Handsome Boy Bo
Bo is my dog. He’s the star of the various pictures on this page. He is black with a white chest like a tuxedo wearing gentleman, white ends of his feet, and a white tip to his tail. We got him on 22 August 2021. I think he is a Lab Dane cross. At least, he looks like the dogs you see when you Google that. He has the softest eyes, bat ears, floppy lips, and legs longer than he is.
He has a pretty standard dog background. His pre-SPCA name is rumored to be “Bulwah”. That’s cool. But he’s now named after comedian Bo Burnham. He is past his dinosaur, shoe-destroying phase.
He used to pee like a female dog. The squat! Only after being at a doggy hotel a couple of times did he learn to actually lift his leg to the side. He doesn’t always pee in that manner though. He often pees on his front paws when squatting. This means his feet smell like Fritos and peepee. Regardless of his style of peeing, he confidently kicks up the grass afterwards. We have learned from watching him on home security cameras that he has a preference for having his bowel movements on an incline when possible. When that’s not possible, he is sure to bury/cover it with dirt as evidenced by his dirty nose. Not just from his love of digging.
He loves investigating weird insects but jumps when they react. Sometimes it’s just a leaf moving. With humans though, he’s fearless and pure affection. He melts into the ground when you scratch his butt just right, but stop the scritches and you’ll get a paw whack or his inside voice ‘Bhuh’ bark. He’s especially drawn to anyone working in the yard, though he makes an exception for Jehovah’s Witnesses, who get the full bark treatment. He actively barks loudly in their faces. It’s great.
When outside, he bakes. Like an already burnt potato. In the sun. In the sand. He often looks like he would fit in perfectly at a junkyard. He can lie peacefully for hours. Until the monkeys show up. Bo hates monkeys. Bo hates doves. He will chase and bark at them like it’s his main purpose on this planet. It’s not clear what he would actually do if he ever caught one of either.
Like all dogs, he’s cutest when sleeping. Bo can sleep through anything. He can sleep on you. You can sleep on him. When sleeping, he snores loudly and proudly. Those very same monkeys seem to feature in his dreams as he is often chasing and barking at something while dreaming. He’s allowed on all the couches and most of the beds. We would allow him on our main bed but he is simply too large. We’ve made up for this by him entirely having his own couch bed. He is very spoiled.
Bo struggles with catching sticks or balls. But he can catch a treat perfectly. Drool runs like taps out of his mouth while waiting for his food to be ready. Here’s an audio clip of him performing “speak” for his food:
He strongly prefers cheese and meats over healthy greens. He always checks his sister’s food bowl when he’s done eating. Just in case. Although he is very food motivated, he likes a good toy. But he only plays for roughly two minutes before being completely over it. When he does play though he plays very rough with his dad and very soft with his mom.
It’s quite hot and humid here most of the year. He is privileged enough to have a pool. He uses it constantly. His webbed paws allow him to effortlessly swim around and he absolutely adores it. It’s a struggle getting him dry sometimes. Wet zoomies are fun but disastrous for a clean house. He loves the pool and the beach. He hates the spraying “No!” water bottle and baths though.
There are a few words that trigger vivid responses from him. Any mention of a car ride makes him wild. He loves being in the car so much that he is perfectly happy to just sit in the backseat with the door open. Other exciting things include going for runs and chasing the light of a small laser. He would love running with random dogs even more. He is very/overly friendly with other dogs. To the point where he recently learned to hump the lovely golden haired retrievers at the dog hotel we sometimes send him to.
Bo is a very healthy boy and we’ve not had any scares with him so far. May that always be the case. May he wake us up with loud yawns and big stretches, not by going to town on his butthole with his tongue. The sound is violently gross.
