Such a delightful story about how two tiny pups have a big place in the hearts and home of their people. You will love Chancho and Boba!
Transcript
Julie Jackson:
Hey. Hey, welcome to Happy Tales of Happy Tails, the podcast where you’ll hear stories of the way pups have touched our hearts and our lives. So for the next few minutes, let everything else go and just listen and smile. I’m your host, Julie Jackson. Hey, friends, I am sharing conversation with you this week with Dean. This was kind of fun, because Dean’s mom was one of my favorite people in college. And it’s kind of crazy then when you have the opportunity to talk to your friends, adult kids now. And it was so wonderful to find that he is as equally awesome as his mom, he and his wife have rescued two of the cutest little pups. And it’s extra fun because Dean is well over six, five, and these little guys are barely tipping the scale in the double digits. So it’s it’s extra sweet to see them together. And remember, you can watch the Zoom calls on YouTube Happy Tales of Happy Tails has a YouTube channel as well. And you can also see the pups on social media. But you should check it out and see these little guys. And I know you’ll enjoy this conversation and just what a sweet, sweet relationship they have with these pups. So take care and have a great week. Hello, can you hear me? Hey, I can Hi Dean. How are you? I am good. He’ll make it my very hear. Hello eights. I am so glad to meet you.
Dean:
Yes. I’m so glad to meet you too. And then I have my my two guest stars. Oh my goodness. I have to I just got home from running some errands. So they’re both still very happy to see me.
Julie Jackson:
I love that.
Dean:
I love that I have boba here. He’s a little more squirrely.
Julie Jackson:
Okay, now what was the first one today?
Dean:
So this is Jojo. And he’s a little. He’s eight pounds. Now his name actually means pig in Spanish. Because when we got him, he was a little over 10 pounds. And he was so large he like his little fat rolls would spill out of his harness. And so first thing with him was to get them on a little bit of a weight loss program. He were actually his ID Do you mind if I just go ahead and lock
Julie Jackson:
yourself out? It’s perfect.
Dean:
Yeah, awesome. So he actually has been with a number of foster families before. They’re both they’re both rescues. So he was previously with a foster mom. And she took great care of him. I think she definitely fed his heart as well as his stomach. Oh, nice. Get a lamp turned on here. Because he I think we’re the third family he’s been with. And so they had said previously that he was supposed to be an only child could not be around other dogs could not be around kids. And we think he just wasn’t with great families because obviously, you know, these two little guys, for the most part coexist happily shoving each other now or
Julie Jackson:
as kids do.
Dean:
Exactly. Yeah, there’s a little bit of jealousy. Especially if if the treat bag comes out. But for the most part, they play very nicely together. Okay, so
Julie Jackson:
are they age wise? Are they close in age is one
Dean:
relatively so Chancho is seven, I think we don’t know his exact age. They said he’s about five when we got him. So he’s actually about seven and a half. And then Boga was more of a little guy. He’s four. And coincidentally clucksten at about five pounds. He was about four and a half pounds when we got him a little on the skinny side. He was a he was an outdoor dog. We think the owner may have he was he was an older man. And we think the owner may have oversold how much of an outside dog he was. Right? Because one of Obama’s favorite things, when you go to sleep is to curl up like right next to your head. And even still, he hates car rides. And so sometimes the only thing we can do to get him to relax on car rides, is to kind of perch them up on our shoulder like this, like little parrot. And he’s just the funniest little guy.
Julie Jackson:
He’s adorable. Now. When did you get that? How old was he when you got him? Or how long has he been with you?
Dean:
So we got Boba. Almost a year ago, I think we got him last June. So about nine months, and Chandra was our original little pandemic puppy. We got him October 2020. So he’s been with us a fair bit longer. But they, they’ve gotten along really well. We’re a little worried, again with what they had said about Chancho. But he got along great with his other friends. He gets along great. My little brothers are 10 and 14 now. So they would have been seven and 11. I guess. When we got him, and he gets along great with them. They love him. He loves hanging out with them. He’s very much a homebody. Which is funny, because that now extends to my mom’s house, when we go up there. He wants to stay there sometimes. And we have to coerce him to come with him to go.
Julie Jackson:
But I mean, I know your mom. I know why he would. Yes. Yes, yes. So
Dean:
he gets, he gets all the love in the world. Lots of attention. Lots of scritches. And really, you know, what more? One more is there in life for a little eight pound Chihuahua?
Julie Jackson:
So I have to tell you, one of my friends who came on earlier and was talking, he has always been a big dachshund guy. And he is a bigger guy. And he said, I think that I’m going for the largest disparity between dog and owner ratio. And I understand that you are not what one would consider short. And yeah. And they’re not not tipping the scale at double digits yet. So I think you might be a contender if he decides to make that a contest.
