Hi, pet buddies! This week I interviewed Diesel Martin. I didn’t know his breed at first and, with that name, I figured he’d be some sort of bulldog, or maybe a mastiff. Approaching his front door, I was imagining Diesel riding shotgun on an 18-wheeler, munching beef jerky.
Imagine my surprise when the door opened and there was this teeny Yorkie, couldn’ta weighed more than 5 pounds, wringing wet. He was barking, racing around the coffee table AND twirling around on his own axis at the same time. I was about to politely say, “Sorry, I think I’ve got the wrong house,” when the little dervish stopped and said, breathlessly, “Hi, Mr. Bonzo! Come in! I am SO excited you’re here to interview ME-EE!”
“Well, hey there, er, Diesel,” I managed.
“This is my Mum, Kai and THIS is my big bro, Tucker.” (A bigger, quieter Yorkie. I hadn’t even noticed him at first. Then it came to me! Tucker’d been one of the first Island Dog interviewees. Years ago, before I had the column.)
“Can’t wait to hear your story!” Wag-and-Sniffs done, we settled in.
“My Mum calls me a Foster Failure,” he began.
“Huh?” I said brilliantly.
“No, see, Mum and Tucker had a business partner in Arizona who really wanted a Yorkie and asked her to find one for him. She found me and decided to be my foster mum until he was ready to get me. So last January she drove down south to get me. It was definitely NOT love at first sight. I was just 4 months old, still a pupster, all nervous, and so was she, I guess. I would ABSOLUTELY NOT come to her. So she stuffed me (gently) into the carrier and off we went. All during the trip, she just kept yapping and yapping to me, in a friendly way. I didn’t budge. But I WAS listening. It was sort of hypnotizing.
“THEN, about two exits before Vero, she took me out of the carrier and put me in her lap! I KNOW, it was drastic, but I’m glad she did! After that, I’ve pretty much never left her lap, at least, I’m always really nearby ‘cuz she works from home! It’s perfect!”
“So, you and Tucker are pretty close?”
“Yep! Totally different, but he’s the BEST. Me, I love wagging! And barking! And baths! But I HATE toothbrushing. Ukk..
“Tuck’s not into wagging. He’s pretty quiet. And he doesn’t like baths. But he taught me about something called Oral Hygiene. (That’s just toothbrushing. I gotta do it if I want to keep chewing on stuff.)
“We don’t go to the Dog Park ‘cuz we’re so little we could get run over. We do run with our dog pals at the beach. And have daily walks. Plus, we have this great backyard. Lots of plants and trees and DRAGONS!”
“You have DRAGONS?” I asked, looking over my shoulder.
“You bet your chew toys! I love, love, love chasing dragons! Humans call them lizards. But I know they’re ferocious dragons. And I’m the fearless dragonslayer! I chase them and chase them. Slaying, not so much. Every day, noonish, Mum lets me out to hunt dragons. Then I have my sunbath.
”One day my Mum discovered this scary dragon on the fence. It was really long, 8 feet, she said, and it was yellow with no feet and no fur and scary eyes. Mum called it a yellow rat snake. That was one dragon I didn’t chase, and we never go outside without Mum after that.”
Just then, their Mum asked if they wanted to show me a toy. They headed for their toy basket and zipped back with this raggedy platypus toy. They tumbled and tugged and flopped around, Tucker making this weird, spooky noise, and Diesel growling and woofing like crazy. (Their Mum laughed and called him her Yorkshire Terrorist.)
But when she asked if they wanted a carrot, they immediately stopped trying to destroy the platypus and sat down politely. She put two carrots on the floor in front of them and said, ”Stay!” They looked at the carrots, their noses twitched, but they didn’t move. The instant she said “OK” they pounced and the carrots disappeared!
“Yes,” said Diesel proudly, “We went to obedience school.” He jumped to the top of the couch pillows and stood tall. “See, I’m a Mountain Goat!” he said, grinning like only a Yorkie can.
“When my Mum goes away, I stand guard, right here on the couch by the front window. She gets her tote and keys and sings her version of “Doggie in the Window” (she changes it to say that doggie – ME – isn’t for sale, even for a million dollars.) Then I sit there ‘till she comes home. Soon we’ll be going to her favorite place, Nantucket. That’s how Tucker got his name, by the way.”
“Oh, I was wondering,” I said. “What about your name?”
“At the kennel where I was born, the owner named the litters for alphabet letters. I was in the “D” litter. Mum wasn’t in love with Diesel, but kept it since I was used to it. It’s been kinda fun, actually. I bet you thought I’d be some kind of big pooch, right?”
I smiled.
Heading back to the office, I was thinking about Diesel’s dragons. I’ve always found that a good imagination can make the world a lot more fun.
‘till next time.
