Describe a Family Member

Today’s writing prompt is “Describe a Family Member”. This family member is good looking, fun to be around, and he is a loving character. He loves to play ball, he is very curious, and he loves to eat. However, he is anxious and easily frightened and he can also be a bit of an a-hole, and he hates dogs and cats. Can you guess which family member he is?

Daily writing prompt
Describe a family member.
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The picture shows a woman (mother) and a man (father) and their daughter. Planet Hollywood is in the background.
Three family members, but there are more of us.
Rollo as a puppy peering out from behind a sofa chair.
The answer is Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd.

You may ask yourself, but he is a dog, how can he hate dogs and cats? Good question, but I don’t think he knows he is a dog. I think he thinks he is a little person. He prefers human company. He got along well with our late Leonberger Bronco and our pug Daisy, but he hates every other dog and all cats.

Rollo holding a soccer ball with his paw.
Rollo loves rolling and chasing balls.
Rollo biting and pulling our Leonberger Bronco’s tail.
As I mentioned, he can be a bit of an a-hole.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is sitting in a pink stroller.
As mentioned, Rollo is anxious and easily frightened. Daisy’s stroller is a good thing to sit in for such occasions.
Rollo our mini-Australian Shepherd is sitting on the floor. He is wearing a big blue cone.
Today and the last few days Rollo has been wearing a cone. He had to extract a tooth on Thursday.

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Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

69 thoughts on “Describe a Family Member”

  2. He’s super cute ! I had a himilayan cat that was similar . Didn’t like other animals , would cats , raccoons , deer and dogs lol I’m not sure what was up with him , but I adopted him from a shelter I used to work at .

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    1. It is great that you rescued him from a shelter. It is funny how some Rollo and your cat can’t stand other dogs and cats. I wonder what goes through their heads. I think it might be jealousy. We had a dog, Oslo, from Los Angeles visiting us and as I bent down to pet Oslo Rollo attacked him. He really did not like me petting him.

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      1. Yeah definitely sounds like Jealousy for Rollo . As for my old cat Harly , I think he just liked fight . He was a big cat , like 15 lbs and looked like a lion lol . He was a flamepoint himilayan , with tons of fur . He was super friendly to people though✨

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    2. Flamepoint himilayans are beautiful cats. Maybe he had gotten used to defending himself considering he was a rescue. Both cats and dogs tend to love their meal tickets, but I am sure he was friendly (like Rollo) towards lesser known people, just not other dogs and cats. Unfortunately, we cannot have cats because I am allergic. My son and his girlfriend have a couple of cats though.

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  5. I was pretty sure the answer was going to be one of your dogs. How odd that Rollo doesn’t like other dogs. Except for one dog that we got from a shelter, I don’t think I’ve ever owned a dog who didn’t like other dogs.

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    1. Rollo is also the only dog we’ve had who seriously does not like other dogs. I don’t know what went wrong. Our German Shepherd was also an anxious dog (from a shelter) who did not really like other dogs either, but she never gave us any problems. She quietly tolerated but did not like other dogs. Rollo on the other hand is hostile towards other dogs. Taking him to a dog park is pointless and getting another Leonberger too dangerous. We are trying to train him, but it is going slow.

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  7. Rollo!! Who else?!?! Lovely and loving! Thank you, Thomas, for unveiling a little bit more of his personality! It’s always a joy to get to know them closely! Light and blessings to the whole family; today extra light to Rollo!

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  8. Poor Rollo!! Because of our discussions I knew who you were describing right away. Our critters are a handful sometimes, aren’t they? Lol!! I didn’t realize he needed a tooth extraction. Bless his heart!! Is this his first? When I adopted Mr. Chester he had a gum disease common to feral cats and had to have one tooth extracted. Ever since then dry cat food gets stuck in the hole where the tooth used to be and he spends a few minutes frantically clawing at it until it is dislodged. I’ve discovered round shapes don’t end up in that hole. Only dry kibble that has an odd shape or extra small kitten kibble. So I try to avoid those dry foods. It’s been over 2 years now and kibble will still get stuck in there if it’s not a round shape. Have you had issues with any of your dogs like that after tooth extractions?

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    1. Yes it is his first tooth extraction. It was unplanned. He came in for dental cleaning and they discovered one tooth had a bad cavity with a crack in it. That is interesting information about your cat. Our pug Daisy had several teeth pulled. She was unlucky with her teeth. Luckily she did not have the problems with holes you describe. I hope Rollo will not have those problems.

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  10. Oh my, that first picture of Rollo is the cutest thing ever! What personality! I get the dislike of other dogs and hatred of cats – you’re his pack, and they aren’t. 🙂 A fun post, Thomas. I hope Rollo feels better soon and get rid of his “cone of safety.” 🙂

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    1. Thank you so much Diane. Yes you are right other dogs and cats are not his pack. I guess that is the fundamental issue. We are trying to teach him to behave around other dogs but it is not easy. The cone is to stop him from scratching his mouth and he only gets soft food right now. Next weekend we can remove the cone.

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  19. Dogs are surely family, and Rollo is a cutie pie! From what I’ve seen and read, anxiety is usually underneath dog hostility. Hang in there with the training even though it’s slow.

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    1. Thank you so much JoAnna. Like you say they are family. I think you are right. Rollo is an anxious dog. He was anxious already as a little puppy and that might be why is hostile towards dogs that are not part of the family.

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    1. Thank you so much Leighton. I tried to make a little bit non-obvious, so I am glad you didn’t guess it instantly. Rollo is seeing the veterinarian on Tuesday. He has been doing well so we believe Tuesday will be the last day he has to wear a cone.

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