Dean:
And you know, what’s funny is that there is a contest, I’m not even going to win that. Because there’s another guy that I see sometimes we live in our apartment, we walk the dogs outside. So we see some of the other dogs out there. There’s a guy that has at least an inch and a half on me height wise, and has just this tiniest little shitzu. And it is so funny. I mean, it looks like he’s walking a squirrel. So I definitely think there is there’s something to be said for the disparity of height of size between owner and pet.
Julie Jackson:
I love it. And I the thing that got my attention is when your mom posted the picture of you with your little as she calls them the pup who says yeah, and both that is so precious. Do you just wear them around the house a lot? Do they love it?
Dean:
Yeah, so we just recently moved and it because I think my dad got me those as a gift, kind of as a gag gift. Because we’ve always joked about getting a little Baby Bjorn to just stick them in. But it actually was a huge benefit. Because when we were moving, you know, we didn’t want him to stick them in their kennels all day. But we didn’t want them running freely around the new place. We didn’t know all the nooks and crannies, there’s heavy stuff getting moved around. So we kind of just plopped chanter on the couch, and boba got to sit in one of those little pouches on my side. And they just have these little clamps.
Julie Jackson:
Oh, my goodness. Oh, my goodness. So
Dean:
those those have been wildly successful, really hit with the bumps? Well, I’m
Julie Jackson:
sure yeah. I mean, how better to be pampered than to just have your person carry you all day like that.
Dean:
Yeah. And they are both big believers in naps and sleeping, rest and relaxation. So getting to do that, you know, with the skin to skin contact is a I think unbeatable.
Julie Jackson:
Okay. Are their personalities similar? Are they dramatically different?
Dean:
I think they, they have some similarities, but they are quite different. So Chandra, when we got him, was not terribly smart. I don’t feel bad in saying that. He would often forget where we lived. You know, our, we live in apartment complex. All the doors were the same doors. But, you know, our door was decorated, we had a welcome mat. So it’s pretty clear which one was ours. And he’d always walk right past it or try and go into other people’s doors. And he’d sometimes do something where like, you know, if you open a door, and it opens on the left, he’d sit there staring at the right side of the door waiting for it to open. You had to motion him over. Yeah, to show him where it opened. But something something has changed with him in the last couple of years. And he has gotten a lot smarter a lot sharper. He learned where we live now. How to get there in the apartment complex. You know, I can walk half a mile down the street and he can lead me all the way back up the stairs to our front door. So he’s he’s gotten smarter. There’s really no hope for boba. We think he is so is unique in so many ways, he’s got so many little quirks he was so one of his favorite things to do is when he gets really excited, he will spin in circles. And he will spin so hard, he actually injured his knee a while back. Because he was spinning so fast, he kind of spun out. He’s terribly uncoordinated. And so he, we did have to go to the vet and make sure everything was okay. Cuz he was limping on it for a little while. And he is just so not present. You know, if you if you hold them up and look at him, he kind of looks into the ether behind you, right? He’s not good at making eye contact. And he’s a very sweet little guy. But anything that requires, you know, finding something, if I’m standing behind him, and I make a noise, you know, he’ll look around to try and figure out where it’s coming from. Just not thinking to look around behind him sometimes, right. One thing that we’re actually currently trying to help him is when he falls asleep, he will be able to put them in chairs, just so we can kind of nap and we can keep an eye on him. Because he’s so small. We don’t really want him just running around. Sure. And so he will scoot up to the edge of the chair to fall asleep. And sometimes they’ll like wiggle around and asleep and slide off the chair. And so we try and like help him sit in the middle. But he does that
Julie Jackson:
is not what he chooses to do.
Dean:
But despite that he is also Bobo is a much more mischievious of the two. And I don’t know if you if you would get that looking at those those beady little eyes. So neither of them like walks right and so usually what happens is I go I grabbed the leashes and chunko is kind of more stubborn. He’ll just sit there and stare and be like you can’t you can’t make me do that. I’m not you know, I’m better than this.
Julie Jackson:
I don’t really like nine pounds. Yeah.
Dean:
Yeah. Bowler, he sees the leashes and help us run. He can’t run very fast either. It’s definitely more akin to a cockroach skittering away. But Bumble will see that and he’ll run away. One thing that happened a while ago. Excuse me just a second.
Julie Jackson:
Hey, yeah.
Dean:
Eleanor, stop. It’s okay.
Julie Jackson:
Sorry. Mine had been sleeping all day. And now of course, they’re like, four of them. Right? Yeah. So okay. Yeah. And they’re,
Dean:
these guys are also guard dogs.
Julie Jackson:
Yeah, well, one of them. One of them has his paw on the other one’s face. And she’s like, stop it. So they’re just being mischievous. So okay, um, so so.
