Victoria Herendeen is super energetic, with personality plus. She’s just 2, so she’s got lotsa puppy in her still. You know, learnin’ a lotta stuff, but can’t wait to get on to the next fun thing.
When I found out Victoria is a Keeshond/Schipperke/Mini Australian Shepherd/cattle dog mix, I thought to myself, “Huh?”
So I Googled and found out some stuff: For hundreds of years, Keeshonds guarded river barges along the Rhine; the slightest thing can get them barking. Schipperkes also guarded barges, and this kinda pooch’d be a great second mate for a boat owner. They bark for entertainment as well as danger. The mini-Shepherds love to play, an never outgrow the puppy stage and they and the cattle dogs are hard-wired to herd. After yapping with Victoria, I could see them all in her.
Victoria and her Mom and Dad, Lisa an Mark, were waiting for me and my assistant at their office.
“Bark, bark, bark, bark, bark!” said Victoria, bouncing an wagging happily around me and my assistant, til her Mom an Dad said to stop.
“Oops! Right!” said Victoria. She executed a neat Wag-and-Sniff, followed by introductions all ’round. Then she said, with a big smile, “Woof! Mr. Bonzo, I think I got that right, didn’t I? I’ve been practicin’! So this is our office. We can sit over here at the table?”
Victoria is neat and pretty. She mostly looks like a Schipperke, ’cept they’re ushully black, an she’s white, except for her head. And she has pointy, stand-up-straight ears. Her tail is bushy, like the Keeshond, but hers doesn’t curl up.
“I’m ready to hear your story, Miss Victoria.”
“Mom and Dad got me when I was 4 months old. I was with my seven littermates. They were fallin’ all over themselves to be cute, but I kinda hung out over to the side, ponderin’. Anyhoo, Mom wanted a dog. Dad had a dog in college but it was Big. A Dobie. An I was Small. So he’s like, ‘WELLLL, I’m just not SUUURE. I gotta THINK about it.’
“I had decided I wanted ’em to be my Forever Family. But they’re headin’ for the gate. So I run over to the gate like, ‘Hey, guys, did you forget something? What about ME? Hey! Wait UP!’ I wanted to tell Dad it’s only my body that’s small. The rest of me is Totally Big Dog. I knew he’d find that out if he’d just give me a chance.”
“Obviously, it all worked out,” I said.
“Yes, Thank Lassie! For a while there, I thought I’d missed the Doggie Door of Opportunity.”
“Timing is everything. So, what’s life like these days?”
“FUN, Mr. Bonzo! Most Friday evenings at 6, me an Mom an Dad meet up with a buncha other pooches and their humans for our Weekly Dog Walk! We all ushully go out to dinner after. Didja know Melbourne’s real Pooch Frenly? My favorite place is Mustard’s Last Stand. They have ‘Fido Friendly’ seating. Friday Fest is also fun. Lotsa new humans and pooches to meet.
“Mom says I’m a Conversation Starter. The Keys are totally Pooch Frenly, too. Have ya been down? It’s Pooch Heaven! In Islamorada, I hang out with Lily, an at home it’s my neighbor, Ziggy, an also my step-cats, MollyGale and Dittie. I scooch stealthily though the grass on my tummy, just like them.”
“Cats. You don’t say. Whaddya do for exercise?”
“I love bein’ in the water. After I hadda have knee surgery, I even did water rehab at the vet’s. I also enjoy runnin’ on the beach. An boats: the paddle board, the kayak, the cat, any of ’em.
“My first sailboat ride was on Dad’s shoulder. Didn’t take me long to get my Seapaws. And, since we don’t have any ackshull cows or sheep to herd, I herd boats. I leap from one to another and pull on the ropes and try to bunch ’em together.
“Back when I was real little, Dad took me out on his paddle board. It was PAWsome. But I accidentally fell off. WELL, Dad totally freaked out. But I just dog paddled back to shore. I mean, hellOO.”
“So. What kinda work do you do?”
“We’re Real-Tors. I’m not certain what Pretend Tors are, but we’re the real ones. We sell houses an stuff. I’m Office Greeter and Shredder. I attend client meetings, cuz I have a good instink for humans. I can tell if they’re nice, or not. Mostly they’re nice. I’m also the Night Watchdog and believe me, Mr. Bonzo, when I bark my Big, Serious Bark, nobody’d ever dream I wasn’t a Big Dog.”
“Umm, you said Shredder. What, exactly, does that enTAIL?”
“Er, well, I like to, on occasion, you know, eat paper. One time I ate something Dad called a Check. He got pretty upset. He said, ‘Oh, FINE! NOW I’m gonna hafta call this guy and tell him ‘My Dog Ate Your Check.’ I mean, how was I to know?”
I tried really hard not to laugh. “Any favorite treats?”
“Sure. Chicken and lamb jerky. And the Mailman always has treats for me. I wait by the mail slot every day. Even the Substitute Mail Person has treats. Oh, an, guess what? I took a Behavior Course at Petco and got a real diPLOma! That’s an Important Paper you’re not s’pose to chew up or pee on. I think Mom’s gonna hang it on the wall.”
I was still smiling when we said our goodbyes.
Heading home, I was thinking about how happy and frenly and enthusiastic little Miss Victoria is about life. I wish somebody could put all that in a spray can so we could spray it on Grumps.