The Dog

When I saw a call for cursed images, I immediately thought of my dog. Every picture I take of him looks cursed.

He is my first dog, and I love to share my stories of him. I would also love some advice from the readers.

He has some weird habits (don't we all), but I really want to chalk that up to him being a rescue with a rough past. He was here when I moved into my rental unit. It's hard to believe the last tenants left him behind, locked up and alone for who knows how long. Sometimes I just can't comprehend the cruelty of strangers.

I don't know his name, I am sure he is old enough to have had one, but I can't find a collar with tags anywhere in the junk the last tenants left behind, so I just call him The Dog.

Oddly enough, I can't find any dog supplies at all in the house. I never could figure out why you would take the supplies but not the pet, maybe they sold them for money? I heard the last tenants had a lot of struggles, but the neighbours have been very vague on the details.

Alright, now that you know his story, here is where I need some help. He is a very, very shy boy. I think he must have been abused by his last owners because he is so conservative and quiet. Sometimes he goes into hiding, and he is so well practiced I often don't find him at all, but he always comes out when he is ready.

He is also scared to open up around me. For instance, I have to leave a bowl of food out overnight for him to eat, he won't eat if I watch him. I know that he does eat it because in the morning the kibble is usually all gone.

He is also deathly afraid of going on walks. I dream of having one of those dogs you can take to the beach, or the park and throw a frisbee for. Yet, alas, he won't leave the house with me. I have to leave the back door open when I go to work so he doesn't leave any accidents in the house.

I also would love for him to be comfortable enough to sleep in bed with me. I think he feels too vulnerable, because every time I wake up, I just see him standing in the corner, staring at me. Maybe I could do something to help him relax?

There was a time near the beginning of my relationship with the dog where I thought he was scratching me in my sleep. I would go to bed peacefully, but wake up with long rake marks down my arms and torso. I had to throw away the sheets after a couple of weeks because they were getting so bloodstained. Weirdly, I never woke up when it happened, just in the morning as usual.

One night I decided to lock him out of my bedroom, enough was enough with the scratches- my co-workers were starting to think I was in danger. He barked. The. Whole. Night. He was frantic at the door, yowling and scratching at it, desperate to get back in just to stand in the corner and stare at me again. I stuck it out and got a couple of hours of disrupted snoozing, but the next morning I had even more scratches than the other nights. I started to think I might be allergic to my laundry detergent, or maybe I have bed bugs?

I don't know, but the night time injuries seem to have calmed down now with time, and the routine of the dog staying in the corner at night.

Currently, my biggest challenge with him is having guests over. I used to be very social. My friends came at all hours through the day and night, but now they are so reluctant.

The first time I noticed it was when the twins came to visit. Now keep in mind, I have known the twins since I was six years old, they first started to come to visit me after the accident on the lake where I almost drowned. So, we are pretty close. I would hope they would tell me if they were uncomfortable, but they never said a word about the dog, they just began coming to visit less and less, and now I haven’t seen them in the mirror for weeks.

The next to avoid me was the man with the permanent smile. Like the twins, he faded out of my life, sometimes I think I can still hear him knocking on the walls, but it is probably my imagination.

The most frustrating interaction by far is with my mother. I missed her so much after her passing, the few weeks after her funeral was the darkest point in my life. It took three weeks for her to return to me and I almost gave up hope. But alas, since then she has come to my window every night at two am like clockwork.

The dog dislikes her greatly. He barks and yowls at the window and tries to chase her away. If she persists, he will sit squarely between myself and her, blocking us from meeting.

Does anyone have any training tips or know where I could find a good trainer?