Dean:
And so boba is, you know, touches a lot more disciplined. If you drop food on the floor, and say, No, he will stop and he’ll kind of look at you. And he’s like, I really want it but okay. If you say no to boba, he just runs faster for the food. And he has a couple times tried to take the treat bag. You know, like, we have a little bag of treats from the store. In the bag, I mean, it’s about as heavy as he is. And so when he tried to pick it up, it was more just like him dragging it, and his little back feet would start to come off the ground because he couldn’t pick it up properly. And so he’s definitely mischievious he’s always looking for ways to subvert the rules. But Chancho is a little more devious. If he does want to break the rules. You know, sometimes we’ll be getting ready and we want him to stay in the living room. Not come on the carpet just so he doesn’t, you know, he just went for a walk, his paws are dirty, etc. So you know, they’ll stand kind of on the line between the tile and carpet. And then you say no, stay there. And then he just kind of puts his front paws on the carpet and just stares at you. So boba was really just kind of going off of the the vibes that you’re putting out. But Trump, Trump knows what you want. And he knows directly how to grade up against that in a very intentional way, just to push those boundaries. Exactly, exactly. And because he knows he’s doing I think was just live in his little life. But Trump knows what the rules are, and sometimes just wants to see how far we can push them.
Julie Jackson:
And it’s one of those things where you’re like, I know I have to be the adults. I know I have to be the one in charge. But I also have to laugh. You know.
Dean:
I have learned so many good rules. You know, I spent a lot of time with my little brothers when they were younger. And I have had to apply so many of those parenting lessons to these guys. Because they are They do such funny little things. One thing Bobo has recently started doing is they’re both very dramatic. You know, despite it all they’re both incredibly prone to all sorts of dramatics boba. We think he’s not entirely sure what hunger is that something he doesn’t know how to burp. So if he ever has to burp, he does this weird. Like he gets really scared for half a second. And then he scoots backwards and does a weird like half sneeze. He’s also, we don’t think he knows what hunger is really. We just think he knows he’s uncomfortable and doesn’t know why and how to fix it. Yeah. And so he just starts like whining when it gets around dinnertime. And then when he sees the back of the bag of food, we pour the food out. They both didn’t have great dental health when we got each of them. So they’ve had a couple teeth removed. Because of that we we soak their food their kibble before we give it to them just to make it easier. So it’s very high intensity 10 minutes, while the kibble is sitting on the countertop soaking in water, because they know it’s dinnertime, but it’s not quite dinnertime. So sometimes Bobo will start crying like a baby. I mean, it’s not like a howl like most dogs do. But it’s like, why can you wait? And I mean, I feel so bad. I almost want to go to our neighbors and say, Hey, we’re not. We’re not torturing him, right? He’s sitting here. Yeah, he’s on a pile of blankets on the couch. And he’s just so upset that he’s not being fed. He’s announcing it to the world. You know?
Julie Jackson:
I love it when they’re dramatic, though. Yes, we had one. And I talked about him in almost every episode. He was a little blue healer, and his name was Roscoe. And we lost him very unexpectedly in November, which was a real blow but Roscoe. Oh, thank you. healers are tend to be dramatic sometimes anyway. And Roscoe was missing his hind right leg. super athletic, very agile, very fast. He he was not disabled by any stretch of the imagination. But he was so funny because if he did not get his way, I used to joke that you could hear Sarah McLaughlin in the background. And he would suddenly have a limb that was so heavy, that you would almost think you would have to take him into the emergency vet. And he would hobble out of the room and he would stop at the door and he’d look over both shoulders to make sure everyone was watching. And then he would hobble out. And I’m just like, Oh, seriously,
Dean:
that’s so funny. Yeah, I like I like that. You said you can hear the Sarah McLachlan in the background. Because we call boba one of his nicknames. They both have many nicknames. One of those nicknames is Mr. Payne in English. Because hilarious, he will sometimes just like sit again, mount it. It’s funny, because what he’ll do is he’ll get comfy in the blankets, right? He’s laying down in the blankets happy as can be, but still just constantly whimpering just so that we can’t forget that he’s in a terrible place right now.
Julie Jackson:
Suffering Yes. suffering greatly constantly. Isn’t that funny? And that’s very sweet of you to you know, take care of to take care of him and his time of pain and anguish?
Dean:
Yes. Which is 24/7. Yeah.
Julie Jackson:
So did you you said you got them both. They were both rescues. Do you work with a specific rescue or just you just found out about them through word of mouth? Or how did you come to be with them?
Dean:
So my wife, Claudia is actually the one that hunted for them. So when the pandemic hit, we kind of been talking about getting a dog already. And it took awhile to find the right one. She have you do you know the difference between Applehead and D? You’re headed Chihuahuas?
