Meet Ricochet!

 Hellooooo to all my chocoholics!  Was anyone able to hit up the stores for the discounted treats?!  Have any extras for me?

I worked on Valentine’s Day which happens to be the start of the breeding season for the birds I work with!  During morning chores, one of the birds who is typically pretty standoff-ish was very enthusiastically dancing; however, she was disappointed when I didn’t join in and stomped.  That’s when I told her, “Happy Valentine’s Day!” and bounced out.  Besides, I already had a Valentine: my pup, Ricochet! 

Over the summer of 2017, I was hired as a camp counselor at a nearby humane society.  Since I had never been to the shelter before, my parents and I decided to take a drive to the city so I would be somewhat familiar with the route I would be taking every day.  We pulled into the parking lot, I was feeling confident and I assumed we were just going to turn around and head back home.  Wrong-o.


Dad parks the car and suggests that we go in and look around.  I sigh, but climb out of the car and follow his lead.  We barely make it past the front desk when he says, “Let’s check out the dogs.”  I glanced at Mom who shrugged in response.  You see, at the time, Dad was looking for a golden retriever for my grandpa.  I didn’t know what was going to happen when we went into the dog kennel, but I most definitely didn’t think that we would be leaving with a pup.

Two-ish hours later we were getting back into the car with Ricochet and making a detour to my grandpa’s house.  Do you see how Ricochet is most definitely not a golden retriever?  Dad didn’t think Grandpa would notice… Well, he did.  Ricochet stayed at my grandpa’s house for a total of two weeks before we got a call saying we needed to pick him up.  “He ate my whole pot of chili!” Grandpa yelled over the phone (with some additional choice words that frequent his vocabulary).  From the moment we laid eyes on him in the shelter, he was meant to come home with us, whether or not I appreciated it at the time.


Ricochet is the 6th family dog we’ve had since I was born, but the first that I can remember who appropriately plays fetch.  Over quarantine, I was able to teach him a few tricks such as “sit pretty” and “legs” where he runs in between my legs and sits down.  We tried “roll over” and “spin”, but those need a bit more work.  He’s really not a fan of any sort of delivery truck (UPS, FedEx, Amazon) and actually jumped into a USPS vehicle once when we first got him.  Ask any of our neighbors who knew him from day one and they will tell you he’s a completely different dog.  He loves the snow and will eat it as he’s walking around the house on his bathroom break.

We were told he’s a lab, but he doesn’t really beg for food much, isn’t really a cuddler unless it’s on his terms, and likes to curl up on my windowsill, so I jokingly say he’s part cat.  I got really good at reading his behavior this past spring to the point where he can come up to me and whine and I know what he needs.  He will come into my room and, if my pillows aren’t pulled aside so he can lay in his spot by the window, he will stare at me until I move them and whatever else might be in his way.  In the mornings when I’m sitting on the couch and he wants me to pop up the leg rest so he can lay in between my legs, he will put his paw on the couch beside me.  (Who trained who over quarantine?)  He can’t get enough of his stuffies, will say “sorry” when he’s naughty and does not make a peep when he gets sick.  In fact, he gets this eerie Joker-like smile on his face and you have approximately 30 seconds to get him outside before he opens his mouth and you have a mess to clean up.

He will meet us at the front door, jump up to greet us, and then run up the stairs to find a toy to bring to us.  When we are headed off to work or run errands, he always watches us drive away from my bedroom window.  He always lays under the dinner table when we’re eating and likes to lay on his back with his feet up in the air on the couch.  He loves having sleepovers with other four-legged friends and will never say no to running around outside (unless it’s really cold like it has been lately; then, he’d rather stay in and sleep).  He is, in my opinion, the least photogenic dog my family has had.  He is the 2nd dog of ours, however, who drinks out of the shower faucet and either the 4th or 5th who rides terribly in the car.  He judges me for working out (no joke).  In fact, when I roll out my yoga mat, he thinks I’m setting it up for him to lay on.  When I’m doing crunches, he has to be right in my face.

He has many names - Bartholomew, Ricky, Bubby, Ricos**t - but only one he truly lives up to and will forever be.  Ricochet.

Do you have any pets at home?  How did your “love story” begin?  Tell me all about it!


Lex out...


Comments