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Our
dog Sparky is a Silky Terrier. He weighs about 12 pounds. He is almost 11 years old, but still plays with his toys and acts like a puppy!
Just to look at him you would think he is pretty much like any other little dog,
but to us he is much more!Sparky does so many funny things... starting with watching and remembering TV! If he sees a commercial he likes, he will remember the sound and music. If he is not in the room when his favorite commercial comes on, the sounds from the commercial will cause him to come running into the room at full speed. He absolutely loves those insurance commercials with the squirrels and bird sounds and the commercials with the stick people and computer sounds!
Sparky has always loved to play with his toys. When I throw a toy for him, he will run after it and sometimes bring it back, but he prefers that I chase him instead. If he does bring the toy back, he usually places it near my hand and waits in excited anticipation for me to grab for it. The second I give in and go for the toy, he leaps into action and it becomes a race to see who will get it first. He also likes to take a toy in his mouth and shake it vigorously - we wonder how he does that without shaking his brain loose! One of the funniest things Sparky does with his toys is when he takes a toy in his teeth and pushes it in my husband John's face. It seems to happen because Sparky wants to keep the toy in his mouth and lick John's nose at the same time. He pushes the toy in his face as if to say "here...take it - take it!!" He will do it even more because of the attention he gets from me. I encourage him and say: "give daddy your toy" and that gets him even more excited and causes him to wag his tail. He will look over at me happily to be sure that I am watching. Sparky will bring me a toy when John comes home from work and he will try to give it to me in the same face-push way. I am not sure why he wants to give me the toy instead of taking it to John, but he seems to be telling me that John is home. I say to Sparky "Thank you, THANK you! I know he's home, I know he's home" which makes everyone (especially Sparky) very happy.Sparky loves to play hide and seek with me. He also loves to chase the light from a flashlight (he get's excited when he hears the word,
so now we call it an "F-L-A," but we think he might have figured out the code). He
knows that the light comes from a flashlight, so if he sees one on the floor, he will try to pick it up in his teeth, but it's usually too heavy. We think he ate the button cover off of a flashlight when he was a puppy.
Sparky likes it when I put up a barrier in one doorway of our dining room and I jump the barrier so he can't get to me. He runs in the opposite direction, around the staircase and through the open doorway of the dining room until he almost reaches me, but I jump the barrier again. He's so fast that when I see him coming back around the staircase, I barely have time to turn around and
jump back over the barrier. It's great exercise!
Sparky knows many tricks such as bark, sit, beg and shake, but also crawl, kneel and
"leave it, ok get it" he will leave a toy or treat alone until I tell him to "get it." He can also roll over, but he doesn't like to do that. He will not listen to "stay" for very long and
it can be hard to get him to stop barking at the TV
or anything he thinks is exciting. If John and I hug too quickly, he
barks... if we go out the door without going though his usual routine, he
barks... if he hears a firework or any unusual noise, he barks. He also gets
overly excited and wants to play when people come for a visit, but he is an angel after about 10 minutes.
Before we had Sparky, we had two cats, so he grew up with them. It wasn't
until years later when our cats passed away that Sparky did something which
seemed to be in memory of them. He started sitting on, walking on and
laying down on the back of our couch like he was a cat! He still does
it even though we bought a new couch.
Sparky is very affectionate... loves to lick and lick. He will lay down next to me if I am sitting on the couch or on John's lap if he is sitting on the couch. I used to think he was my husband's dog, but now I would say he loves us both the same. He watches over us and likes to know where we are in the house at all times. He usually follows one of us everywhere we go, so we have to be careful not to trip over him!
Sparky loves big, fluffy comforters, so we put soft blankets in his crate at night. It's fun to watch him make his "nest" or "bed." He paws at the blankets and will even move them with his teeth so he can get them just where he wants them. He turns in circles two or three times until he finally settles in for the night.
Sparky is the first dog John and I ever had as a couple. We don't have any
children (yet), so we have become VERY attached to him over the years!
We
also have another adorable little dog named Samantha that we love just as much
and Sparky absolutely LOVES to play with her too! Sparky
has been with us though many good times, but also during some really sad times
including when we lost our two cats to illness. It would have been much much harder
without him in our lives. I would highly recommend a little dog for people
who are sad... dogs can definitely fill a large part of your heart and help
anytime you are feeling sad. They are always there, welcoming your hugs
and eager to comfort you. They have the incredible gift of making a person
feel better when no one else can. We are happy that Sparky is healthy and
is expected to be with us another 5 to 10 years.
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