Julie Jackson:
No, I do not. So you
Dean:
can really see it on Twitter. I think he stands out a little more in this light. But if you look at the that site, oh, yeah, you can really see that side. Yeah, yeah. Very round at the Applehead as opposed to the kind of smoother transition. Okay, scotch on a deer head. So probably learned of the difference between Applehead and deer head chihuahuas at a job in 2018. And that kind of opened the floodgates for her. She was like, Okay, I need to get a Applehead Chihuahua at some point. But because they’re, you know, in some circles, you know, more price dogs. There’s a lot of breeding that goes on. And so we didn’t want to mess with that because not all that is super ethical, especially with smaller dogs. So she spent a lot of time looking around. And so she found childcare No. And she was she showed me a picture. And I was like, you know, I don’t know if we’re ready for a dog. We were both still students at the time. So it’s like, Ah, okay, well, we’ll see. And then they updated his profile with a different picture. And it was him sitting, like hunched over in the grass, like staring into the sun, his main billing and just all his fat rolling out. And I was like, How can I say no. So we drove out to Euston and got him the next day. And so that was I think that was what pump squad because he’s part Pomeranian.
Julie Jackson:
Oh, okay. That’s probably where the long hair comes from.
Dean:
Yeah. And so he gets very big and poofy. He actually was just shaved recently. But he gets a very fluffy. Especially his main ink grows out, you know, his head hair is short, but then it gets us great flowing beard. And so that’s how we got John Cho. And he he was happy with us could always kind of tell he’s looking for a buddy. You know, especially when we go out and hang out with other dogs. It was hard for him to find dogs his size to hang out with. We have a neighbor that has two. I think their pit mixes. Okay. And they are sort of
Julie Jackson:
just commotion. It’s their world. I’m just living in it. Exactly. Exactly. There they go.
Dean:
So our neighbor’s dogs are super sweet. They’re super well trained. And they’re just very happy and energetic. And an eight pound Chihuahua mixed with a 40 pound happy energetic Pitbull is not always the best, because they always want to come up and say hi. And then Trump immediately would fear for his life. And so they you know, don’t coexist peacefully. But it’s hard for them to play together.
Julie Jackson:
Right? You kind of go there’s a potentially a copay waiting to happen here.
Dean:
Yeah, yeah. And it was, it was I still remember one time we went over to see them. And then it all kind of calm down. You know, they were all playing nicely together. But you know, Toronto tried to sniff one of them, but was way too short. So he had to stand up on his hind legs to do it. And she was wagging her tail, and it kept hitting Toronto in the head. And it was just so so painful to watch. So last year, we’re thinking like, Okay, we should find another little baby Chihuahua friend. Not necessarily public, but just another little guy. So try to have someone to be with. And that’s how we came across boba. Quite I think it took her about a month or so to find the right one. But he also just looked so so handsome in his photos. You know, well taken care of happy little guy. I love the
Julie Jackson:
pictures you sent. Like just so. So sweet. And, of course, chacha looks so blissfully. In some of those, it’s just pure bliss. And then the one with Bobo where he has this little face. And I mean, you just like
Dean:
so our our photo album of them is neatly kind of divided in two types of photos. They’re both very photogenic dogs most of the time. You know, Trump has a big smile, or especially he loves his scritches. So he’s just a happy little guy. But then we also like to, I do have an iPhone. Yes. Yeah. So you know, he can like zoom out and get the fish islands. Yes, yes. And so we’ll like get the fish islands and we’ll put it right up to their nose. So you get this giant cranium shot. So we have a lot of very, very enhanced some very funny shots of them, too.
Julie Jackson:
I’ve never done Why have I not ever done that? I know. I’m gonna do well.
Dean:
I was gonna say I wanted to send over some of the more regal photos. But I’ll send you some extras of their slightly sillier
Julie Jackson:
side. Oh, that’s Yeah, that’s really we have a lot of fun with it. Yeah, that’s awesome. Yeah, cuz we I, the guys that you see wrestling in the background there. When they pose they look very regal. But we love the dirt shots. Yes, exactly. kind of captures them more. It’s more what they really are.
Dean:
Yeah, Chancho, especially, is the master of what we call the blip and that’s when he just has a little bit of tongue hanging out. And he just kind of forgets about it. Especially when he’s asleep. And sometimes it’s funny because you can see him like trying to lick something in his sleep and the tongue. This is kind of hanging out there. So there’s a lot of very, very silly photos of them.
