Premium greeting

Pony shares his bed with my first dog, Jake.

It's true what they say, that a dog is a man's best friend.  At least with my boyfriend Matt and his dog it is the case.  He has a huge Greyhound/Irish Wolfhound mix named Da Vinci, and they definitely have an unbreakable bond.

I didn't meet Da Vinci until a month or so after Matt and I started dating.  But Matt gushed about him all the time.  And when we would talk on the phone, quite often I would hear loud "thud" noises in the background.  When I finally asked what it was, Matt explained that Da Vinci was entertaining himself by pouncing on his toys like a kitten.  At around 100 pounds, Da Vinci's jumping was far from graceful or cat-like.

I'll never forget the day I met Da Vinci.  Matt surprised me one evening by showing up to my house with a bag of groceries, a six-pack of beer, a DVD, and his dog.  As I opened the door, he announced that he was there to make dinner.  A nice surprise!  I immediately noticed a long white furry face that seemed to be at eye level with me.  One blue eye and one brown eye.  "You must be Da Vinci," I said as I opened the door.  He quickly pushed his way past me and ran toward my 14 year old deaf wiener dog asleep on his bed.  The height of his back came up to my waist.  His head nearly reached my arm pit.  "That's no dog, it's a pony!"  I said to Matt.  "You brought me a pony!"  I immediately nicknamed him Pony.

Despite his size, Pony is a very gentle dog.  He runs as fast as lightning--an amazing sight to see.  And he is clearly enamoured with Matt.  In the morning, when he has to go outside, he comes to Matt's side of the bed and stares at him.  Sometimes he makes a tiny squeaking noise.  This dog is the only creature on earth that can get my boyfriend out of bed without any trouble.  Their ritual begins with Matt sweetly saying, "Good morning, Buddy... Good morning, Da Vinci... How's my Buuuddy?"  Or some version of it.  Pony sighs and nuzzles Matt as he scratches his head.  This goes on for a while and then Matt asks Pony if he wants to go outside.  Pony lets out a big puff of air that makes his lips flap--just like a horse--and jumps around to confirm that he would like to leave the house.  Quickly.

During this entire process, if I try to be a part of the ritual, I generally get ignored.  At some point, I shared this observation with Matt, mocking the way he speaks to his beloved pet in the morning.  It is what I now refer to as the "premium greeting."  "I wonder if I'll ever get a premium greeting?"  I ask in a syrupy voice.  "Good morning, Sweet Pea...  Good morning, Cricket... How's my Sweeeet Pea???"  This generally doesn't work for me, since Matt is a bit of a bear in the morning, although it has gotten me a smirk or a headlock a handful of times.

Nowadays, I get woken up every morning by a super cute orange fluffy puppy.  My dog Thor is seven months old, and he has already learned the art of the "wake-up-stare-down" from Pony.  I don't mind though.  Finally, my own premium greeting!