Oct 22, 2008

My Celebrity Pup!


Champ is finally here and we feel like we are actually at home now that he is with us. Even though our household goods are not here, our apartment feels more like a home!

Dogs are everywhere in our little town. Around 5:30 everyday, people start coming outside to have a coffee at the outdoor cafe's, drink an apertivo (an early evening cocktail), shop and just walk around town to socialize. During this time of day, you see dogs everywhere. It is a very hectic time of day with the streets covered with bikes, people and dogs. I was excited to see how Champ would react to his new town. (and a little nervous!)

The first time I took him out, I felt like a celebrity. Usually the Italians aren't very friendly and seem a little stuck up. They are very concerned with fashion and appearances and unless they know you, they walk around with a scowl on their face. Well, if you want to know how to make friends here, just walk Champ around for 10 minutes and you will talk to the entire town. I was shocked to see how much attention we got. Everyones eye's were on us as we walked around. I've never felt like a celebrity before, but having him by my side made me feel like I was Britany Spears. People would stop conversations and I could hear words like "Bella, Bello, Bellissimo, Cane," Etc.... Tourists want to take his picture, store owners were coming out of their stores, people on their bikes would stop to take a look and everyone was smiling at him (and me!). Of course, Champ was eating this up! He loved the attention! I knew that he would get some attention, (because I think he is the most beautiful dog), but I had no idea how much he would get. Our town is pretty small, so I don't think it will last forever once people start seeing him more often, but for now it is pretty cool.

SIDENOTE: Every time Champ gets upset or stressed out, he gets a really bad case of diarrhea. It has been so bad in the past that we have had to take him to the vet for medicine. We were anticipating this problem because of the 10 hour flight and stress of being in the cage for that long. But when he arrived, he seemed to be OK and I was hoping that we weren't going to have that problem.

The next morning after the debut of my beautiful Celebrity dog, I was excited to see if he would still get the same attention. I first took him to the park to let him do his business. Everything was fine and he seemed to be doing great. I decided to walk him around the cafe/shop area to show him off once again (there is no grass in this area, just cobblestone streets with designer stores and cafe's serving morning cofee).

We window shopped and walked around receiving attention from everyone we passed. He seemed happy to be around all of the people and dogs and I was happy to show him off. Then, out of nowhere, he squats and spews the runniest doggie dirrerah I have ever seen. I only had one baggie left, and there was only so much that I could pick up. There was nothing I could do except stand there in embarrassment hoping that not that many people would see. I cleaned it up to the best of my ability and searched for the cafe to get some water to try to clean between the cobblestone (there were tables outside, but I couldn't find the actual restaurant or a waiter to help me). After looking for help for about 2-3 minutes, the people who saw the incident had already passed by, and I could think of nothing else to do but flee the scene. I felt so bad for my pup and could tell that he thought he had done something wrong by the look on his face. I reassured him and took him to the park again in case he needed to go again.

There are so many dogs here, I know that has happened before, but at the time it was pretty embarrassing. I guess until his problem is better, I'm sticking to the park to avoid that from happening again!

But once he is feeling better, we will definitely be returning to receive some more celebrity attention!!

2 comments:

Uma and Wil said...

Oh, poor Champ! I can totally relate and will have some stories to share once we get there. Have you tried chicken and rice? Brutus ALWAYS has upset stomach because he is obsessed with eating things he shouldn't at the park. Now we have a routine down pat. First we reduce his solid food by at least half and add the rest in steamed white rice. If that doesn't work, then we try boiled chicken and rice. Normally, if it's a bad case and chicken and rice is not doing the trick, he would start pooping small amount of blood because his bowel is so irritated. Then it's time to rush him to his favorite German vet, who looks like a brunette Heidi Klum, for several shots of antibiotics and a heaving pile of medicine/fiber wafers to take home for the week. Good luck!

Tiana Larsen said...

We will be moving to Vicenza soon and we have two dogs. How difficult was it for the military to prepare for them to fly?