Julie Jackson:
That’s greatness. Okay. So sorry. It’s okay, sweetie. It’s okay. So, so you said that your wife is the one who searched for them. Yes. Did they do what many dogs do then and come in the house and immediately pick you as their person or no name. So I opportunity,
Dean:
I had to fight for Chancho to like me. So he was I think he did go through some pretty rough households before us. And I don’t think he had great experiences with some of the men in those households, okay. Because what he would do for a long time is he would lay with Claudia and he would bark me anytime he could see me. So I took a couple days of warming him up, you know, with with treats and love to be happy with my presence. And once he did, he’s, he’s generally an equal opportunist. But the one thing that is irreplaceable to him is whenever Claudia you know, Claudia is more of an avid Napper than I am. And as soon as he sees her walk into the bedroom, he is right behind her. We have these little stairs and other small little guys. So we have little set of plastic stairs leading up to the bed for them to get up. But but still hasn’t quite figured them out. We’re still working on that. But it’s funny because you see Claudia get in bed, and then you can hear the thumping of Toronto running up the stairs. Oh. And he also has this weird little thing he does where he likes to slither across the blankets. He doesn’t like to walk across the blankets. But he’ll like lay down on the blanket and then just kind of pull himself across. So that’s great. And then he just gets all nestled in. Bobo has, I think because he was a lot of it was like closer with his dad. Before he was Do they had to get him up because they were going to traveling. And they didn’t know if they could keep him in their travels. And so I think mobile was a lot closer with his dad. So I am generally is his preference, if he does, but really anything that involves skin to skin contact. Anything that involves being with a person. It’s also funny because we do joke about the term skin to skin contact because he likes if possible to like dig under your shirt and like just get right up in there. We always joke that he his goal was to return to the womb. You know that’s the ideal place for him is just like nestled swaddled, warm, right up against you. The world is a very scary place. And it’s it’s a little big for a little guy.
Julie Jackson:
Yeah. I can only imagine from from their perspective. Yeah. That’s really sweet though.
Dean:
So they do have the preferences. But they especially challenge Joe, if you have a bag of treats, doesn’t matter who you are, where you came from what you’re doing. He’s He’s right there with you. It’s funny, actually, David, you know, big guy, right. Judge was not a fan of him at first. And then he realized that David was the was the chef of the house. spends a lot of time in the kitchen. So now anytime we go to my mom’s house and he sees David to kind of stare at him. It’ll take a step towards the kitchen. And Chandra just runs in the kitchen. He’ll sit by the fridge and wait for some turkey and cheese and whatever. Yeah, oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. He is never want to miss out on food. He’s a big fan of all kinds of food. Actually. They both will eat kale, broccoli, you know, any any kinds of green and it’s so funny because they will you know if you give him a big leaf, but like hold it between their paws, like, rip like it was, you know, gristle, you know? It’s a kill to them. So that’s always super funny to watch.
Julie Jackson:
It’s mind boggling, because mine will not eat like that’s healthy and minor like No, yet the stuff I’ve seen them eat in the backyard.
Dean:
Absolutely. Yeah. It’s like what, okay, I felt so bad, because they will also they’ll go out and just eat grass or something. And when we first moved into this apartment, they have dog treats up at the front. You know, Trump was a very handsome little guy. And so they’re like, Oh, can we give him a treat? And I was like, hi, you know, this will be great. It’s always funny to give them treats because he loves treats. And so they gave him a little milk bone. And he kind of held in his mouth, and then just let it fall on the floor. I was like, Okay, well, that goes that bit of good favor that we were
Julie Jackson:
so much for that. Yeah, a little extra. Okay, Barney, what are you doing, buddy? All of a sudden my feet have become the most fascinating toy in the whole house. He’s never done this before. Ever. And now suddenly he is digging it my feet. Hey, sir, sir. Wait. Oh, it’s not even Barney. It’s check. Okay, I’m so sorry.
Dean:
No, it’s funny. Sometimes Boba just goes on a blood frenzy for fingers, you know, trying to like pet him. He’s trying to munch on them.
Julie Jackson:
So we have a little one in our house to that she’s my daughter’s and she’s some kind of maybe terrier Doxon gargoyle bat combination, we’re really not sure exactly. She’s very pointy. Everything about her nose, her ears her tail, real slick, very pointy. And we joke because she is very much my daughter’s dog. So she comes out. She eats you social socializes just for a bit. And then we laugh that she goes back to her apartment. And she’s always in my daughter’s room and she will go, we will hear the door push open, and then we will hear it shut. Like she’s like, I’m out of here. And she’s smaller than everyone else. She’s that way though. Like, we love her so much. But eventually, it’s like, you have to quit biting our fingers. Like, you got to stop.
Dean:
Yeah, and he usually won’t. But sometimes he just like gets gets on a tear about it, you know, another photo I’ll send you sometimes he likes to fight blankets. And so he’ll this we have to physically separate him from the blankets. Because he’ll just sit there and like, chew on it and pull it and like, fight it all around. And he’s he’s just such a such a unique little guy. This little boba.
