Rasta, our family pet

We have had Rasta since February of 2005. He is an official member of our family who protects our backyard. We got him from Guy's brother, Gene, who bred a litter of 12! So, even though we are not really dog people, we thought long and hard about this, we couldn't resist this cute puppy.

Guy and I stopped in at Over the Edge Sports today after we rode the Hurricane Loop. DJ has a dog in the shop that is actually up for adoption. She asked if we were interested because I noticed how well-behaved she was. Her name is Trinity and I can't remember what breed she is. I told her I wouldn't mind trading but I am not comitting to another dog, no matter how cute or well-behaved. I hope she will find a good home for her.

Rasta is a full bred Sharpei. They are bred as Chinese guard dogs. They are very skiddish, stand-offish, and anti-social. He is great at guarding our backyard. However, he never obeys, he will run away for hours if he can escape out of the gate, he doesn't listen when he is told to do something, he does what he wants, and on and on and on.

We tried to have his eyes tacked and have him neutered at the same time. This is a completely different story I won't go into, but the vet told us to pick him up, he couldn't work with him. He will hump any other dog that comes over to play whether it is male or female. He is desperate. He won't play catch and is difficult to take on a walk so Guy is really the one that interacts with him the most and he wants to kick him in the head half the time. (He doesn't kick him by the way, he just wants to) He has bit the dog catcher, but I would too if he got me in a corner and poked at me with a long stick. He is not a vicious dog, he is just his own boss. We have tried a few time to take him camping and to the lake. It is a nightmare, so he stays home guarding the yard.

The one great thing about him is that he poops in one area in our yard. I don't know that I could train any other dog to not poop all over the yard. That is the one really awesome thing about our dog. He is a cute dog too.

Don't get me wrong, he isn't a bad dog. He and I have love/hate relationship. Guy loves him and he loves Guy. I've heard that dogs are a lot like their owners or vice versa. I can see a few similarities here. The kids would be devastated if we didn't have him. So for now I am grateful that he protects us even if he won't play with us.

work hard, play hard, rider harder.