Tucker, Brain Cramps, and the Sand Dancing

Ever since that fateful day that we were blessed to have a Vizsla slip into our lives, we loved to be surprised by all the little “crazy” things that they do… The little nips when they kiss you, the cold nose in the back, the snoring, the Vizsla “Roo, Roo” talking, all of it blows you away, and if you love your puppies like we do ours, all of it just places another memory in your mind and another swell in your heart.

One of the things that we learned about Vizsla’s is something that we call “Brain Cramps”. I’m sure that every “V” owner will attest to this little bit of craziness.

When you are playing with your pup, and all of the sudden all hell breaks loose, the back hips drop near to the ground, the lips curl back, the ears start to flop all over the place, and time stands still… for you, for your Vizsla though, time has taken on a new meaning, they are moving as fast as they can, running like the wind, their shoulders seem to touch the ground as they negotiate a tight turn, they are growling and barking, and many times the slobber is thrown across the bridge of their nose.

Of course, we are egging them on, growling back at them, laughing as hard as they are playing, throwing our arms in the air just to see how much more insane they can become.  As they run at us,we run back at them, just to keep the game going.  I’m sure most other people must view us, the owners, as the crazy ones, as we “scare” our little dogs, but we know better, we are in Vizsla heaven, we are in the midst of the hunt with them, we are at one with our beasts.

I dare any Vizsla owner to deny that they have been here, I dare any Vizsla owner to say that they haven’t felt this.

With our beloved Tucker we also had a little thing that we called “Sand Dancing”.  We were treated to this one evening while walking Tuck near the playground at the school near us (Of course, this was before the schools around here were put into perpetual lockdown, before the “No Dogs Allowed” signs popped up, when they were still “public” schools).  As Nancy and I walked near the sandbox, Tucker dove in, and started dancing, he would dig a little, then spin around , throw all four paws out, get his face near the sand, and spin around, kicking sand in the air, then start all over again.  Nancy and I were loving it, and we would point him to sand anytime we were near it just to enjoy his complete happiness and joy with this soft, sandy treat.

These pictures were taken a few years ago when we took Tucker to the Beach Cruisers Car Show in Huntington Beach (Car lovers should circle this one on the calendar, great show), we split off from the show and went down to the beaches edge. Of course, Tucker couldn’t resist the sand and started Sand Dancing, people were staring and pointing, and we were loving it. Every once in a while Tucker would take a break, stand at the walls edge and check everybody and everything out, but his true love was the sand… and for a little while he was “The Lord Of The Dance”, and he was dirty, and he was sandy, and he was out of breath, and he was drooling… and best of all, he was Tucker.

Bodi is a master of “Brain Cramping”, he does it at the park, in the hills, in the backyard, Christ, he does it in the house (as Tucker did before him). He hasn’t picked up on the Sand Dancing yet, at least not in front of us, but we won’t hold it against him, and we’ll just egg him on a little bit everytime we get in the sand, just in case he has a bit of the dance in him.

These pictures bring back many memories, many great thoughts, and a bit of tears, but I am so thankful that we still have them as they trigger all of the emotions, good and bad, and for that we are blessed.

So, take your pups out, let them Brain Cramp, egg them on, let them be silly, let them run, bark, growl, let them be free, let them be dogs… and tell them of the “Sand Dancing Dog” of Southern California, for he was all of those things, he was deeply loved, and he will be sorely missed by all who knew him.