Julie Jackson:
It’s so fun to see though how people who don’t know and they just think, oh, dogs a dog. And when you know the dog and you see just all their little quirks and their tendencies and their personalities. It’s, it’s so it’s so great to see. And Ivan kind of wonder to when you talked about that you’ve only had him for nine months and, and how, you know, some some of the things like where you say, you know, he doesn’t necessarily make eye contact, I would be curious to see if, like a year from now. If how that has if that has changed? Yeah,
Dean:
that’s actually it’s funny. You mentioned that because we were also thinking the same when we first got him, you know, it’s like, okay, he’s, you know, he’s calmed down a lot. He used to be very nervous and squirrely. And so we’re like, Okay, well, hopefully, you know, he’ll be a little sharper, a little more present. You know, once he’s once he’s comfortable. He’s gotten calmer, but he hasn’t really, the presence isn’t there. The eyes are still very empty. So we’ll see in a year from now. Yeah, I don’t have great hopes. Well,
Julie Jackson:
I mean, sometimes it’s not bad to set the bar low, you know, cuz then, then you’re not going to be disappointed. So yeah.
Dean:
And so and they both they both do great. We have a lot of friends who are all big dog lovers. You know, people who are active small dog haters. You know, it wasn’t that they were indifferent towards small dogs. But they’re like, I hate small dogs. I can’t stand chihuahuas you know, they’re yappy. They’re annoying. And we have converted pretty much all of them. Every now they’re always excited to come see the dogs. Some of them even want small dogs now. And so there’s there’s just something irreplaceable about so small creature, because they almost don’t even feel like dogs. We had a couple larger dogs when I was younger. And they were you know, they were majestic beasts. Right. But these are throw pillows that you see. And they’re just there’s so much so much joy.
Julie Jackson:
I love it. I think you hit on it joy. That’s, I don’t anyone who has a dog that that spends any amount of time with him. I think at some point, they’re going to come around to that realization that there’s so much joy there. Yeah,
Dean:
yeah. And so they, they spend a lot of time with me. Especially I do. I work remote. So I spent a lot of time. You know, sitting here in this desk working, I spent a lot of my time on calls. So one on one calls with my co workers. It’s always fun, because mostly my hands are out of you. But then if my hands are in view, you can see there’s a dog. Sometimes just like bringing in a friend during calls. Just as a little little bit of fun. It’s always fun to see the co workers make an appearance.
Julie Jackson:
That is so sweet. And I mean that has to be really rewarding for you too, though.
Dean:
Yes. Yeah, it is. Always kind of you know, I go into the office every now and again. And so it’s kind of bummer having to spend eight, you know, eight or nine hours without them. I’m just so used to having them around all day. That going without definitely feels. It sounds dramatic to say but a little empty. No, I
Julie Jackson:
get that. I get that. During COVID. I was fortunate enough that I was able to work from home for an extended period of time but then events slowly, I had to go back in. And that was the hardest thing. You know, because I became so used to and I mean, most of the time they’re sleeping. One time, we laugh, because she’s very serious. She’s the one that keeps everyone in order. And she, when she sees me going to my desk, she lies right beside me at the desk. And we joke that she’s the office manager.
Dean:
Yeah, making sure that you’re not getting distracted.
Julie Jackson:
Yes, and keeping everything and but you know, they’re so in tune. And like, if something would get stressful at work, or it would get chaotic or something, all of a sudden, there might be a chin on my knee. Or just, you know, it’s just like they know, and then I’ll just reach down and just pet you know, and there’s something that’s it’s very, that is very therapeutic. It’s very Exactly,
Dean:
yeah. And then
Julie Jackson:
all of a sudden, it is it’s empty, when all of a sudden, you’re in an environment where you’re like, Wait, there’s no one here for me, the pets?
Dean:
Yeah. And it’s definitely funny, because for me to double edged sword, because it’s very, it’s very fun having one of them to sit here. And then sometimes the jealousy kicks in, you know, Trump just sitting in a chair next to me. And then sometimes he decides he wants to be here. So I’m trying to have an important discussion about work or whatever. And then you see these little pause, like starting to reach into frame. So it’s like, okay, well pause the business, I gotta get him situated. So, in a way, even if it’s distracting, is I like your term therapeutic. It helps cut the seriousness down by a lot. Yeah,
Julie Jackson:
yeah, I have, I have come to the realization that I still work from home one day a week, and I work in healthcare, and so sometimes I’m on calls with patients. So, you know, we really need to not be wrestling in the background. And they will choose that moment, sometimes to just full on shenanigans. And so I thought, you know, I need to go maybe Goodwill or someplace wherever people have thrown away all those old stress balls, you know, the conventions and stuff. I need something like that, that I can throw at, you know, because sometimes they get just beyond my reach, and I can’t get to them. And I can’t stop what I’m doing. And I’m like, I need something where I can just startle them enough to step out of it. Yes. Hopefully, get them to simmer down until I can finish what I’m doing. Because yeah, yeah, timing. And it’s always,
Dean:
it’s really funny that you mentioned being just out of reach. Again, torture does a lot of things with intent. And one thing we don’t know why he does it, but he thinks it’s very fun to do is when he wants to be held, he will complain about it, but stay just out of reach. I mean, really, like just, if you if you reach any more, you’re gonna fall out of your chair. But he just stares at you and he’ll keep whining. And he is so funny because it’s almost like he wants you to work for it. Just you work for it. Yeah, cuz he is he’s a luxury. And he expects you to treat him as such.
