This week I yapped with a sweet little rescue poocheroo, Caly Galpin, who’s only been with her Forever Family for a coupla months.
Caly lives in Sebastian with her human Mom an Dad, Chrissy and Rob, an her adopted brother Buddy, who’s also a rescue. Caly’s a mix of probly some kinda spaniel, a little Beagle, an maybe a dash of Labrador. She’s short and tidy, white hair with some really light tan places, a very Lab-by face and a bright sparkly eye. (Her other eye-place is closed.) She looked very pretty in her bright red collar with a big red rose on it. She trotted right up for the Wag-an-Sniff, then led us into a sunny room by the pool.
“Mommy reads your column to us every week. It’s Totally Cool Dog Biscuits! I can’t buh-LIEVE we’re gonna be IN it! I got all spiffed up SPECIAL.”
“Well, you look lovely, Miss Caly,” I told her. We were already sittin’ when an older pooch with a real sharp cocoa-colored coat slowly wobbled in. His caboose wasn’t workin’ right so his Mommy gave him a little boost.
“This is Buddy,” Caly said. “He doesn’t see or hear so good. BUDDY!” she said loudly, “THIS is Mr. BONzo, from the NEWSpaper. He’s doin’ an INNERview with us.”
“HOW’S THAT? NEWPAPER? AREN’T WE ’SPOSE TO GO OUTSIDE? WHO’S THIS YOUNG FELLA?”
Caly got real close to Buddy’s ear, an explained again.
“WELL, HELLO THERE, YOUNG FELLA!” he said. “I DON’T DO THE WAG-N-SNIFF THESE DAYS. CABOOSE ISSUES, YA KNOW.” He smiled, plopped down on a comfy cushion an nodded off.
Caly turned to me. “He’s super old: hundred-five in Dog. He’s mostly a terrier. Him an Chester are my Pawsome Older Brothers. We’re all rescues.”
“Chester?” I asked, looking around.
With a little sniffle, Caly said, “Chester was a wonnerful brother. A Chow/Akita. A Big, Hairy Guy. He just went to Dog Heaven last week.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry!”
“Thank you, Mr. Bonzo. We miss him So Much. But he had a real good life since he got rescued. Mommy and Daddy got him and Buddy when they were livin’ in Connecticut. They were Official Greeters in Mommy’s flower shop. They were always tellin’ me about all their adVENchures back in their Younger Days. Like one time, everybody heard Buddy yelp real loud. He’d been nosing around an ran into a PORKA-pine and got a snoot fulla of quills. Then, one time, Chester came up to the house with this cridder in his mouth. It was black with a white stripe, an he thought it’d be a nice surprise, an Mommy and Daddy’d be all pleased. But they weren’t. He hadda have a whole buncha baths and couldn’t go in the regular house for days.”
“Oh, Woof!” I exclaimed. “Connecticut sounds real exciting. So, what about yourself. How did you join the famly?”
“Back in April somebody just dropped me off at the Humane Society. I was a mess, Mr. Bonzo. I had a bad eye and a buncha bad teeth. An a heart murmur. Plus, I’m about 10, not a puppy like lotsa humans want. But I figured, doggone it, it isn’t over til the Coyote Howls, ya know, so I did my best to be frenly an polite. I guess it worked, cuz the Humane Society humans got me all spiffed up. They gave me a lovely bath. I had an eye operation, too. Now I have just one, but it works good! An they took out 25 teeth.
“Meanwhile, Mommy had started volunteering with the Humane Society when they all moved down here in 2013. She reads to the pooches so they get conf-tubble, an one day she came into my kennel to read to me. I just KNEW she was my MOMMY (but she didn’t know it yet). She read to me for two hours, an I kept snuggling and poking my nose into her bag, cuz I smelled SNACKS. She even rubbed my tummy.
“But, by the time Mommy and Daddy decided to adopt me, I had already been spoken for. I was just about to plot my escape when that deal fell through, thank Lassie, and Mommy and Daddy scooped me up. I was SO happy. So that’s how I found my Forever Family.
“I met my older brothers an my Daddy an we all got along right away. We’re a calm, quiet kinda family. I caught on to the House Rules pretty quick. Mommy and Daddy tell their frens they CAN teach an old dog new tricks an, for some reason, everybody laughs. (I guess it’s a human thing.)
“That’s a great story, Miss Caly. Thanks for sharing! Got any special toys?”
“I don’t care much for toys. I do love goin’ for rides, though. Sometimes (she giggled) I pretend I hafta Do My Doodie so Mommy takes me out. Then I zip over to the car an put on my Hopeful Face.
“I follow Mommy everywhere so I don’t miss Whatever’s Next. Then, when Daddy comes home, I jump in his lap. I guess I’m sorta a Daddy’s Girl. If he isn’t payin’ attention, I just bop him with my paw til he does. He got me an Buddy special banDANuhs from his work. We wear ’em for holidays. They say Dyer SUE-buh-Rooo, cuz that’s where Daddy works. My favorite’s the pink one cuz it looks pretty with my white coat. Buddy likes the blue one.”
“What’s your favorite food?” I inquired.
“I’m not picky at all. I only have 10 teeth, so it’s gotta be soft. My favorite food is Green Beans. There’s nothing like a good Green Bean, I say. Sometimes I even sneak some of Buddy’s.”
Heading home, I was thinking that it’s ’specially nice when humans adopt older pooches (even if they’re wobbly in the caboose or don’t see or hear so good). All pooches (cats, too) deserve to spend The Golden Years somewhere comfy an safe, with a family who loves them, an lots of their favorite snacks, doncha agree?
Till next time,
The Bonz