October 29, 2010Best Phriends: Dante

Dante is an Italian Greyhound, and he’s one of our Best Phriends. How cute is he??

Name: Dante
Mom: Trude
Age: 4 and some change (roughly — I made his birthday his adoption day)
Hometown: Placentia, CA (in the infamous Orange County)
Breed: Italian Greyhound
Arrival story: It was Easter weekend 2008, and I’d been looking to adopt an Italian Greyhound (I.G., or Iggy… so much easier to say!). I even went through the home-inspection process with the local Italian Greyhound Rescue rep and was waiting on the right match, when I heard from a friend (who volunteered at the shelter) that there was a charming male Iggy who’d been found on the street earlier that week. Thus far no one had come to claim him – even though he was chipped and had been fixed. So we hauled butt over to the Seal Beach Animal Care Center to meet him the day before Easter Sunday, and he was absolutely perfect. Snuggled right up, gave kisses and everything! He was a little skittish and was skin and bones (and you think Iggies are skinny normally!) but was a total charmer. He stole my heart right then and there!

Favorite food: French fries and tomatoes from the garden
Best trick: The high jump
Favorite toy: Mini squeaky ball

Hobbies: Sneaking French kisses from unsuspecting nice people, wrapping himself up in blankets like Yoda (or Yodante, if you prefer) for naps, getting spoiled by my parents, playing chase with their cats
Favorite place: The dog beach — he loooves running on the sand!
Best friend: Sprocket, my brother’s chihuahua/rat terrier mix. They love to chase each other at top speed around the backyard!
Most expensive item ever chewed: I guess I’m lucky (?) he likes to mark instead of chew

In a movie about Dante’s life, what actor provides his voice? Joseph Gordon Levitt (Editor’s note: Rwaor)

If Dante were in high school, who would he sit with at lunch? He’s a nerdy cool kid. Wears a tie to functions but also attends cool parties. Gets showered with affection by pretty women. Likes long walks to ponder deep thoughts. (Editor’s note: Totally JGL. Rwaor.)

What’s your pup’s most embarrassing moment – or the most embarrassed YOU’VE been thanks to your pup? His moment has to be just last week when he tried to jump from side of the L-shaped sofa to the other and totally ate it! My most embarrassing moment has to be when he lifted his leg at the dog park and got a bit of pee on this poor lady’s foot. (You turn your back for ONE minute, right??) Luckily I had some wipes in the car and she was wonderfully understanding, but I don’t know if I’ve ever been so embarrassed in my life!

It took a bit of time and patience work through Dante’s issues – the biggest being his fear of things around his neck. I’m not sure if he was choked by a collar or lead or something in his past, but to this day he freaks out if I accidentally pinch the skin putting his collar back on. But the results of hard work have been so incredibly rewarding, he’s a prince on walks now and we do a lot of off-leash walking around my neighborhood. I can’t say enough about rescue dogs – they’re the best!!

If you’d like your pup to be featured as one of our Best Phriends, just send your name and your pup’s name in an email to bestphriends[at]gmail[dot]com.