are you kidding me?!

so, this is my dog...Bauer. He is officially 1 year old. In dog years, he's about 8.2 years old. Neither of these ages qualify him for a "terrible twos" type stage but I feel like that is what's going on. I wasn't aware that dogs could throw temper tantrums...they can...and mine does.

About a month ago I was planning to join some friends for dinner. Bauer, on the other hand, was planning for me to stay at home with him all night. If you have met my dog, you've probably been introduced to some of the most horrific noises you've heard...he makes those when he's happy. And if he makes those when he's happy, you can only imagine the horror that abounds when he is unhappy. He literally threw a fit when I tried to leave that night. Making the worst noises and acting determined to get himself out of his crate. I could hear him as I got into my car. Needless to say...he won that fight and I stayed home.

Yesterday, however, I witnessed something that I didn't think a dog was capable of. He literally threw temper tantrum in the middle of the street. I go home for lunch (like I do everyday) to take him for a walk. I take him outside, go get the mail, and proceed on our normal route. Latelly Bauer has thought that its been fun/cute/controlling for him to grab his leash in his mouth and run ahead of me to prove that he is the one taking me for a walk. Most of the time I think its funny...until he starts to physically eat his leash...we can't have any of that. Usually when he starts to eat it I can just yank it out of his mouth...not yesterday. I go to pull it out of his mouth and he isn't budging. We start this game of tug of war (which my 40 lbs dog beats me at!) and he starts to make this really mean growls and barks - though he's still clamped down on his leash. I go to grab his collar and he goes limp on the ground and just lays there - still holding on to the leash barking and growling and causing all the other neighborhood dogs to start barking. I'm trying to get out of the middle of the street but he continues to lay there and let me pull him on the pavement as he is still biting down on his leash.

It was aweful. I felt like a mom of 2 year old in the middle of the grocery store. I wasn't aware dogs could act like that. I now have more sympathy for mom's with 2 year olds in grocery store and I feel a little more equipped to one day be that mom with a 2 year old in a grocery store.