Julie Jackson:
Okay. He he may be actually a lot smarter than you think.
Dean:
He had a lot to grow at first, but he is very, he’s definitely come into it. And he knows what he’s doing in a great many situations. And it’s very funny. Another thing that has always been his specialty. It’s funny, so Bala hates being on his back, he will not go on his back. Unless he is deep asleep. That’s one of our greatest pleasures is when he totally conks out, and a slowly starts to roll those back both feet in the air. John, just since day one, he from any position can swarm onto his back and less than half a second. He is just so he’s in such great need of attention, and pets and scritches that if you’re holding him, he can just in your arms flip around immediately. And then he’ll start like batting at you with his paws to pick up.
Julie Jackson:
Here. Let me make it easy for you to pet me where I want to be petted.
Dean:
Exactly. He’s like, I’m just gonna smooth this over for you. And it’s funny because then if you stop petting him, he will like start to reach his hands off and like try and get your attention to me. He’s like, hello, hello. I think you’ve forgotten what you’re supposed to be doing right now. Once again, I will work and then these little paws will show up in frame and then it’s like, okay, well now I gotta take care of this to have something
Julie Jackson:
I’m supposed to be doing. Well, so what do you think? And maybe they’ve both maybe it’s been a collective lesson from both of them and maybe it’s been something from each of them. What do you think you’ve learned from them?
Dean:
Definitely patients. I think it’s easy, especially with with two small creatures. I Um, they make some day to day things very difficult. Like I said, they are not a fan of walks Chancho I think is kind of eventually consigned himself to I guess I got to do it, but boba will fight it the whole way. And it’s funny because he doesn’t fight it in the ways that makes sense. You know, you put him on leash, you walk him. And you know, we’re just walking down the street and back. And he’ll pull, like, he’ll resist walking back to the apartment. And it’s hard because it’s almost like, Okay, I know, you want to go home. We’re trying to go home now. And even so he’ll put his little paws out and make it so difficult. And it’s, it’s easy, because they’re so small, it’s easy to want to just like, pull them along, like, okay, come on. But trying to, you know, try to get in their headspace a little bit, and work with them on it. And say like, Okay, I know, you don’t want to be out here. It’s a big world. It’s a scary world. But come on, we can do this. And feel that they’ve gotten better, but did not respond at all to being pulled on walks. And we have learned it’s because when he stops, he wants to stop. And he’ll stand there for a couple seconds. And then happily keep going. Oh, there you go. Yeah. And so he, I think also, he just knows what he wants, and he’s gonna get it. And he has no length, or sorry, no end to his stubbornness. So patience has definitely been a virtue with him.
Julie Jackson:
Ah, that’s great. That’s great. Well, if it makes you feel any better one of mine, she’s one of our senior girls. And she’s a cattle dog. So in theory, you think she would love going on walks and being outside, never has never been her thing. And it was always a struggle. And one day, I’m like, come on, it’s beautiful. We’re gonna go for a walk. And as soon as she saw one of the neighbors out washing his car, his car doors were open. Before I knew what had happened, she was in his car. And it’s like, I’m so sorry. And let me introduce myself. I live around the corner. If you don’t mind, I’ll get my dog out of your car. Yeah. I mean, she was on a leash, but didn’t matter. You know, she just does it. And the next thing I know, I was just like, Oh, I’m so sorry. So yeah, when they don’t want to do something, they will find a way.
Dean:
And you will be like I can imagine, like kettlebell can get some push behind her. But you would be very surprised at how much weight you know, a five pound Chihuahua can create when he’s really digging his heels in on the concrete.
Julie Jackson:
Oh, yeah. It’s amazing. Just what the the strength of will?
Dean:
Yeah. Yeah. And it’s funny because especially, you know, that’s walks on a nice day, our heart, you know, 65 degrees and sunny. And they still don’t want to, but especially rainy days, I think, like, hit some primitive thing. They don’t care about storms when they’re inside. Going out in the rain is always always a bit of a struggle for them. So we have little, you know, I’ll try and like build the umbrella and keep them dry. But they’ll get the little raindrops on their head. And I think Joe knows what rain is and he just doesn’t like it. I think boat was completely closed and it just freaks him out.
Julie Jackson:
It’s just more than he can. Yeah, more than more than his brain can process. Right. And that’s fair.
