Che? Un cane Italiano?

I think my dog is Italian.  Seriously. 

We were out for a walk today, and it was one of those unfortunate dog-filled kinds.  If you don't know, my dog is completely unaware that she is a dog.  She thinks she is a person, and she is a person who is afraid of dogs. 

In all seriousness, from what the humane society pieced together, she was abused by her owners and terrorized by their three other dogs.  So I guess she has an excuse.  But it is so sad to see all the other billions of dogs in our neighborhood playing with each other and having fun, and then seeing Cleo crying or barking when she sees another dog.

That tangent was actually related to the story.  Cleo is afraid of dogs, and freaks out when we see one.  I try to turn her around and talk to her about it.  Today, I was doing exactly that, but she wouldn't snap out of it.  So, I said to her "Che cosa?" ("What?") and she stopped crying, her fur un-poofed, and she went along her merry way.

Later, we passed by a house that is home to many dogs, meaning she loves to sniff where their yard meets the sidewalk.  She indulged in a nice long sniff-session, but I usually don't let her sniff people's yards very long because they might think I am about to let her poop or pee in their yards (which she never does).  Usually I say something like "Okay, let's move along," but today she kept sniffing.  So, I said, "Va Bene!" ("Okay!"), and off she trotted.

Finally, my last piece of evidence.  Every time we go on a walk, we head straight to the back yard when we get home.  But when we get to the fence, she usually gets so excited that she starts to pull on the leash.  We make her wait nicely and not pull while we take off the leash, and while we do that we tell her to wait.  Today, she did not want to wait because there was a squirrel languishing in the yard, and she wanted to chase it out.  So, when she ignored me in English, I said, "Basta!" ("Enough!"), and she sat patiently and waited for me to take off her leash.

Well ladies and gentlemen of the jury -- I believe this case is dismissed.  The cane is obviously Italiano.

I should have guessed it when she posed like this with her pig rolls:

Oh, my sweet little mobster!