This week I visited two beautiful lady pooches – Ali and Ziggy Franzel – interior designers who work with their human at her studio on Royale Palm Pointe. They’re spaniels, like me, but they’re English Cockers, and me, I’m a Springer.
We met at their office ‘cuz that’s where they spend most of their time. Before we even reached for the doorknob, Ali and Ziggy were right there, noses against the glass, bark-bark-barking Hello. Their human sister Allyson works there, too and soon as she came to the door, they stopped barking. Right away Ziggy (a black-and-tan with a silky coat) came up for the Wag-and-Sniff. Ali (a blue roan with coarser hair) opted for the Sit-and-Look.
“I KNEW it was you!” said Ziggy, doing a little prancy step. “The BONZ! Cool Dog Biscuits! Come on back to the conference room.”
There was this long, important looking table with chairs around it. “Just sit anywhere,” Ziggy said. Ali jumped into a chair. I figured that’s the way they rolled here, so I did, too, sorta expecting to hear someone yell “GET DOWN!” But no one did. It was a first for me.
Ziggy made introductions. “This is our Mommy, Page, and you met Allyson up front. I’m Ziggy, she’s Ali,“ Ziggy pointed to where Ali sat, paws on the table.
Ziggy leaned over and said, behind her paw, “Ali’s the Silent Type, but she’s the boss. I call her a diva. She thinks she’s a princess. But that’s fine by me. I’m a tomboy and I sorta protect her. And I tell Mommy if she needs something – or if she gets into something.”
“I heard that,” Ali said. She didn’t look peeved. She might’ve even been smiling.
“So, tell me how you found your Forever Family,” I urged.
“OK. Well, our human Daddy, Jerry, got real sick – had to have Treatments – and when he got home from that, him and Mommy went to see the dog show out at the fairgrounds. They saw some English Cocker Spaniels (like us) and thought they were totally adorable. I mean, who wouldn’t, right?”
“Totes!” I replied.
“They decided right then and there to get one for, you know, companionship. The breeders had one puppy they were gonna show, ‘cuz her dog parents were both champions. She was a Perfect Specimen ‘cept for one teeensy thing – she had an overbite, so they decided to sell her instead. That was Ali. So Mommy and Great-Grandmommy went to meet her. The breeder let all the puppies come out to say hello and I was one of ‘em! Me and Ali are step sisters and we’d been BFF’s since birth almost. We’re 7 now.
“Anyway, Mommy didn’t want to split us up, thank Lassie, so we both got to go home with her! We fit in right away. We both have these big, long kennel names, but Mommy and Daddy changed them. Mommy says Ali’s the calm, quiet one and I’m a Wiggly-Butt, different as A and Z. So they named us Ali and Ziggy. Get it? Cool, huh?”
“Absolutely.”
“And, LOOK. We have our own ID cards. They look ‘zackly like humans’ driver licenses.” Ziggy was right. Wa-ay cool.
“So whaddya do for fun?” I asked
“We go to the Dogs for Life Park a lot, mostly to chase squirrels. That’s probably our favorite thing to do. We sit at the bottom of their tree, look real serious, and STARE. Drives ‘em Nuts! If I see a squirrel when Mommy’s leash-walking me, I sometimes drag her along. I just can’t help it, but she says, It’s Going to Have to Stop.
“We love to go for car drives, too. I sit where I’m s’pose to, but Ali always wants to put her paws on the back of the driver’s seat to help drive.
“Mommy took us to the beach a coupla times. Those waves with the soapsuds kept trying to catch us when we weren’t looking. We barked at ‘em and they ran away but they just kept coming back. We don’t like the beach.
“We have lots of toys. Mommy buys two of everything. I call ‘em my babies. Every night before bed, I pick one of my babies to sleep with. Ali doesn’t give a woof until I choose one. Then SHE has to get it. We do a lot of Tug-of-War. But it’s just play.”
Allyson walked in and picked Ziggy up. Ziggy wrapped her paws around her and put her head on Allyson’s shoulder. She looked sorta like a fluffy black-and-tan koala. “This is the BEST!” she said. Ali had moved from her chair onto her Mommy’s lap and was gazing right into her face, from about 3 inches away. I could see that these two pooches were born to snuggle.
Over her shoulder, Ziggy said, “We want to be wherever Mommy is. We give her lots of helpful interior design ideas, but the most important thing – I know Ali agrees – is being loving companions. ‘Specially since Daddy went to heaven, we always want to make sure Mommy’s OK and knows we are nearby.
Heading home, I thought how lucky it was that that kennel didn’t have an orthodontist, or Ali and Ziggy would never have found their Forever Family. I also realized how much love and happiness Ali and Ziggy and lots of other pooches give to their humans. It’s probably the most important job that we, as dogs, have.
Till next time,
The Bonz