About Bina
Woof. My name is Bina. I am a fox red Labrador retriever. I inherited my beautiful fox red colour from my mum and grandma. I joined my mum’s pack in 2012, when I was 2 months old.
When I was little, I had tons of energy. When I was home alone, I was in a very destructive mood almost every day. I tore apart many toys, left a permanent decoration on chairs and walls and made snow out of potty pads every day. But I was so cute and I made that innocent look and my “what did I do wrong” face and everything was forgiven. I was really good at this. Sometimes I even chased my tail. Weird, I know. I’m past that now. Now I like to just lay around all day, mostly on my mum’s bed. What an opposite, I became a lazy couch potato.
But wait, that’s only when there’s nothing better to do. Otherwise I’m always up for an adventure. Anytime, anyplace. I enjoy long walks, love to travel and explore new places and smells. But above all I love to swim. I’m a water maniac or let’s just put it this way: I think every water source needs a Labrador. Hot or freezing cold, river, lake or muddy pool, I rush to wade in, splashing, swimming and getting all wet. Sometimes I even mask myself into a black lab in the mud. My mum’s not very happy, but she kind of got used to it. I’m a lab after all. I mean, what did she expect? I don’t mind the rain, it’s fun and I love the towel drying when we get home. But showering… That I hate. Why do I have to shower? I hide and squeeze into the corner of a bath because the water from the shower really hurts. Yup, that’s when I become the most wretched wet dog in the world.
I have a phobia of stairs. I slipped a few times and the stairs suddenly turned into a slide. That was rude and it hurt. Ouch. Now I go down anxiously and really slowly with my mum always in front of me, ready to catch me if it happens again. With my 28 kilos I’m a bit too heavy to carry me down, so unfortunately, I have to face the spooky stairs and go down by myself. But no matter what, not even for food (did I tell you I’d do anything for food?), I won’t go down the stairs at my mum’s parents again. Once, the light went off when I was in the middle of those stairs and I couldn’t see anything. Terrifying. Thankfully there’s a lift I can drive with.
There’s something else I won’t do for food. I absolutely hate ear cleaning. I hide myself under the table or behind the drying linen. But no matter where I hide myself my mum always finds me. Then, I try to escape from her arms. I really make it difficult for her. But in the end, somehow, I always end up with clean ears. I must confess, though, my ears are less itchy after cleaning. But still, next time I won’t let her do it again.
I’ve already mentioned I’d do anything for food. I’m always hungry. My stomach is a bottomless pit. They say that I am missing some kind of gene that tells me when I’m full. I don’t care, I just love to eat. Anything, I’m not picky. I vacuum everything that falls on the floor, even just a microscopic bread crumb. I always supervise cooking. I pretend to be a bio waste bin for all the leftovers. And usually I can taste the food if it’s cooked well.
I always know when it’s time for dinner. I usually start hypnotizing my mum up to an hour early. I rarely succeed, but it’s worth the try. And then, in just a few seconds, my dinner is gone. If you want to hyde a biscuit in your pocket, well, you can’t hide it from me. I know exactly what your hiding. I can smell it from far away. Did I tell you that I’m a very good actress? With my eyes, I can convince anybody that I haven’t eaten for days. Well, almost anybody, my mum knows me just too well, unfortunately.
I can show you lots of tricks. To name a few; take a bow, beg, be ashamed, cross paws, play dead, roll over, kisses, make a block (mum played volleyball for many years), wave goodbye, put toys away, open a door, close a drawer, circle backward, weave through legs and many more. Most of the tricks I know very well and I can easily perform them anytime. If I chose to. Sometimes, my brains decide to forget the tricks and I need food stimulation to remember them. And when my eyes see or my snout smells a possible treat, my brains suddenly start functioning again and tricks come back to me and I’m ready to show them all.
Everyone laughs at me when I do zoomies. When I was younger I did it a lot, now I only do it now and then. Tail between my legs, butt to the ground and I start running in circles uncontrollably. It’s a bit dangerous when I do it at home with all the furniture in the way and everyone holds their breath until I finish. I don’t know why I do it, but I’m having fun. Weeeeeee
I love to be cuddled. Butt scratch is absolutely my favourite. If I come to you and show you my butt it’s a request for a butt scratch. Then, after a butt sckratch, you need to scratch my ears as well. Feels good, too. And don’t forget my belly… And I also love the scratch at the top of my head and under my chin, and everywhere… Life is good.
I don’t talk much. But when someone rings a doorbell, I must let them know how happy I am to see them. Even though I don’t know who’s behind the door yet. I bark loudly and then I anticipate very impatiently and whiningly to see who’s come to visit me. When I see someone I know, I start shaking with excitement and wagging my tail like crazy. But if I don’t know the person, I shout at them some alerting barks and hide behind my mum. How do they dare to invade my property?! Well, OK, if they pet me a little and give me a biscuit, then they are welcome, too.
I follow my mum around the apartment like a shadow. I even go to the restroom with her. I mean, if she goes to the toilet with me, then I must return her a favour, right? If she goes to the other room, I have to follow her. What if I miss something important, like a treat for example. No way, I must be near her all the time.
I only shed twice a year, 6 months in the spring and 6 months in the autumn. Too much fur on the ground, my mum says. So, she brought home a strange, round and very loud creature that runs around the apartment in strange patterns, feeding on my fur. And she has another creature on a leash with a long trunk also making loud sounds. Really annoying, both of them. I see no reason for them. The next day, my fur is all over the place again.
When I’m home alone I rest most of the time, preferably on my mum’s bed. It’s so comfy, much more than in my bed. It’s a boring 8 hours, but I patiently wait for her to return from work. Then she takes me for a walk. And we go cooking and playing and doing tricks. I can’t wait for a weekend, when my mum doesn’t have to work. Then we go on a trip, usually somewhere we’ve never been before. I’m very tired because of everything we do over weekends, but I enjoy every second of it. I love my doggy life…