Tim Anderl is an American journalist from Dayton, Ohio, whose work has been published in New Noise, Alternative Press, Strength Skateboarding Magazine, Ghettoblaster Magazine, Substream Music Press, and more. He was previously the host of the Sound Check Chat music podcast. He also runs the socially conscious, inclusive PR entity Sweet Cheetah Publicity.
Anderl—who helps publicize reputed indie bands including previous Pet Sounds participants Braid and Palm Ghosts—checked in with New Noise for the latest installment in our series to talk about his 3-year-old, 70-pound, mixed-breed mutt named Duncan. As Anderl explained, he had two dogs as an adult and named them both after characters in John Hughes’ Some Kind of Wonderful (his first dog was Watts).
His dog’s likes include hanging out with Anderl’s son, laying on the back cushions of their couch, peeing on bushes, and showing affection toward their neighbors Tori and Wes. As for Duncan’s dislikes? Anderl replies: “Me taking my son to school or his mom’s house, the people who are minding their own business coming and going from the apartments behind our condo, having his ears cleaned or nails trimmed.”
Given Anderl’s amusing account of Duncan, we felt compelled to ask him to tell us even more about the dog—and, whaddya know, his replies were even more entertaining.
What circumstances led to Duncan becoming part of your life–and your son’s?
We lost our previous dog, Watts, to old age when Oliver was around 3. I loved having a dog growing up—a Brittany Spaniel—and felt like my son, and my girlfriend’s kids, should have a dog around while they’re growing up. Losing Watts honestly broke my heart, and for several years, I just wasn’t ready for another one. But, when the pandemic happened and my job switched to telework, I figured it was the time.
As the previous owner of another dog, did you figure training Duncan wouldn’t be as difficult given your past experience?
Honestly, I was not prepared for Duncan’s personality at all. My previous dog had flunked out of a helper dog training program at a prison south of us, so she was crate-trained and already knew basic commands. It took her about a day to potty train; she never bit anyone, and was generally the sweetest animal I’ve ever met. Duncan, on the other hand, has been, let’s just say, much more challenging.
He was adopted as a puppy, and although he never had too many number one accidents in the house, he has made innumerable number twos in the house. One mistake I made early on was feeding him some pumpkin snacks that an older neighbor dropped off for him (my son calls her Duncan’s grandma). Anyway, his constitution was not ready for such a treat, apparently. Have you ever seen a dog do a diarrhea in mid-air while hurling himself over a couch to get away from his own burning bhole? I have …
Although Duncan doesn’t doo-doo in the house as an accident anymore, he does do it to punish me at times. He really doesn’t like that his best friend, my 9-year-old, has to go to school. Or that he’s at his mom’s 50 percent of the time. One typical morning, I ran Oliver to school. When I returned home, the dog was just sitting there by the door and watched me while I came in the house from his spot.
Then the smell hit me—five turds right on my bed spread (and he’d been out already that morning). He also likes to remind me that my condo is his domain when I have anyone over to the house. Within the first 15 minutes, without fail, he’ll drop a turd or two.
I know this is a lot of poop talk, so maybe we talk about pee for a bit. Duncan’s favorite thing to do outside is to pee on everything. I just thought this was a thing male dogs did maybe, as I’ve not had one before. The problem with this is that, if I’m trying to walk him, he ends up straining his groin/butt muscles down there and gives himself diarrhea.
Picking up less than solid poop for blocks is not my idea of a good time. I’ve mentioned it to his vet. Although she said it was weird, she didn’t seem to offer any solutions. I didn’t really push her on it cause she looks like that red-haired actress from Game of Thrones (Sophie Turner) who was married to that Jonas brother (Joe Jonas).
I was also not prepared to have a sentient creature staring at me like I’m the most unimpressive, boring thing he’s ever laid eyes on—literally all day, every day. Whenever we return home to our condo, without fail, he stops at the neighbors’ door to see if they’ll let him in. I think he thinks they’re his real family and would be far more interesting to live with. He’s probably not wrong. And they have a pretty cool dog he gets along with named Bruin.
Wasn’t Duncan “born to be wild,” so to speak, given that you named him after the troublemaking character in the 1987 rom-drama Some Kind of Wonderful?
He was definitely born to be wild. He’s a lean, muscular, black dog with a white spot on his chest. Totally reminds me of Duncan in his white T-shirt and leather vest. He’s definitely more Duncan than Keith, and I guess he’s big, dumb, and sweet.
On days he poops on the floor, though, I wonder if I should have named him Hardy Jenns … with two Ns. However, when I wrestle with my son or we play fight, he does intervene and tries to bite my hands. That’s a very Duncan thing to do.
I have sought advice from friends with dogs on caring for Duncan. Adrienne Lake from (music consulting firm) Daydream Believer Creative and Justin Pearson from Deaf Club have both given me good advice that I’ve tried to implement.
Sounds like Duncan might have a case of the Terrible 3s. Was he less rambunctious at age 2?
I don’t know what to say. Sometimes I think he’s settling in pretty good, and then he’ll do something weird I’ve never seen before. For instance, when he was a puppy, he didn’t mind having his ears cleaned weekly. Now, he doesn’t tolerate it at all.
He also does not like being introduced to people he doesn’t know while being on a leash. I guess that one I sort of get. I wouldn’t want some strange person trying to touch me while I was tied down without someone I trusted intervening for me.
