Euripides
Euripides
1991-2007
Euripides was quite a dog. Being a mix of pug and bull terrier gave him a
rather different look. He resembled a pug in coloration, but he was large
(about 35 lbs.) and he had a short nose bridge. His tail curled once over
his body and his face (when he was young) was black. The terrier lower jaw
and the pug upper jaw made his bottom teeth show, with one tooth especially
prominent. He looked ferocious, but he had the loving temperament of a pug.
He was at once serious and a clown; hence his name, Euripides a Greek
playwright who wrote both comedy and drama.
Euripides enjoyed playing with toys, especially latex, black and white small
soccer balls. He loved to squeak them until I was driven to distraction.
When I no longer wanted to throw the slime ball or have it pushed up against
my leg for the umpteenth million time, I would hide it. I had to make sure
he did not see me hide the ball because if he knew where it was (usually
behind a vase on the mantle) he would stare unceasingly at the hiding place
and at me. One time I thought I would play a trick on him and hide the ball
in his blanket with many folds so he would have to work to get it. That
trick worked for about five minutes until he figured out he could hide the
ball himself and then play find it. When I saw him pull the blanket over the
ball and then stand there looking at the place where the ball had been, and
then pull the blanket off the ball and “find” it, I thought I would never
stop laughing. What a dog!
He was also the master of many tricks. He could sit up on his haunches,
shake hands, spin in circles, lie down and meditate. The last three he would
usually do in rapid succession. He could also jump through the hoop. All for
treats, of course, which he could balance on his nose and flip up to catch
in his mouth. The trick, though, that was his best was his meercat
imitation. He would sit on his haunches with his front paws and ears down
and nose up, just like the classic pose of the meercat.
Myna M.
