The Seven Things Meme (With a Twist)

Last week, my blog pal over at Wake Up and Smell the Coffee tagged me with a meme to reveal seven unusual facts about myself. A tough one, because I've been at this blogging business awhile and have revealed many unusual facts and peculiar things I've done or thought. What could possibly be left?

I took my brain out and shook it, hoping enough random facts would fall out that I could complete the meme. I told myself if I could think of a theme, I'd have seven facts in no time. How about medical facts or my weird OCD-esque rituals? As thrilling as it would be for you to hear about the fact that my body temperature is typically 97.5 and that I have fantastically low blood pressure, I wasn't sure I could come up with five more facts. I've led a blessedly uneventful, healthy life. As for the OCD-esque rituals, frankly, I didn't think I could stop at seven. (Even though 7 is one of my Good Numbers.)

Then one of my Danada friends sent me a doggie-sympathy e-card. (Be aware that the card does play some soft piano music, just in case you're already listening to music.) So I decided to give you seven unusual facts about my recently deceased dog, Kodiak.

1. When Kodiak came to live with us, he was 5 years old and was a fat sausage of a dog, weighing in at a whopping (and unhealthy) 132 pounds. We knew we'd have to get the weight off of him if his hips were going to hold up. He followed the same diet principle I do - eat less, move more. He went on special food, didn't get a lot of treats, got loads of walks, and had Caper to chase him around the yard. Kodiak weighed a svelte 100 pounds when he went to live with my parents at age eight.
   
   
2. Kodiak had a garbage problem. It was an addiction that he could not break. Nothing could stop him - not a baby gate, not a shock collar, not Peter's overwhelming disapproval.
   
   
3. The worst garbage incident required a trip to the emergency vet's for a vomiting induction. (As the doggie poison control guy said on the phone - better to have it done in controlled circumstances and cleaned up by professionals than have to spend the night mopping up after a sick dog.) The garbage bin was loaded to the top because I'd just cleaned out the fridge and had a baking disaster.
   
   I like to picture in my head that he knew about the jackpot and planned the heist, perhaps his last job, to cash in on it. He ate a few loaves of old bread, an entire pan of burnt brownies, and other assorted rejects from the fridge cleaning. He did all this in the half-hour it took us to get carry-out for dinner. I think it took longer for it all to come back up than it did for him to snarf it down.
   
   
4. You might not expect it of a big, brawny dog, but Kodiak was something of a fashion plate. He loved wearing bandannas. When I'd go to tie a fresh bandanna around his neck, he would sit up much straighter and walk around proudly for the rest of the day.
   
   
5. Kodiak was the alpha-est of alpha dogs. Much like the garbage problem, it was a compulsion. His inability to back off once dominance was established started more than one fight at the dog park.
   
   
6. Kodiak once met an Irish Wolfhound at the dog park. He kept trying to put his head over the Wolfhound's neck, but was having no luck. Every time he tried, his thick skull just bounced off the the side of the Wolfhound's barrel chest. I'll never forget the look on his face - he was so confused and disconcerted. The thought bubble above his head said "What the heck is going on here? This always works! Why isn't this working? Don't laugh at me!"
   
   
7. Kodiak had absolutely no idea how big he was. If invited, he would quite happily climb up into your lap. For my birthday one year, I told Peter I wanted a very large, very comfy armchair. My requirement was that it had to be wide enough to comfortably fit Kodiak and me, sitting side-by-side. It took a lot of shopping, but the chair was one of the best presents ever. We whiled away many a happy hour, curled up together in our chair.