Dog trains man

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Christmas Tree Confession

It was a while ago since Kenzo joined me at work in our Danish office. As I had no appointments that day, and only boring paper work to look forward to, I imagined it would be a perfect opportunity to bring Kenzo with me once again. We could take some breaks playing in the snow and add some fun to a day that otherwise had a very pale outlook.

The reception area of the office building was ornamented with a Christmas tree, positioned right by the entrance door in an attempt to add some seasonal inspiration to the armies of office workers passing through each day.

While wrestling with two computer bags over my shoulders and Kenzo's leash in one hand, I opened the front door. Two people approached, and in an empathic moment, I stood still and kept the door open for them, while we exchanged good morning hello's with a smile. Love that about Denmark, where people are so polite, and you even greet complete strangers in the mornings and afternoons. It gives such a good start of the day.

Continuing into the hall, the leash suddenly tensed. I looked back in surprise, as Kenzo usually just follows me, and what I saw next made my heart skip a beat. Kenzo stood by the Christmas tree, with one leg lifted, his sprinkler system already in the "on" position. I jerked the leash in some kind of automatic emergency response my brain fired into my right arm - sorry Kenzo - to interrupt the image that now is imprinted in my memory forever.

Nobody else was in the entrance hall, which softened the total embarrassment of the moment a little. I quickly dropped off Kenzo in our office and returned with some cleaning agents. My mind was working overtime. He never did that before. It was so easy to teach him as a pup that a Christmas tree in the house doesn't mean he just acquired an inside potty service. I was baffled.

When we went for our first walk, I kept Kenzo on my side that was opposite to the Christmas tree just in case. I knew that for a dog, no cleaning agent in the world could have covered up the odor, and it would have been a magnet to Kenzo despite my cleaning attempts. Two men were standing beside the Christmas tree, looking at two small puddles. That can't be, I thought, I just cleaned it.

"Some bastard just let his dog pee on the tree", one of the men said. "Really?", I replied cowardly, realizing that other office dogs had of course picked up the smell, and every male dog now passing by the tree, went on a mission to drop off their own business card. "You couldn't do that, could you?" the man said smiling to Kenzo. "Eh ... no ... nee", I stuttered. I felt a glow rushing up to my cheeks, something I hadn't felt since high-school. I am such a bad liar.

The man, still looking at Kenzo, concluded, "You are a good boy". We really had to move on now, as this was becoming too embarrassing, but that meant making a risky pass of the Christmas tree. This time with a full bladder. And the men would also see the letters G.U.I.L.T.Y. that someone must have painted on my back in the meanwhile. Taking a deep breath, a leap of faith, and three steps later, we made it passed the tree. Kenzo The Merciful didn't punish my dishonesty. "You are, you absolutely are, a good boy", I whispered to my partner in crime.
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24 comments

  1. Bwa ha ha ha! There are worse crimes in the world than peeing on a Christmas tree.

    Besides, Kenzo was probably responding to someone else who did it first. :)

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  2. I know the story is one that at the time horrified you but after the fact do you think it's kind of funny? It's the old dog peeing on the Christmas tree story... granted it usually happens in the home and not at work!

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    1. Hi Emily, Absolutely :) It is just a fun story.
      It was only awkward in the moment, but already 5 seconds after I had my first laugh, and laugh about it ever since. It actually happened last Christmas, and since then the sight of a Christmas tree puts a smile on my face because I remember this story of Kenzo. That's why I decided to write it down.

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  3. Someone wise once told me that you can always count on your dog to embarrass you if he can BOL! Surely the infamous S.O.D. (some other dog) must have been there first

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    1. Embarrassing me is an art Kenzo always seeks to perfect further :)

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  4. Very, very funny! Gotta love those 'Merciful' pups! Happy Saturday!

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  5. Oh No!!! But hey, I'm sure that a lot of dogs get quite confused at Christmas time with the trees in the house. This is Dexter's second Christmas but we are not having a big Christmas tree, maybe next year. I'm afraid that Mr. Dexter will see it as his very own personal indoor toilet.

    Nice to see you back blogging! Merry Christmas to you, your family & the Hovawarts!!

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    1. Even Dexter, no! LOL
      Thanks Karen, and best wishes to you too.

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  6. What a great story! It's always the "good ones" that catch you by surprise. Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!

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    1. Ha ha, they tend to sneak up to you like that, the "good ones" :)

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  7. So I guess unlike me, you haven't forced your blog's business cards on your coworkers ;)

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    1. Ha ha! I'll check on monday, hope nobody prepared a practical joke ...

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  8. Ha ha ha! Oh, I love it! Maybe Kenzo wasn't the first, but was merely following a trend that some other bad dog had started.

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  9. I can't stop laughing! I just read your post out to my hubby. Oh Kenzo :p

    BTW, I got your FB request. Georgia doesn't use the account at all. Just to post comments on a couple of blogs because there is no other way to do it on those blogs. If ever we get a proper FB page or twitter or Pinterest account, we wll let you know for sure. Thanks for asking though. Have a great holiday! Missed you, you've been so quiet x

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    1. Glad you liked it!
      Ah, I was just so excited finding your FB page, thought it meant you made the jump now. Until later then :)

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  10. Oh, poor Kenzo - you've outed him!! Such a funny story, and I imagine that Kenzo was not the first to violate the Christmas tree. Surely, he was only going were another dog had gone before.

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  11. Hahahahaha! Poor Kenzo, he really is a good boy, pee-mail notwithstanding. What's a full-blooded dog to do when presented with such an opportunity?

    Don't worry. I definitely would have lied as well lest my dog get a bad reputation!

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  12. Well ... a tree is a tree is a tree ... LOL That's probably why we always had a short tree up on high. LOL

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  13. Ha! This reminds me of my dog Frisbee. We were to housesit for a client one Christmas--we walked in the house to see a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and all the presents. Frisbee had never ever marked in my house or any others. Except this time, when he went right over, lifted his leg, and a number of presents got wet. Let's just say it wasn't fun trying to explain that one...

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