Batman

Batman is my aunt's dog and I see him every time I come out to the US.

He's a special boy in just about every sense of the term.

At a young age he was taught how to sing his ABC's. This drove my aunt's neighbours crazy and as a result the wee lad had many noise complaints against him!

Batman suffered with anxiety. Stange for a dog right? This resulted in him chewing most of the hair off of his tail, and for a short time leaving his butt bald... Quite the sight!

Also, you see that tile floor in the picture? As a pup he skid coming around the island and bonked his head on the dishwasher. Leaving him once he was grown to be terrified of the dishwasher. He'd bark at it if it was ever left open and couldn't ever go the same way around the kitchen island as he did when he was a puppy.

He could only enter some rooms backwards; he'd circle a room to the edge of the kitchen island, then run away, or he'd have to zoom a certain number of times around the house before attempting to exit through the sliding doors in the kitchen. As I said, a special boy.

My favourite memory of him was teaching him how to walk nicely, how to ask to go outside properly and how to say "I'm Sorry" when he'd done bad.

One occasion in particular stands out above the rest. It was Christmas 2018 and we were around my aunties house. The whole family was around and having a great time. All the people and excitement got Batman riled up.

The kids were trying to play with him, pulling his tail, smooshing his face then started trying to wrestle with him. He had enough! He growled feircly and asserted his space as his own pushing one of the kids to the floor. He didn't mean to scare or frighten anyone, but everyone stopped, and he was instantly chastised by the family.

I knew from the outburst that he needed a walk to decompress and destress from the noise. So, I called him into the hallway away from the family. He sat looking quite upset as I explained to him that he scared one of the littles. I told Batman that if he apologized to the little and gave them another chance, I'd take him straight out for a good walk or he could spend the rest of Christmas day alone outside.

Now, I'd never claim that he understood everything I said but once I got up and left him to have a think about the consequences I'd tried to illustrate, Batman got up and went back into the living room. If I didn't see him do it, I'm not sure I would have believed it. He went right up to my little cousin, nuzzled him for pets and once he got some went up on the sofa next to him and they hugged for a few minutes.

Batman looked at me with understanding and acknowledgement in his eyes. I called him a good boy and I'm sure he believed the sentiment. In the truest sense, I meant it. After that I got up off the sofa, put my shoes on and got his lead ready but there was no hiding how excited he was. He was pitter pattering his little paws doing little woofs and zooming around like an absolute madman. In that moment I knew I could always trust him and felt he knew the same about me.

Recently, I got to see my furry friend again and we had an excellent walk and play together. Every time I see him, he always does his little paw dance, smiles and lets me know, it's a good time for an adventure.