A Few Quirks

Our post on Monday brought up some interesting questions from some readers.  One question that we've been asked a lot is in regards to personality.  Many people have heard rumors about a "blue personality" and wondered if it's true or not.  Blue dogs have a reputation for being a bit off.

When we got Blueberry as a two-year-old hound, she was a handful.  She'd lived with a woman who thought it was a great idea to teach her the trick of launching off the floor from a sit and taking food from her mouth.  Ah, yes, and Blueberry has a skull harder than a titanium plate, I might add.  Several black eyes and a few concussions later we decided that the habit had to end.  I'll also simply say that I don't think the woman who taught her that trick was completely right and leave it at that. 

A lot of Blueberry's behavior in those early years wasn't really her fault.  She has a strong desire to please us, and if she can't she will often just give up and retreat to a dog crate to lay down with a sigh and her back turned to us.  Greyhound puppies are often known as landsharks and some of them take longer to mature than others.  I think Blueberry was definitely one of those late bloomers, but when she turned the corner, she became a magnificent dog. 

I have always considered her a bit quirky.  Blueberry has a few unique traits.  One that I've mentioned before is that she has two differently colored eyes.  One is grey and one is brown.  She also has a rather endearing bobble to her head when she gets really excited.  She cannot resist stealing hamburger buns off plates when they're left unattended.  Her dewclaws were surgically removed when she was young, but one grew back and if we let it grow it curls outward away from her leg.  I don't know if that's the result of a failed surgery attempt or if her dewclaws grew like that before.  I haven't found her personality to be particularly odd, however.  I just think she's unique, our own little snowflake.

Other Greyhound owners who have had blue dogs have sworn that they had dogs who had blue personalities.  I have to wonder if it's not a vicious cycle, though.  If people are expecting to see strange behavior in a dog, then perhaps any quirk will contribute to that theory.  Would the same behavior even be noted as a trait of a dog of another color?  Are really odd dogs only born blue?  I tend to doubt that.

What I do know is that Blueberry has been a wonderful addition to our family and we have always been happy that she came to live with us.  She hasn't been any more difficult to get along with than any of our other hounds.  Blueberry has always simply been herself.

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