Sincerely Yours, The Breakfast Club

Oh, what a timely question for our Weekly Special. So tempting for me to call Bender the falling-apart house in The Money Pit! Or perhaps Mad-Eye Moody, with her snarl and her one bum leg. 

But, I'll be fair, and also true to who Bender really is. I named her after John Bender in The Breakfast Club, but Bender-dog is really Allison Reynolds. Ally Sheedy's character, the Basket Case. She's dressed in dark clothing, she's squirrelly and shifty-eyed. Nervous. Jumps and hides at the littlest provocation ("She doesn't talk, sir."), but can be equally brazen and provocative, depending on her mood, shouting at the neighbors that if she wanted to leave she could go to beach or the mountains or Afghanistan. If she were to make her own sandwich, it would totally be something weird like mayonnaise on white bread with Cap'n Crunch cereal and Pixie Stix. (In fact, her food, Beneful, is pretty darn close.) Because Bender is a strange soul. And yet underneath all the quirks and nervousness, she just wants to be loved. She wants Molly Ringwald to brush her hair and do her mascara. She wants John Bender to take her one of his heavy-metal vomit parties. As long as he'd stay out back while he partied and throw her a tennis ball. 

The surprising match-up for Bender (not romantic, just buddy-wise), is Emilio Estevez's character from the same movie, Andrew Clark. The jock, the All-American dog. For as complex as Bender is, Bailey is pretty straightforward. She eats Eukanuba, a hearty dog food as simple as a grocery sack full of sandwiches, potato chips, and fruit. She's a runner and a swimmer, and because Bailey's so well-trained and easygoing, it's possible to throw balls for both she and Bender simultaneously. She evens out the pastrami-throwing, nail-biting Bender, plays the Yin to Bender's Yang. Bailey has a blunt, unwavering stare. She's also incredibly loyal and will be the first to jump up and come to the little guy's defense in the face of any bullying, such as J.Lo tickling me or the children to death. She's up for the party over at the cool kid's house on a Saturday night.  Once in a very blue moon, Bailey might really cross a line and commit a crime as bad as taping together the weak kid's butt cheeks in the locker room, perhaps just for the thrill of it. But on the whole, Bailey is as straight-laced and decent as they come. 

And ultimately, even though she's nothing like Bender on the surface, Bailey understands her friend, her partner in crime. J.Lo chose her once upon a time because she was the only puppy in her litter who didn't flinch at the storm happening outside, but after several years hanging out with Bender, you'll find both glued to your footpath at the merest hint of thunder and lightning. After so much time together, both dogs have each found that they are, in fact, an Athlete and a Basket Case.

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