He’s Kinda Dumb

Chubs is our two-year-old Bull Shih-Tzu.  He combines the disinterest of an English Bulldog with the individuality of an Shih Tzu, leaving him indifferently clueless. 

I just watched him drink from the toilet (yes, I should make him drink from a water bowl, but it doesn’t bother him and is easier on me), wander over to my wife (on the floor exercising) and stand over her, dripping a rain of dog slobber/toilet water.  Once informed it wasn’t funny I was asked to call him away.  He stared at me for a couple of seconds (still dripping) and then wandered my way. 

I had a bulldog, Roblyer, that was brilliant…stubborn but brilliant…so I understand how bulldogs think.  Chubs is not brilliant.  Last summer I was carrying a 4x8 sheet of roof decking around the side of the house.  He came walking toward me from about ten feet away on a path on an incline.  With what I assume had to be an ‘oh-no’ look, he trotted head-on into the edge of the board, yelped and rolled about five feet down the hill.

He’s show’s signs of brain function.  Being a mix of English Bulldog, weighing 45 to 55 pounds and a Shih Tzu weighing 12 to 16 pounds we expected he’d weigh 35 or 40 pounds.  That’s small enough to climb into your lap when you’re watching TV, and so he did as a pup.  Chubs didn’t average, he added, coming in at a thick (but not fat) 65 pounds.  While the concept that garden hoses aren’t chew toys evades him, he’s smart enough to call back to those lapdog days when the wife sits down to watch TV.

I’ve had little to no success training him except to eat when I feed him and close his eyes when I scratch his rump, but the wife taught him to sit and stay (in slightly under 2 weeks).  According to her he just needs affection and treats to behave well.  Oddly, she rejects that premise for me.

Fortunately he’s a beautiful animal, thick like a bulldog with a slightly less squashed nose.  He’s colored white/dark-gray/tan brindle with white socks and collar.  You’d be hard pressed to find a more attractive specimen of canine flesh.  He’s the George Clooney of Bull-Shih-Tzus

And he’s soft.  He’s short haired like a bulldog but his fur lacks the needle-esk texture of my other bulldogs (I’ve had to remove hairs like a splinter from my feet from past animals), it’s softer and slicker.  A thick body and soft fur make him great for petting, and petting is one of the main reasons a person has a dog.  He’s great to pet…if he hasn’t recently been swimming in a pond…or rolled in something dead.  He’s great to pet about 50% of the time.

A pet doesn’t have to be intelligent to be good, they also don’t have to be soft or attractive, but it’s a nice bonus.  Chubs is good hearted, sweet and well behaved…most of the time…but he’s kinda dumb.