by Marlena Elias
August 26, 2000

Magic the poo-diddley-pot is our one year-old Lhasa Apso. As many of you have read at this web site, Magic and his sister Racine are going through puberty. I would like to share with our viewing audience a few of Magic's affectations now that he is going through "the change."

One Saturday morning I took young Magic out at 6:00 am to go potty. The instant I opened the back door, he spied a bug. It looked to be a cricket, which are Magic's favorite playmates. So he accelerates from 0 to 60 in one second, skids on his back legs in pursuit of Jiminy Cricket. He managed to stay upright even though the back half of his "loaf of bread" body got to the bug way before the front half.

Magic's lightning fast movement caused Jiminy to leap into the grass, but Magic was right there, ready to pounce on him. Once he traps the bug, he swats at him with his meaty paws. Then he "play-bites" him, lets him escape, then starts the process all over again. The first time he saw a grasshopper, he spent 45 minutes playing with the bug. Saturday he played for 10 minutes and HAD to go potty, so he took a break and that's when the cricket made its escape. Because Magic is a creature of habit, he can't just pee where he's standing. He had to leave the arena of doom and go pee on some other part of the yard. While he was gone, Jiminy hopped off and burrowed into the ground. Magic looked for him, and sniffed for him for another 10 minutes. The look on Magic's face seemed to be saying, "I can't believe you don't want to keep playing with me! I told you I would be right back! You big cheater!"

Luckily for Magic, he spotted a Texas-size spider under the patio chair I was sitting on, and ran after that one. The spider would have none of that and hid behind the rainspout. Magic let out a rather large puppy sigh. A forlorn puppy, no-one will play with me sigh. If Magic weren't so much like Homer Simpson, I would have been moved by his misery.

Why is my dog like Homer Simpson? He burps. Doesn't matter when Magic ate his food last, and it doesn't matter what he's doing, he will just let loose a major burp. The gas emissions started when he was about 9 months old and have just gotten worse with age.

He's like my two nephews, Michael and Matthew, when they first discovered the power of bodily gases, their Mother tried not to laugh. At first she just yelled at them and hid her face, but knowing Rita (the Queen of Gas), she eventually became "one of the guys".

So Magic, with this new-found ability, would produce a belch when he felt tension needed to be broken. With him, that's usually 10-12 times a day, so he belches rather frequently. He loves to hear me yell; he finds it amusing. I'm sure you, the reading audience wonders HOW I know my dog finds my yelling amusing. He's just like a little kid, he got a reaction out of Mommy and he loves it.

Just like when he play-bites me, he doesn't want to hurt me. He just wants to play rough. Once he's tired of play-biting, he pretends to attack me. With any other dog I would be alarmed by his behavior, but if there was a way to capture the look on his face when he thinks he's being tough, I could sell tickets. He's so proud, so very pleased with himself that he got Mommy to play-fight with him that he looks like he just won the doggy lotto.

So pretty much, Magic is 110% boy/puppy/all-around crazy dog. Would I prefer that he was better behaved? Sure! That's why we have a dog trainer coming to the house next week. <EM>