Dean:
So yeah, he does not have a very large brain. I mean, that’s I don’t mean that derisively. I just yeah, there’s a maximum volume to this little cranium. Yeah, and he just constantly makes I don’t think you can hear them on the microphone. But when he’s not asleep, he does constantly make these anxious annoyed little grunts and whimpers and it’s very noisy produces a lot of noise.
Julie Jackson:
Interesting. Interesting. Well, thank you so much for your time. And yeah, thanks for having me on here. It’s so so wonderful and they’re precious. I will certainly let you know I’m not as fast at editing as I would like to be so I will certainly let you know when the whole thing launches. And then of course when when they’re going to be featured but I really appreciate your time. And hey, anytime if they do something and you think this is funny, and I would love to share it would always love to have him back and if you your dog loving friends if they have dogs they want to share would love to include them?
Dean:
Absolutely. Yeah, they are always getting into all kinds of shenanigans and mischief,
Julie Jackson:
which is my favorite. I mean, I love I love that we are guys who now decided to settle down. They’re very fluffy. And we we call them collectively the flu Fs. Yeah, I laughed when you mentioned Bob has beady eyes because one Have them one of our guys, Barney, he has beady eyes and I’m always like, shifty eyes. And finally, one day I made him a tag and it says shifty mother fluffer. Because, like, he’s just, he’s always into something. And anytime anything. I’m like, Huh. And like right now, he’s not right here, and it’s quiet. So I know that I’m going to go down and find something.
Dean:
Yeah. And that is, I think, one of the nice things about them being so small, is there’s there’s about a foot and a half limit off the ground of things they can get into.
Julie Jackson:
You know what I am glad that you recognize and appreciate that. Because these guys are the biggest guys we’ve had in a while. And I’m about five, nine. And when they stand up, they’re almost eye level to me. So we realized that they’re borrowing on top of the refrigerator. There aren’t many places now that are out of their reach. We have to be very intentional about things because they’re if they’re determined enough. Yeah, I haven’t seen it yet. But I’m kind of convinced they’re doing the like cheerleader thing and one’s hoisting the other one up on their shoulders. Because some Yeah, they reach we’re like, how is that even possible?
Dean:
It’s really funny. My, my cousins have a Great Dane when we visited, and you know, I’m used to small dog thing. We got a funny picture me holding ChaCha with a Great Dane standing next to us. You know, if Trump stretches all the way up, I think she can almost get to my knee. And then, you know, we have the epi Great Dane there who will sometimes stand up and just put her hands on my shoulders. And that was a very jarring experience coming from the world of small dogs.
Julie Jackson:
Yeah, well, and what did your mom tell me your six five? Yes. So that’s, I mean, someone hearing that might be like, Oh, well, yeah, my dog puts their paws on my shoulders to not
Dean:
uncommon experience for someone of my height for a dog to then be I love with me. It’s like, Oh,
Julie Jackson:
okay. Yeah. So yeah, sorry for divulging. But you know, I
Dean:
yeah, I think it adds some color to the experience.
Julie Jackson:
So people realize that’s, that’s really tall. So yeah. Well, y’all have a wonderful weekend.
Dean:
Thank you, you as well. Thanks for having me on here. I’m always so happy to talk about them and share the joy.
Julie Jackson:
Yes, yeah, I appreciate it so much. And y’all just take care. And like I said, anytime you want to do it again, just send me a message, because I love it.
Dean:
We’ll do thank you very much. Take care. All right, you too.
Julie Jackson:
Bye. Thank you so much for joining me today. I know that you are busy. And I really appreciate that you chose to spend some of your time with me. So let’s do a little bit of bookkeeping before we head out. If you enjoy this, and you would like to receive the episodes automatically without having to seek them out, then in your pod catcher, follow or subscribe. And that way every time an episode drops, it’ll show up for you. And you’ll know that it’s there makes it super easy. You don’t have to think about it. Please go visit the website. It’s really cute. It’s got puppy pictures. Also, I’ve got a free gift for you over there if you will go check it out. And if you would like to message me if you have any suggestions, specific pup stories you want to hear. Or even better. If you want to share a story, you can message me right there from the website. That’s the best way to get to me for that. Check us out on all the different socials, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, all of them. That’s where you’ll see pictures of the pups that we talk about each week. Also, just other fun pup things. I’m going to put episodes on YouTube as well. Sometimes the episodes are recorded via zoom. And so there’s video, a lot of times it’s just us talking, but every now and then there are some fun cameos from puppies or their shenanigans in the background. And you can catch all that on YouTube. If you want to help me out if you would leave a positive review and share the podcast that would be fantastic. I would be really grateful. And once again, if you want to help me out, I would love to share your story. So please hit me up and let’s schedule a time that we can talk. Some people have shared their stories in writing. Some people have gotten on the phone and done a chat with me so we can do whatever you are most comfortable with. Finally, do not forget that you are as great as your dog thinks you are and go smooth speech. Thanks, y’all.