What is there to say about Hugo? Language fails to capture the pure joy and unbridled energy of this dog.
Hugo, looking directly at the camera like a good boy while his errant walker gazes into the distance.
He is a Boston terrier, and like most folks from Boston, he has a delightfully cantankerous way about him. He is also 50 pounds of tightly corded muscle and sinew packed into a 10 pound frame. To summarize: my boy is wicked strong.
As soon as I enter the room where his crate is, he lowers his head, demurely beckoning me to unlock it and let him out. This is a trap. As soon as the second latch opens, Hugo springs out as if launched and sprints under the bed and then bounds out of the bedroom door, disappearing from view. This is also a trap. The second I appear in the doorway, he jumps up on me, snorting and panting like a maniac. It’s all adorable.
Hugo will find whatever toy is closest to him and permanently lock it in his mouth. Literally. It is impossible to wrench whatever tennis ball or purple rubber ring Hugo has put in his mouth. Like most dogs, however, he thoroughly enjoys any and all attempts to loose said toy. It essentially becomes a brief tug-of-war match that he always wins until we decide to head out.
Hugo cleanin' up his nose before his first professional head shot .
Hugo, clean-nosed and ready for any and all commercial work.
All of that might make it sound like Hugo would bark all the time or pull on the leash the entire walk or just generally act like a true Bostonite, but that could not be further from the truth. Hugo is a great walker—he keeps a good pace, and doesn’t stop abruptly or randomly take off at a sprint, but will also definitely run around and play with you if you tempt him. He loves sticks of all shapes and sizes and will pick them up and carry them around with him. I'm not sure if it's funnier when he grabs a veritable toothpick or a elephant femur–sized branch. He does both with great regularity and vigor.
One fine fall afternoon, stick in mouth (Hugo, not me), we wandered into some swingsets. The thought came to me immediately: "Hugo has a certain devil-may-care attitude about him, I bet he would enjoy going on the swings. Too bad they don't make swings for dogs. Why don't they make dog playgrounds? They have dog parks, but there are typically very few dog slides or see saws around..." This line of thinking went on for a while, perhaps too long, wherein I envisioned a grand future in which all modern recreational architecture was designed with both humans and dogs in mind. At a certain point, I sat down on a swing to collect myself and Hugo jumped right up into my lap. I began to slowly swinggg back and forth, testing the waters. He loved it! He commenced grunting like a truffle hog (his prefered utterance when he's havin' a dope time), and we got some pretty good swinging done. I had a video of this, but I think the preciousness of the content corrupted the file on my phone. It will be replaced as soon as the weather permits.
Anyways, Hugo is the best, and you can be sure you'll be seeing him on this blog/HTH Instagram again and again.
Sean