Luigi marks the second wire fox terrier that I've had the pleasure of meeting and subsequently writing about—you may recall Captain from my much lauded column titled "O Captain My Captain". From this (rather) small sample size, I've found that wire fox terriers have a deep wellspring of bouncy energy and a naive understanding of the world and its goings on. Whereas Captain's naivete takes the adorable form of walking to the hinge side of the door—instead of the side that, you know, opens—nearly every day or leaping at that squirrel that is roughly 15 feet up in a tree believing that today will be the damn day he gets it. He's a dog of routine, with no concern at how ineffectual that routine may be.
Luigi's energetic naivete takes the form of mindless spinning in counterclockwise circles any time we slow to a walk like that will somehow get him back to his preferred speed of "wagon rolling down steep hill" or trying to walk through every single puddle we pass by, often changing direction to achieve this perverse goal. I would NEVER call a dog dumb, because I truly believe that if I were canine I would be the one bumping into chair legs or jumping like a spaz and landing on my side after attempting to bite a leaf, but Luigi does seem a tad...dim. In the most endearing way possible. I believe that his eyes do him ZERO favors in this respect.
Luigi has these teeny black button eyes that make him look like Ralph Wiggum in most situations. Just these lil specks of black in a sea of tangled white fur that scream "What do you mean I can't eat my own leg?" This may be a bit too specific of a reference, but there is an episode of the animated Pokemon series that aired when I was a child where the squad runs into a Ditto, the Pokemon that can transform into any other. However, when Ditto transforms into other Pokemon, it keeps its small pencil point eyeballs. I thought this was absolutely hysterical as a child, I hope this mirth transfers to 2017. This is also the first thing that I thought of when I saw Luigi's eyes.
Enough talk, the pictures below will speak for me:
I hope that gallery worked, first time I've done that. Brief description of the pics in case the conclusion isn't obvious. First picture is of normal Pikachu. Very cute. Second pic is Ditto-fied Pikachu, still cute, but...off? Third pic is of Captain, eyes similar to the first Pikachu. Last pic is of Luigi, with wee little points of blackness in his face. Still cute, but perhaps a bit...off.
Anywho, I don't mean to cast stones at Luigi, he's a nifty lil dog that just wants to hang out and lick faces—who can't identify with that? He has been taught, I presume by Captain, the value of carrot sticks. He has not quite acheived the panache with which Captain jumps up and grabs them out of the air, opting instead for a creative technique where he smacks the carrot stick on his head and sends it flying across the room. Also sometimes he doesn't move at all and the carrot stick just bonks him on the head and falls to the floor. It's all so very sweet and funny.
Last but not least, he and Captain definitely have some pugilist in them (note that I didn't say "boxer" so as to avoid the obvious dog pun). These doggos can TUSSLE. They usually each get a mouth on a toy and then have a tug-of-war match that does not end until I physically separate them. I honestly believe it would literally go on for hours if I didn't pull them apart. They utter these low growls, in bizarre harmony, when they're doing this as well so it likely sounds like the gates of hell have opened to any neighbors close enough to overhear. I can imagine Captain is just trying to teach the young buck some manners. And some lessons come at a bit of an expense. Unfortunately, given the pair's reluctance to remember or learn anything, I fear that this will be a Sisyphean task. I can tell that deep down they like eachother.
So that's Luigi! See y'all Thursday!
Sean