This week I interviewed a giddy little girl pooch named Tiki Taco Tuesday Seba. She’s a Yorkiepoo and she was SO bouncy and SO happy, I was still smiling all the next day!
She Bounced when she greeted me and my Assistant at the door. She Bounced right up for the “Wag(Bounce)-and-Sniff.” She Bounced when the rest of us were getting settled in. Well, you get the idea. The only time she wasn’t Bouncing was when she was playing Fetch-the-Squeaky-Pig with my Assistant. Then she was pretty much Flying. But she still managed to introduce us all and to tell her story.
“I’m really excited that you’re gonna write about ME. I mean, I’m only 7 months old, so I’m still learnin’ stuff. This is my Mom and Dad, Pam and Stacey. I’m Tiki Taco Tuesday Seba. You can call me Tiki. Or Taco. Or Tuesday. Or like Mom and Dad sometimes do – Tiki Tock or Leaky Tiki (but not that one so much anymore, since I do better now, cuz I’m all grown up almost).
“I think Tiki will work very well, young lady,” I said. “So, tell me how you and your Mom and Dad got together.”
“OK. Well, Mom and Dad had a dog, Bella, who went to Dog Heaven, and another dog, Molly, who was blind. So, one day, they were at this big building with lotsa of Stuff for Sale and lots of humans all over the place – called a Flea Market. But I never saw any fleas and I don’t know why anybody’d want fleas anyhow. So, there was this nice part of it where they were selling puppies. Fresh picked, not flown in. A bunch of us puppies were hanging out. Most of ‘em were snoozing but I was all excited cuz I love people and, I don’t know if you noticed, I LOVE Bouncing. So I was doin’ a lotta that!”
“As a matter of fact, I did notice,” I told her, smiling behind my paw, and writing really fast.
“Mom and Dad never had a small dog before, but they picked me cuz I was so cute and FRENly, and I only weighed 2 ½ pounds. Which isn’t that much. I took to ‘em right away, and I got along real well with Molly pretty quick, too, soon as I learned not to jump in her face. She’s in Dog Heaven with Bella now. She taught me a bunch of Important Dog Stuff. Specially potty Training. Molly useta let me go outside with her so I could practice Doing My Duty like the Big Dogs do. I still sometimes go on papers in the shower, but I’m doing Much Better.”
As Tiki told her story, she was zipping back and forth. I felt like I was watching a tennis match. I was getting a little dizzy.
“Bein’ around humans is The Best!” Tiki continued. “My boyfriend is Greg. He’s a Human. He lives across the street. When I hear his voice, I Beeline right over. PLUS, his dog Jake and me are dog buddies. He’s bigger’n me. But that doesn’t scare me. I love Big Dogs. They’re Wa-ay Cool. And they aren’t yappy. When we go to the Dog Park, I try to jump over the fence into the Big Dog Section.”
“You have a lotta Spunk,” I told her.
“I KNOW! When we had that Hurry-cane I wasn’t scared one bit. I loved splashing in the Hurry-cane puddles. But guess what, Mr. Bonzo. I went to Obedience School at the Humane Society and there was a Standard Poodle in my class named Bear. I could run under his tummy without ducking. We had fun. But, me and Bear, well, we’re Obedience School Drop-outs.”
“Not every pooch needs a Formal Education,” I observed diplomatically.
“That’s what I said, too! But sometimes I forget The Rules. Specially Rule No. 11: Paper Products Are NOT Toys! But Bonzo, when you find a nice big, soft roll of toilet paper, well, do you KNOW how much FUN that is?”
I nodded.
“When I do Get Into Stuff, Totally By Accident, I try to be Cool and Not Let On. But Mom says she always knows cuz I have this strut. She gets me every time. She’s really smart.
“I run around here chasin’ lizards – but not catchin’ ‘em. And Mom and Dad haf to watch out for Birds of Prey so they don’t swoop down and GRAB me. Mom sez I’m just the right size for a Hawk’s Lunch. But I’d just punch that ol’ hawk right in the beak! I’d show HIM!”
“I have no doubt,” I said. “But it’s better to be on the safe side.”
“True. This neighborhood is so frenly. Mom takes me for rides around the hood in her bike basket; I get chewy rawhide bones from my vet; I hang out on the lanai. I help Mom ‘Garden,’ which I found out just means digging in the dirt. Sometimes Mom takes me to H.A.L.O. (that animal shelter in Sebastian) when she goes there to help paint shelves.
“Oh, and, I love cheese!! Do you love cheese? My Dad loves cheese a LOT! When I hear the cheese wrapper crinkling, I rush to the kitchen and give dad my Big Puppy Eyes. So, of course, he gives me a piece of cheese.
“Mom and Dad use ta have this RULE: No Dogs In Bed. They NEVER EVER let their OTHER dogs sleep with them. But Mom says I wormed my way into their hearts. So they changed the rule. And now I get to snuggle with ‘em.”
Heading home I was smiling, thinking about happy, bouncy little Tiki Taco Tuesday. And about cheese.
Till next time,
The Bonz
