My new best friend

Meet Dambu. Ths is my landlord Taciana's Rhodesian Ridgeback cross. He has become my best friend here while he accompanies me on walks and runs. He is very sweet, often putting his head on my lap or lying on the bed with me. He is also quite the character. He can open doors and often you will find him casually lying in seemingly awkward positions but totally at ease. In the house he seems like he is the laziest dog on earth, he really only moves unless he has to and then only to reposition himself as he lies down again. But as soon as he hears me pick up the leash he screams over and jumps all over me. He usually steals the leash from my hand and runs toward the door but then plays this game where he wont let me have the leash back without growling and play biting me. His transformation from sloth to maniac continues once we get outside where he becomes completely hysterical. He bounds along with me as I run but then stops suddenly every 3 trees to mark his territory. This is a minor inconvenience compared to how much he freaks ou when he sees another dog. I often come home with bruised or blistered hands because of how much he pulls when he sees another dog. And there are a lot of dogs around my neighbourhood, generally guard dogs or the well-off folk with their pets. Mozambicans are typically afraid of dogs. I often see this as it seems like I am parting the red sea of people as I walk the dog, everyone gets out of the way. You can really see the lack of trust on people's faces. Of course, I rather enjoy this because he is my security while I get used to things around here. And Dambu is rather enjoying the excitement as well and is becoming more behaved on the leash and outside in general. He follows me around the house constantly now even when Taciana is home. I find this rather amusing also. I grew up with dogs and LOVE animals, so I am enjoying my new roommate as I miss my kitties Cola and Winkler who are being well taken care of by their grandma.