Bonnie and Clyde
• Fred and Ginger
• Ruff and Tumble
• Gomez and Morticia
• Bogie and Bacall
• Mickey and Minnie
• Kang and Kodos
• Tarzan and Jane
• Boris and Natasha