Meet a Lowcountry Dog: Fenway

His formal is name is Fenway Bark - named after Fenway Park in Boston Massachusetts where my favorite baseball team, the Boston Red Sox, play - but most days he just goes by Fen. I adopted him from another family after I had just lost my dog Possum a month before after fifteen years together with her. I was absolutely heartbroken. Not being married or having children, I had a canine kid.

Through a friend, I learned about the then named "Bud" and just fell in love with him immediately upon meeting him. The family had told me that they rescued him from a puppy mill and that he was a Cocker Spaniel. From his unique fur/markings and large paws, he might have a little something else in him - I'm thinking perhaps Springer Spaniel. I adopted Fenway just before his 2nd birthday and we will be celebrating our 3rd anniversary together next week. He will be 5 this November.

Fen's favorite activities are all about the "B's" - balls, bubbles, and bedtime. Fen has about 10-15 tennis balls around our apartment and when he is not eating, he usually has a ball in his mouth. We play bubbles inside or at the dog park. It amazes me that he can track a single bubble across the park, while most dogs at the park don't seem to see the bubbles/pay any attention to them. Not to mention, he can jump so high (gazelle like) to catch them. The last "B", bedtime, is all about cuddling... he loves going deep under the covers and spooning in the crook of my knees. He is definitely all boy - loves to play hard but at the end of the day, he is a Momma's boy.

I think one of the most memorable moments with Fen was when he decided he was "grown up" and didn't want to be crated when I wasn't home. He had been crated with the previous family so I continued the practice. He did well with it and didn't seem to mind it at all, walking in on his own whenever I needed to leave and he would even nap in there when left open while I was home. One day I came home from work and he was sitting looking out the picture window of my apartment towards my parking spot. I knew I had zipped him in (soft crate) and when I checked the crate it was undamaged but unzipped.

The next day I decided to use the clip locks on the crate to secure the zipper. When I came home that evening, there was Fen again, in the picture window looking out directly in front of my parking space. When I came in I discovered that he had chewed/broken the zipper as if to say, "I told ya. I am grown up and don't need the crate". Ever since, he has had the run of the apartment when I'm away, and I love seeing him in the window waiting for me when I return home from work - who said dogs can't tell time?!

The great thing about Fen is that despite all his energy and spaz moments (he will chase after his left back paw like most dogs go after their tail, it is so hysterical watch him get dizzy and sometimes fall over when he finally "catches" the paw and looses his balance white teetering on 3 legs) he is the most tender loving dog.

In the evening he just wants to be in your lap and looks up every once in a while with a look of "I love you" in his eyes. He can read my emotions and if I cry (which is easy since I'm a big mush with tear jerker movies) he is right there to lick away my tears and get me giggling... "There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face."~ Bern Williams

submitted by LoriAnn Ueberroth.

Would you like your dog featured in an upcoming Meet a Lowcountry Dog spotlight? Send us up to 3 photos, and a short {500 words or less} write up of what makes your dog so special OR fill out the Meet a LCD Questionnaire posted on the website.  Email the info to gillian@lowcountrydog.com using the subject line: Meet a Lowcountry Dog.