I follow several dog-related pages on Facebook. Usually when I post on these pages, I keep the posts and comments short and funny. This morning, a follower on one of these pages posted an unusual request. He is blind and he asked for people to describe their dogs. He was interested in (non-visual) physical descriptions and personality traits. I intended to be detailed, but didn't mean to end up running so long. (Though, with that said, there were a lot of people who also posted very long descriptions - especially given that many times on that page comments are often just pictures.) This is what I wrote to my fellow dog-lover about Athena:
My dog, Athena, is an unusual size and shape. She is really too big to be called a small dog, but is smaller than what most people consider to be medium-sized. She is 32 pounds but is boxy and stocky. She is shorter than many dogs her weight and, unlike many dogs with her build, she can curl up in a tight little ball like a cat. She is also very flexible and agile and, also like a cat, can easily get up onto tables if chairs are not pushed in.
She is very muscular and strong - she will pull you over if you aren't paying attention when you have her on a leash. She has a huge boxy chest but fine, thin, delicate paws. Her toes are long like fingers. We call her our "dragon lady" because of her long thin toes. She also has long quicks in her nails so we have to let them stay relatively long so when don't hurt her when we clip them. As a result you can always her make a shuffle-click noise when she's walking.
She is very soft for a short-haired dog. Her fur is very thin in places, like her face and back. She has no hair on her chest, stomach, or inner legs. Having a baby, I can confirm that Athena's tummy is, in fact, as soft as a baby's bottom. Her ears are also extremely soft. I can't come up with a perfect comparison - saying she's soft like a kitten makes it sound like her ears are furrier than they are, saying they are soft like velvet makes them sound stiffer. Her ears might be the softest things in the world.
She loves baths and is, if possible, even softer after a bath. I love rubbing my face all over her face and ears after she's had a bath. She doesn't have a very dog-like scent even when dirty or excited. She gets frequent baths because of a skin allergy, but based on smell she could probably go a long time without needing one. She is very patient in the bath and will just sit and let you wash and rinse her without issues. If you tell her it's bath time, she will eagerly run upstairs and trot into the bathroom. When bath time is over she runs around the house, very pleased with herself, and rubs herself dry on the carpet.
She loves to lay out on the deck in the sun. She loves to cuddle. She likes to sleep under the blankets - with her fur being so thin, she gets cold easily. Its hard to get her out of the bed in the morning.
She likes going on walks, but pretends that she does't because she doesn't like having her harness put on. She is very strong for her size and loves to chase birds and leaves so you have to keep a good grip on the leash. Her favorite toys are pull ropes and other tug toys, through she also loves to rip stuffed toys apart.
She has three distinct barks - one is a normal, somewhat grunty bark. When she is trying to be tough, she has a very deep bark that belongs to a much larger dog and sounds like you are imminent danger of being eaten. When she is worried she has a high, warbling bark that sounds like a small child was left unattended with a clarinet.
Athena is a noisy sleeper. She snores, snorts, and grunts. She squeaks and squawks when she stretches and yawns. When she shakes her ears, they crack like a whip. She is the noisiest dog I've ever had, which is ironic because she is deaf.