Hi, pet buddies! This week I had a really fun yap with the cutest little pupster, 9-week-old Zoey Garramone. She’s a Portuguese water dog and she has very curly hair, mostly black, with white stockings in front, white footies in back, and a white spot smack in the middle of her face that looks sorta like one of those dandelion puffs.
We met at her humans’ business cuz she’s too young to stay home all by herself. It’s right downstairs from my office. It’s called The Bottle Shop and her Mom and Dad, Anna and Bob, and big sister Krista have been getting it all spiffed up. Zoey’s helps, too, by running all over the place being extremely CUTE and chewing pretty much everything.
When I arrived, Zoey was being snuggled by a nice lady customer. Back down on the floor, she started munching on the lady’s tote. The lady didn’t mind. I think she was used to pupsters.
“Good afternoon,” I said. “I’m Bonzo the Columnist. I work upstairs so we’re sort of neighbors. You must be Zoey.”
She glanced up, “Yub! Ha-woa, Miffter Bobdo.” Her Mom rescued the tote, and picked Zoey up.
“C’mon,” Zoey said. I followed them into a back room where her Mom deposited her on the floor.
“Mom says I should tell you about where I came from and stuff and she says she’ll help if I forget things. I came from a BREEDER. I have papers that list all the pooches in my family. Lots of them were champion showdogs. I’m still a little fuzzy on what that means but Mom says I don ‘t have to worry anyway ‘cuz I’m not going to do shows. Before I could come home with my Forever Family, we had Play Dates, and they had to pass inspection. I’m glad it worked out.”
I knew that pooches who come from breeders get litter names, that they mostly never use again, so I asked, “Did you have one of those funny litter names?”
“Yup. I had 6 sisters and 4 brothers, and we were all named for fancy foreign cars. My name was Karmann Ghia.”
“No woof!” I exclaimed. “Well, Zoey suits you fine.”
“Yub!” she said, her mouth full of carpet.
“You sure do like to chew stuff,” I observed. “I know it’s a puppy thing, but it makes it kinda hard to understand you.”
“Oh, sorry. All I wanna do is chew stuff. And there’s so much stuff to chew – it’s everywhere. See, look, if I do it just right,” she grabbed a couple of carpet threads with her little puppy teeth, and pulled. “these really fun pieces just come RIGHT UP!”
I wasn’t too surprised when Zoey’s Mom hoisted her up again, rescuing the soggy, munched-on carpet strands. She wasn’t mad or anything, though.
“Was it hard leaving your litter to become an Only Dog?”
“I did wonder where they all were for a couple of days. But I totally love my humans. I have yummy food and my own comfy crate I don‘t have to share. And Mom got me this pillow that makes sounds just like my litter mom’s heartbeat. I curl up in my crate with my pillow and go right to sleep. And I get to play a LOT! I run all over the place here and at home, too. Me and Mom and Sis play Monkey-in-the-Middle. And I have tons of toys. Mom and Dad say its Outta Control.
“There so much to learn, Mr. Bonzo. I mean, I haven’t even been around for 3 months yet. I’m trying to get the hang of leash walking. Mom says I’m One Smart Puppy ‘cuz I already sit for treats. I mean, duh, learning that was a no-brainer.”
“Word” I said, nodding.
“Mom found out I know the meaning of ‘No!’ I probably shouldn’ta let on about that, so I could, you know, get away with more stuff. But I AM proud of myself. I’m learning how to ring a bell when I have to go Do My Business. That’s coming along pretty good.
“And I’m working on ‘Fetch-Return-Drop.’ I’ve got the Fetch part and the Return part down, but the Drop part, not so much. I mean, after I go through all that work, I just don‘t feel like dropping, ya see what I mean?”
“I do,” I said, remembering that very same thing from my puppyhood.
“I think Fetch-Return-CHEW would work much better,” she said, taking a little nibble at the carpet.
“Have you met any other pooches?” I asked.
“Yep, my human big brother’s pit bulls, Ariel and Stella – I get along great with them. Then there’s Bella, a neighborhood Maltese-poodle. She’s really sweet. But I think I get a little too bouncy, ‘cuz sometimes she gets scared – of ME. I mean, look at me. I think it’s funny, but I try to be polite.”
“Since you’re a water dog, I imagine you swim a lot?”
“Actually, I’m just getting used to it. Mom has to put me in the pool, then I’m fine. And I know where the steps are so I can climb back out. But I’m not quite ready to jump in by myself yet.”
“I think everybody can relate to that,” I thought to myself, as I prepared to leave. Zoey was already chewing her patch of carpet.
