Hotel Brewer, AKA The Dog Ranch

(FYI, I stole the title from my friend Jason Martin who coined the phrase and actually referred to his home as the Dog Ranch)

It’s no surprise to have guests coming and going at my place, heck, it’s one of the reasons I got a bigger place to start off with.  But life’s been more than a little unusual from a guest perspective at Hotel Brewer lately.  Mainly because they all have four legs…

I have two female dogs, a mostly black Lab and a mostly Blue Heeler (typical pound pups that I currently have “joint custody” with my ex – and that in itself is so weird).  Zoe and Sky are inseparable, we’re all a part of their pack, the Blue definitely the queen of said pack.  And they’re used to guests – two or four legged – but not so much like the most recent ones.  Boys.  Big boys.

Rex was the first holiday guest, and to say he draws attention wherever he goes is definitely an understatement.  About 90% Rottweiler and 10% Shepherd or something, he’s 110 pounds of confident, docile muscle.  He hardly ever makes a sound, but when he does bark I can’t imagine anyone that wouldn’t have the fear of dog put in them.  When he wants attention – and that’s often - he butts his 15 pound head against your side, and if that doesn’t work will lean in with the rest.  You will pet him eventually, that’s a given.

He doesn’t really care about any other dogs, either.  Like I said, he’s the cool, quiet type – more Steve McQueen than Cujo.  Until the rubber dog bone toy comes out.  His eyes light up and he’s bouncing off the walls.  You better be ready to go for a walk to the park, and to play for some time.  Like most dogs he wants you to throw it and play tug of war after.  Unlike most dogs he sounds like a horse running – an audible da-dump-da-dump-da-dump – as he flies after the toy, and then you truly have to watch where your hand goes when tugging as his jaws are simply vice-like.  Even if he only has the toy by his very front teeth, I could not win.  Ever.  A great dog all around…

And then came Obi.  Obi’s named after the Star Wars character, but since we’re in Texas it’s spelled Obi Juan.  Obi’s is a pure bred yellow escape artist that we’ve nicknamed “Shadow” due to his tendency to follow you.  Everywhere.  And if he thinks you’ve left, then clearly you forgot him and he must find you.  After two escapes on Wednesday we found that he’d used his massive lab head to push through two loose boards in the back yard fence, and he was off in search of around the neighborhood.

Like all great Labs he’s faithful to a fault, whoever he’s with, and cannot wait for you to get up and start the day – with him.  I usually wake up with this intense feeling of being stared at, roll over and the sound of a wagging tail on the carpet kicks in, and there’s a massive yellow head, chin down, eyes staring up pleading, at the end of the bed just knowing that you’re about to pet him, feed him, and generally enjoy the day.  We should all wake up each day with such great expectations!

Both guests will be gone by tomorrow and life will calm down for now.  Having an ever expanding and contracting pack is actually kind of fun, I just hope my vacuum cleaner is up to the job as Hotel Brewer needs a serious de-furring this weekend.  Ciao for now! – Cb…