I’m happy to be helping Bonzo out while his human assistant is in the hospital. Bonzo is my best beachside buddy.
I live out west of town, where I get to go visit my dog neighbors all by myself. Then I go racing back home before anyone has even missed me. The only time I see a leash is when I’m going to the beach.
The other day, my human drove me over to the island, and I was walking near South Beach park when along came the cutest little creature named Lily: her human, Brian Livingston, said she was a white miniature Schnauzer, but I’d say she looked more like my schnoodle buddy Napoleon, and she sure didn’t act like the bossy Schnauzers I’ve known.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Let’s just say I don’t respond well to that kind of direction.
Brian says she’s a real pussycat – his word – and she loves people. She even goes to visit the folks at the assisted living home, Green Gables, where her other human, Pat, lives. Everybody there just loves to fuss over her, Brian says.
Most of the time, when they’re walking, Lily will stop to see another dog. “They’ll have a little natter about how their humans are behaving,” says Brian, who says words like “natter” because he grew up in South Africa.
But it turns out, Lily can show a touch of Schnauzerism too. Sometimes, she’ll see a dog and for no apparent reason, she can’t stand him.
Lily tried to explain it’s only temporarily. Take her neighbor Molly, a morkie – that’s part Maltese, part Yorkie. Molly belongs to Lynn and Warren Davies, and sometimes Brian babysits Molly. That means Molly and Lily have to be IN EACH OTHER’S SPACE, for hours, even days. Now that’s asking a lot more than having a natter on a leash.
They weren’t crazy about each other, but over time, they’ve made do. They even agree to trade their suppers, for no particular reason.
Getting along means a lot to your humans. And sometimes you have to return a favor, Lily says. After all, Brian traded his 1972 MG-B convertible for a Buick, just because Lily didn’t like riding around in the wind. “She loves it,” says Brian. “Whenever I head out the door, she puts her sad face on. ‘Please can I go?’”
Later,
Raven