Don’t get me wrong, I love my dog.

In fact, sometimes I love my dog more than my people; it’s very rare, but there are days.

As any dog owner/lover knows, dogs love unconditionally. They never hold grudges, or hold PMS against you. They don’t notice the extra jiggly mid-section or sagging body parts. Nor do they care if the house is clean. They don’t even mind if you haven’t brushed your teeth or if you shave your legs every day.

Dogs love in the moment, completely, with no strings attached.

My dog, Bear, is no different.

He is happy, always.

I’ve never once seen that dog frown.

Ever.

Since we’ve moved to the country, Bear is even more complete, more dog (huh?), more happy than ever.

But, I’m here to tell you, the dog is honestly certifiable.

He’s a happy crazy, but he’s crazy.

For example, he barks at, oh I don’t know, silly things, like changes in the barometric pressure. Dust. Air….Nothing.

He barks before he even sees what it is that he thinks he should be barking at.

It’s quite disconcerting and bothersome and it makes us jump out of our skin because there suddenly will be this extremely loud bark, from out of nowhere.

He, of course, must be lying at your feet when it happens, too.

Oh! And, he sees things in the grass…

…that aren’t really there.

He’s completely convinced himself SOMETHING has just moved. Maybe a rabbit, or a skunk, or a lizard.

Or maybe, just maybe, it is his own foot that moved the grass, which made a noise….so he pounces and sniffs and searches, obsessively, even though HE is the reason there’s something moving.

Did I tell you he loves the pool, too?

Now that we are outside more, he finds a way to step into the pool 3-4 times a day. (Yes, he uses the stairs to get in and out. No, he does not jump into the pool like most normal water-fowl retrievers.)

Unfortunately, he is fixated with chasing the pool cleaner.

It’s never-ending.

Bear gets especially excited when the cleaner runs up the side and its tail sprays water up and out of the pool. You should see him chomp and bite at the stream of water!

Then, because the pool cleaner continues moving, and because he is fixated on catching it, he follows.

He’s figured out he can’t dive for the cleaner, so that means he must swim around hoping against hope that it will return to the surface so he can eat it.

Or do whatever he plans to do to it.

To be honest, I’m not real sure he even knows what he’ll do to it if ever actually caught it….

Oh, my silly ol’ Bear….

Obsessive.

Compulsive.

Obsessive-complusive.

Crazy.

Hyper.

Possessed.

Annoying.

Berserk.

Certifiable.

Whatever you want to call him, he’s Mi Oso Amarillo–My Yellow Bear.

My crazy, fun-loving, wonderful yellow Bear.

My dog.

And, I love him.

E.