That said, when people he doesn’t know visit, I just tell them to ignore him for the first few minutes. That also might be why he poops, but it does give him a chance to sniff them out. After that few minutes, they’re always the best person he’s ever known. He becomes their new, 70-pound best friend, lap dog, and make-out partner … whether they want to be or not.
Some people espouse the theory that dogs adopted after living in abusive settings can be highly suspect. Some say they can even be antagonistic toward people who resemble their previous owners. Do you think that might at least partially explain Duncan’s behavior toward you?
Duncan’s never been particularly aggressive towards me, moreso passive-aggressive. But I have noticed that he really doesn’t like men with beards at first. I can’t decide if it was because he was abused by someone with a beard or because of the way his eyesight works. He also really doesn’t like when I’m in a charcoal mask trying to make myself a pretty, pretty princess. So it may be the latter.
Did Duncan and your son immediately take a liking to each other, or did it require a significant amount of time and training?
Duncan and Oliver took to each other immediately. He has this indestructible wishbone for tug of war that he is obsessed with. Oliver will abide that play for a pretty long time. Oliver and my g.f.’s son Sal also like to play like they are camping in the jungle. Duncan is always in the play as a panther. Also, Oliver is the man with the Cheeto Puffs typically, which earns him a lot of favor.
Let me ask Oliver about Duncan: “We were shy of each other at first, but I got used to him. After about a week, we started playing around and snuggling. Duncan is soft and likes laying with me, and I love that. Duncan can be a little annoying when you’re eating snacks, but he’s my boy.”
Trimming dogs’ nails sucks. Sometimes walking dogs for long periods of time on the sidewalk can dull them so trims aren’t always needed. But do you live in an area where he has lots of space to wander around and play—maybe even mostly on grass?
Yeah, he’s not a fan. And the vet won’t really do it unless he’s on a sedative, as he’s not really treat/food motivated while there and always pretty nervous. I wasn’t stoked about sedating my dog, but might have to consider it in the future.
We’ve got a fair amount of grass near my condo, although he can’t really be off leash because (of the Home Owners’ Association). Luckily, my girlfriend lives in the country near a nursery greenhouse, and he does go off-leash there.
To your point, though, walks on the sidewalks seem to take care of his nails while he’s older (his puppy nails were sharp). He also trims them himself by gnawing on them, which the vet says is fine. I always get nervous doing a dog with dark nails because I can’t always see the quick. Those trimmers that swear they beep when they find the quick are bullshit. I’d prefer he just let me give him a mani-/pedi-, but he’s just not that kind of dog.
What’s the best anecdote—funniest, scariest, or simply most poignant—involving Duncan?
Well, the scariest time for me was when he nipped at a friend’s teenage daughter. That isn’t a happy memory for me or my friend’s daughter, I’m sure. Thankfully, I don’t think he was trying to break skin, and only a couple band aids were needed. Having your dog nip/bite another person’s child is the shittiest feeling in the world.
I think it was also my fault as I leashed him before they arrived. I should have just had them ignore him while he sniffed them out. He’s a big dog, though, so I was being cautious, and totally read him wrong.
One of the funniest anecdotes was when my son was learning about drugs and addiction in a school program. He came home and announced that Duncan was addicted to tug of war, and for months after when they’d play, my son would yell, “He’s addicttttttted!”
I guess another funny story is that when we met Duncan his name was Batman. In his litter there was also a Robin, a Catwoman, and a Joker. I asked my son what we should name him and he immediately shouted out, “Chicken!” So, this mixed breed mutt’s full show dog name is Duncan Chicken Batman Hughes. My previous mutt’s full show dog name was Princess Wattsy Latifah McGruff Superstar.
As an aside, my brother has two dogs, God bless him, and their names are Molly Ringwald and Tony Danza.
Was there a specific time or instance over the past three years when Duncan proved especially critical for more morale, team spirit, etc. in your household and/or personal life?
As much as I complain about him, he has given me a reason to give my routine some rigidity. My son is absolutely crazy about him and has learned a lot of care for an animal as a result of having him. I don’t hate when he curls up next to me while I’m watching TV on the couch in the evenings.
It’s a give-and-take relationship, I guess. My couch is destroyed from where he’s separated the cushions from the frame thinking they are just dog beds. But he’s also provided a lot of joy to our family.
Another anecdote: I got some fabric tape to reattach the cushions to my couch frame, cut them to size, applied them, and it looked great. Then I went to my office to work. About a half hour later, I swiveled my chair to go grab a cup of coffee and found all the tape piled behind my desk chair (with teeth marks in it).
How does Duncan react to (Sweet Cheetah band and Dayton indie cult faves) Brainiac’s music when you play it in your abode?
Ha! This is a great question. I remember when the reissues hit the streets, and I was playing them. He cocked his head and acted peculiar while it was on. I think he had the same reaction to Deaf Club, if I’m not mistaken. Also, I think confuses him when ABC News is playing on the Alexa in the morning. And, without fail, if a doorbell rings on TV, he’s gotta bark.
I hope I didn’t come off as a completely heartless animal owner. I know this dog has been a good addition to our family. He’s got quirks, and he’s imperfect, but so am I. So we’ll just learn how to cohabitate together the best we can.
For the previous installment of Pet Sounds, check out: “Blag Dahlia’s Cats Bring Out Dwarves Vocalist’s Soft, Furry Side.”
Photos courtesy of Tim Anderl
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