Boswell

Day 8: What was your first childhood pet? Describe it in details. 

My first childhood pet was a Siberian Husky. I was five years old when he first came to our house, he was already a year old or so. He was huge already when I first met him and I fell in love with him at the first sight.

His name was Boswell. Or Bos. Or Boooosssssweelllll. Depending on the mood and the purpose of calling him.

Boswell had icy blue eyes that suck you in and permanent smirk that tells you that he's always up to no good.

I remember people meeting Boswell for the first time, they will ask: "Is he a wolf?" I loved that.

He was a big dog, and I had a hard time walking him while growing up. Once, Dad forgot something inside the house and handed me Boswell's leash while we were outside. I was seven at that time. Boswell saw something and he took off running, dragging me behind. When I say 'dragging me behind', I didn't mean I was dragged while running, I was literally dragged on the ground - held on the leash like my life was depending on it. Dad, if you're reading this, I think this is hilarious and I am pretty sure others do too.

The thing about Boswell, he loved to jump on people. Especially little kids. Sometime he will jump on my friends' younger siblings and knock them down and make them cry. He also liked to jump on me and I learned to determine when he is going to jump or not. I was able to tell him no before he could start jump, just because I could tell that he was thinking about it. Boswell had this face that just purely showed 'I am going to jump on you and you won't like it, #sorrynotsorry'.

Boswell knew he was not supposed to do that but he was a stubborn guy. Food was Boswell's weakness. Generally, Boswell was a well-behaved dog (most of time) but when it comes to food... nothing will stop him. No matter how much training/discipling we had have done. The table was too high for Boswell but not high enough for his tongue. He always had his tongue probing the table during the dinner.

Boswell never barked. He always howled 'aroooo' at everything. He might barked only once or twice in his entire life. I remember him bark once when he felt threatened by other dog. He had certain 'aroo' for everything. He had an excited 'aroo', sad 'aroo', somebody at door 'aroo' (he was an amazing doorbell), I am bored 'aroo', and you're weird 'aroo'. He liked to talk, a lot.

Boswell in snow is one of the most amazing thing. Boswell was made for snow and snow was made for him. Boswell can stay outside in snow for hours and hours before coming back inside, he was at home in snow.

He loved snow so much but he HATED running water. He will hide under the dock if my brother and I were playing with garden hose during the hot summer. He hated walking on floating docks on the river. He will whine, sob, and try to run away if we try get him on a floating dock. He hated crossing bridges, he would either refuse or run. He hated the river we grew up nearby. Only times he would be willing to get in the river when his doggie buddies were playing in the river.

One of my favorite memories of Boswell was a night when my friend slept over. We had pizza with cheese-stuffed crust and were watching a movie. Boswell stole the cheese-stuffed crust as my friend was eating it, right out of her hand. All the night, Boswell let out some nasty farts.

And there is another memory, my mom (or was it my grandma, her mother?), was making a brownie batter and decided to leave kitchen for a bit. So, she covered the bowl of batter and set it on counter. The counter was pretty high off from the floor and fairly safe from the dog. When Mom (or Grandma) came back in the kitchen and saw the lid was slightly off the bowl (but SITLL ON THE BOWL). She opened the lid and found the bowl empty. Boswell never looked so guilty in his entire life.

About five years later, after meeting Boswell, I got a kitty named Jaguar. Boswell loved her, and her not as so much toward him. Boswell always wanted to play with Jaguar, and Jaguar will hiss at Boswell. Boswell always used his 'why you don't like me 'aroo'' whenever Jaggie batted him away. Only times Jaggie would let Boswell to bury his nose into her fur was when she is focused on eating her food. Eventually, Jaggie would play games with Boswell. She will approach sleeping Boswell slowly and see how close she can get to him before he wakes up. Then run away when Boswell wakes up and want to play. Jaggie liked to tease and give false hopes. Poor Boswell.

Boswell lived a good life, nearly up to 14 years old (pretty old for a husky). I was a freshman in college when his time had come. One of hardest days of my life. I spent ENTIRE of my childhood that I can remember with him. I grew up with him, and I hardly can imagine the life without him. This upcoming November, it would be six years since we last saw him. Even to this day, we still find his hair somewhere in the house. Boswell shed like crazy. I could make a blanket out of his fur in one summer.

 Once, a few months ago, I found his MilkBone treat buried in the chair (I have no idea how he put it there). Once in a while, I will open the back door and waited... and then I remembered.

He was an amazing dog. Mischievous, for sure, but he made our lives complete.

Boswell and his eyes.

Boswell and his 'what 'aroo'' while poor Jaguar need to decide to escape or keep eating.

The red toy in Boswell's mouth was supposedly Jaguar's mouse toy. He had obsession with that toy and refused to let it go, even when he went sleep. He would growl if somebody tried to take it away. This picture is a proof.

I was bored so I decided to tuck him in blanket. Entire time, he was licking the floor. I had no idea why. 

This is my favorite picture of him. In fact, it is my wallpaper for my laptop.