If you ever want to feel young again, and laugh a lot, my advice is to hang out with a puppy, which is what I did this week – and I’m still smiling.
Pandora Orne is a 9 ½-month-old Shi-Tzu who lives with her Mom, Mary, and her two human brothers, Zachary, 15, and her BFF Bradley, 11, in a big house with those skinny windows on both sides of the front door. Soon as we rang the bell, we heard lots of barking and the lacy curtains over the windows started moving. Then we saw this little white fluffy face, big bright eyes and a teeny little nose poke through, first on one side, then over on the other, back and forth.
When the door opened, Pandora’s Mom had scooped her up, still barking and wiggling. Back on the floor, she barked and wiggled all the way to the living room.
“You’re Bonzo, right? You’re gonna write about me in The Paper, right? And take my picture, right? This is my Mom! You can call me Panda, like she does, ‘cuz she says I look like a Panda, which is a bear. Or you can call me PanPan, like Bradley does. He’ll be home from school soon. Or you can call me Pupperoo, like Oliver does. He’s my human nephew. He’s 5.” She took a breath and settled on the couch next to her Mom.
Maybe I’d just call her PanDorable, I thought to myself. She had clipped but still curly hair, white with black places, and a long, curly, black and white tail. Her long fluffy ears were black and framed her face, and her bangs and topknot were cut short, like a Punk Rocker, so she could see out.
“So, Miss Panda, tell me how you met your Forever Family.”
“My Mom got me at a Flea Market in Eau Gallie!”
I had to pause. I was getting itchy just imagining it. “A … er … a … FLEA market? Well, um, how was that working for you?”
She laughed a yippy, puppy laugh. “Oh, silly. There weren’t any actual fleas. Humans just call it that, but nobody knows why. There were lots of humans selling lots of stuff and one big room that was nice and cool and had a bunch of us pooches, all different kinds. The humans treated us really good and tried to find us good homes.
“So, anyway, my future Mom was doing something called Chemo and her Mom had taken her out to do something fun. WELL, she saw ME and wanted me right then and there, I was only about 3 pounds and just 10 weeks old. She picked me up and I didn’t want her to ever put me down. HER Mom thought I’d be Too Much because she was still pretty sick. But Guess What?”
She smiled and sat up really straight.
“What?”
“My Mom got a ride right back the next day and got me anyway and, right away I started helping her get all better. I Lower the Stress Level. I hang out with Mom when she’s feeling poopy, and bounce around when she’s feeling bouncy. I always know just how she’s feeling. I think she was meant to find me, don’t you?”
“Absolutely!” I said sincerely.
The front door opened and Panda flew out of the room, dashing back in with a human boy right behind her. “Mr. Bonzo, THIS is BRADley, home from school. He’ So Fun!”
Bradley flopped onto the couch, reached under it and dragged out a raggedy black cat toy. Panda grabbed one end and it was Game On. “Sheee? Ip’s FUB!”
Pulling her back into the interview, I suggested, “Tell me about your daily life.”
“I sleep downstairs and they all sleep upstairs. Mom got me dog beds but I kept munching them up. Anyway, I prefer the couch, right where Mom sits. So it’s like I’m next to her all night. The lady at the flea market made me a special designer bowl, so it’s always Fine Dining for me. I get kibbles with bison, rice and barley. LOVE it!
“I get leash walks, and my backyard is all fenced. Sometimes we go to Riverview Park, and I get to see my dog buddies. My best dog buddy is my big stepsister Shiloh. And I mean BIG. She’s a Samoyed sled dog and she’s got more energy than even me! She doesn’t live here anymore but she visits a lot! She’s got the thickest white fur I ever saw!
“When I’m home alone, I have a cozy cubby in the laundry room, where I snuggle with my blanket. There’s also a Puppy Poo Pad so I can Do my Duties. Mom says I’m Girly: I love going to the dog salon. I get bathes with special soap – Almond Oatmeal’s my fav. And I get my nails and fur clipped.”
She zipped off into the laundry room, returned with one of Bradley’s gym sox, plopped it down in front of me and raced back for the other one. “Doncha just LOVE these?”
“Yes! Thanks for sharing!” I told her. “I don’t know of any pooch who doesn’t dig the smell of a nice, sweaty gym sock, ‘specially if it belongs to one of their very own humans.”
The time had gone by fast. Heading home, I was still feeling young at heart, thinking about the happy little puppy with all the nicknames. To me she’d always be PanDorable.