I was at the Vero Beach Dog Park again this week, for an innerview with JoJo Greenaway, a very pretty, very, VERY Silky Terrier or, as her Mom says, a GIANT Yorkie. Either way, she’s got shiny, wavy, light gold-ish hair, an the kinda ears that always remind me of those budderfly dogs.
Me an my assistant got there early, so we sat an watched the pooches playin.’ Thank Lassie, there’s lotsa shady places for humans an pooches to hang out in. An water stations so we can keep Well Hydrated. An (I love this) ackshull Fire Hydrants (cuz we’re all so Well Hydrated).
Pretty soon, JoJo, a lady anna liddle girl arrived. JoJo ran over to greet some Dog Park Pals, then trotted up for the Wag-an-Sniff.
“Good afternoon, Miss JoJo.”
“That’s me! An you’re Mr. Bonzo the Columnist! I recognize you from the PAY-per. Didn’t you usta have a hat? This is my Momma, Jen, an my liddle sister an BFF Lindan. I’m 5 an she’s 3. We’re growin’ UP together. Daddy’s Brad. He’s at work.”
“I usually just wear my hat for phodos. How about we stay right here in the shade, on this nice cool dirt? First off, how’d you an your Forever Famly meet?”
JoJo plopped down next to me. “I hadda a wunnerful other famly. But I guess I was too much of a Free Spirit. An maybe kinda stubborn, too. I just kept goin’ off on adVENshurs. I hadda feel the wind in my hair, smell new smells, meet new pooches. You know.”
“I’m a Homebody myself, but I’ve heard lotsa stories,” I said. “Continue.”
“So, this one day, I ran off again. I was just struttin’ along onna nice sidewalk, on an adVENshur. Cars were goin’ by, but I wasn’t scared. Nothin’ scares me. Next thing I knew, a car stopped, anna lady got out. I was thinkin,’ ‘She looks like a nice human. Maybe she wants to join me on my adVRENshur.’ Nope. Instead, she picked me up, put me in her car, checked my ID collar, an called my famly.”
“Woof!” I said. “That was a close call. You coulda been totally smushed.”
“That’s what the lady said. An my first famly usta say that too, now that I think about it. Anyway, even though I wasn’t scared, I realized they were worryin’ about me, an I promised myself I’d try real hard to NEVER run off again.”
As JoJo was talking, she was snifflin’ a liddle bit, an wipin’ her nose with her paw. “Since I was a puppy, my famly’d always tried to give me a happy life. They were worried something TERRIBLE would happen to me on one of my adVENshurs. Also, I always wanted to be right there with ’em At All Times an gets LOTS of attenshun when I wasn’t Elsewhere, and they knew they couldn’t give me that cuzza their new, busy sked-julls.
“So they told the lady that, even though it made ’em sad, they’d been thinkin’ about takin’ me to a safe shelter so I could have the life an attention I deserved. The lady told ’em she knew a famly that’d be perfect for me. See, she happened to be a fren of my Forever Mama. An she knew my Forever Famly’s pooch, Walter, had just gone to Dog Heaven, an they were all sad, ’specially Lindan, who had been BFFs with Walter ever since she was BORN. When Momma an Daddy an Lindan met me, my first famly could see it was The Right Thing To Do.”
By then, I was wipin’ my nose with my paw, too.
“What was it like at first?”
“I was EXCITED! There was so much to see an learn an do. New smells, new places to investigate. I ran all over the place sniffin.’ Mama says I was a nosey hurry-cane. Me an Lindan hit it off right away. She likes adVENshurs, too, but not the runnin’ away kind. We have the same kinda hair, too, see? My ’riginal name was Zoey, but it got changed cuz Lindan already knew a Zoey, from ‘Sesame Street.’ They figured Joey sounded sorta like Zoey so it’d be easier for me, but Lindan kept sayin’ JoJo, so that was that.”
“Now, we have adVENshurs right here at home. We’re both Momma’s Girls. We wanna know where Momma is All The Time. When we don’t, we whine. When Momma an Daddy are away, I have High Anxiety. Then I hafta stay in my crate.
“Shortly after I joined the famly, Mama went on a Very Brief Errand an didn’t put me in my crate: in retrospect, not a good idea. By the time she returned, I’d totally destroyed one set of blinds, scratched the Dog Biscuits outta the front door and was chewing my way through the other blinds.”
“Oops. (Strategic segue) Got any pooch pals?”
“Lots here, of course. At home, me an my neighbor, Mahi, a Chihuahua, have playdates. We do Zoomies an chase lizards.”
While we were yapping, a coupla other pooches were playin’ nearby. One of ’em, Phoenix, was diggin’ a hole. She was a great digger. The other pooch jumped in an almost disappeared. Phoenix’s Dad told her she’d better un-dig it pronto. So JoJo went over an helped Phoenix fill it back up.
“What’s homelife like?” I queried.
“Mostly playin.’ I have three snoozin’ beds. I don’t like baths, but I LOVE the toweling-off part. I don’t do tricks or wear clothes, but I know how to Come, Sit an Fetch. I have a THING for Beggin’ Strips an Momma’s pretzels. Can’t resist.”
“I hear ya. Mine’s BREAD.”
“Me an Lindan have this game: Her trike has a liddle trunk, where she stashes treats, then peddles off an I chase her. I always get a treat, of course.”
Heading home, I was thinkin’ about JoJo’s adVENshurs. An about how liddle choices can have BIG results. An about – bread.
Till next time,
The Bonz
