Brillo's Dog Blog

Brillo spends time with his buddy Jake and another new friend in front of Handful of Wildflowers at Oktoberfest.

Brillo and I have been really busy, because we just finished up three days of Oktoberfest here in La Mesa. Why were we busy? Well, because we had to take our twice-daily walks through the festivities, of course. What you need to realize is that this dog is a people magnet, and it takes us 30 min to travel one block during Oktoberfest. EVERYBODY had to stop and pet him and comment on his funny/beautiful coat, and ask what breed he is.

Brillo is the most popular dog I know, besides his Uncle Bentley (the Newfoundland). Most people freely admit they've never heard of a wirehaired pointing griffon, and the few who say they've heard of him have never seen one except in televised dog shows. One lady sort of pissed me off by pretending to know exactly what breed he is. I thought she asked what he is, and I started to answer, and she said, "No, I know what breed he is, I mean, what's his name?" And I was like, "You do? Nobody does." And she pretended to know, but she wanted to call him a German something or other. People often think he is a German wirehaired pointer, or a German shorthair pointer mix. She never did admit she had no idea what a WHPG is, but she sure did like Brillo. We walked by her every day, and she always came out to love on him. Another lady asked me what he was, and I told her, and she said, "What a lovely mix." What? He is such an anomaly that people completely lose their minds over him. Another lady walked toward him and said, "Is he wearing a sweater?" And I thought she was kidding, so I said, "Yeah," in my best "yeah, right" voice. When she got closer, she was seriously bewildered to realize it wasn't a sweater but was really his fur. I can't believe she actually thought he was wearing a furry sweater in mid-70-degree weather. HA!

Let's see....what else do I have to talk about? OH! I know:

Brillo is hoping for a future career in the pool care industry.

A few days ago, I mowed the lawn and used the leaf blower. Brillo's pool was already full of bugs and stuff, and then I filled it with leaves and dust doing the yard work. So, I emptied the pool and refilled it. Brillo had fun playing with the hose while I filled his pool, but that was nothing compared to the fun he had "helping" me put a tarp over it to keep junk out.

Brillo attacked the tarp with gusto, growling and barking and biting it. He continued his attack even after I had finally gotten it into position covering the pool. He eventually crawled onto it, rolling around like a kid on a water bed. It was sooo funny, and it looked like loads of fun.

In other news, Admiral Brillo is proud to have you know he has learned another trick! He was getting really good at "come" and "sit," so I decided to add another word to his vocabulary: "lie down." Well, technically, that is two words. It took a few minutes to teach him how to do it, and ever since I switched from store-bought treats to sliced roasted chicken from my own refrigerator, he is eager to do what it takes for a reward. The books all say to use "down," but my dad always taught "lie down," and old habits are hard to break. You can't teach an old dog owner new tricks. So, even though he learned "down" the first day, he didn't miss a beat when I accidentally switched to the longer version.

He is so cute the way he lies down, too. Brillo has a mind of his own, and he always acts like he is exhasperated when I ask him to come, and then sit, and then lie down. It's like he can't really be bothered. He looks at me as if to say, "I know you have the chicken, lady. Just give me some, already. How about if I just sort of do a little twirl and then almost lie down and then jump up?" And even though I'm not supposed to, I tell him, again, to "Lie down!" And he does another little twirl and gives me a little "Get on with it, chicken lady," and then plops down on my feet. It's sloppy, but he gets there. I promise you, his come and sit are quick, to the point, and approaching 100%. Tonight, after talking to a new lady friend who was walking by and had to pet him, he took off to follow her. I said, "Brillo, come!" And lo and behold...He DID IT! My neighbors across the street laughed but agreed with me as I shouted, "He's a genius!" and cuddled him unreservedly.

In other news, today Brillo met my grandma, his great-grandma. He piled into his crate, and we drove to Carlsbad for a visit. She's not a huge dog person, but she couldn't help but admit he is awfully cute. I think his long coat gave her some concern, but she agreed he is a keeper. Brillo expressed his deep affection for her by dropping a runny poop right in the middle of her patio rug. To be fair, it wasn't his fault. We were eating inside at the table, so I made him stay outside on the patio. We had just returned from a walk, but, true to form, he didn't do more than pee. I should have thought about that. He was whining and barking, and I thought it was just because he was pissed he wasn't invited inside. Then I saw him squatting. Poor little boy. He tried to tell me, and I just wasn't catching on. Grandma was good natured about it, but I was fairly mortified.

Brillo loves the fishy his grandma sent him!

Two totallycute critters.

Cool frisbee!!!

When we returned home from Grandma's, there was a special package of a different sort waiting for us on our porch. My mom, Brillo's grandma, had sent him a package! He had a lot of fun opening up the big envelope, with a tiny bit of help from me, and he probably would have been pretty happy even if it had been empty! But it wasn't empty! It had two super-awesome goodies inside. He loved the tiny red-and-white stuffed fishy immediately, and, after a toss or two, he fell deeply in love with his canvas frisbee. With one toss, he even ran all the way back to me with it! He might just learn "bring" or "fetch," afterall! Thanks, Grandma! Arf, arf!

Well, with that, I think I'll wrap it up. It's gonna take a while to upload all the photos and videos, and I'm feeling sleepy. Thanks for tuning in!