A coupla weeks back I got a woofmail from a black Lab rescue pooch, Jasmine Bowden, who lives over on the beach with two black retriever step-brothers an their Mom an Dad. She wondered whether I’d be innersted in doin’ an innerview.
“Well, SURE,” I woofmailed back.
Three waggy an sociable pooches were at the door to greet my assistant an me. I spotted Jasmine right away. She was real (real) pretty, very graceful, smaller than her brothers (big, handsome poocheroos). After the Wag-an-Sniffs, Jasmine said, “It’s just lovely to meet you, Mr. B. This is our Mom, Stuart, an our Dad, Lee. He’s a sea captain. We call him Capt. Dad. And these two sea dogs are my big brothers. They’re PIE-rats! Capt. Jack Sparrow’s a total Lab, with Papers, but he was raised by Chesapeake Bay retrievers so he thinks he’s part Chessie, especially near water. Capt. Flint, the big guy with the long, curly coat, he’s a rescue like me. He’s part Flat Coat Retriever an part Burmese Mountain Dog. I think he looks very majestic! An I’m Princess Jasmine, Leader of the Crew.”
“Cool Kibbles,” I thought to myself. “Ahoy, everyone! Request permission to come aboard.”
They laughed. “Granted, Mr. B.,” Jasmine giggled. Durin’ the innerview, Jasmine, Jack an Flint kept givin’ my assistant frenly nose bumps. Most retrievers, I’ve observed, keep their puppy joyfulness their whole lives.
“I’m eager to hear your story, Princess Jasmine.”
“You may call me Jazz. Jack an Flint were already here when I arrived. Capt. Dad had always had three pooches, but, about 5 years ago they were down to two, so him an Mom were lookin’ on the Innernet for a Girl Lab. They got all signed up with Florida Lab Rescue – went through a long process to be sure they’d be good Pet Parents. Finally they got a call about a Puppy Possibility: ME, of course. I was just a fuzzball puppy, an was livin’ in a liddle crate for, like, 12 hours a day, which was NO FUN. I was Very Depressed.
“Soggy Dog Biscuits!” I sympathized.
“Totes! So Capt. Dad an Mom came to visit an see if we were MFEO …”
“Um, what’s, MFEO?”
“Meant For Each Other, of course,” she said. “Anyway, Jack an Flint hadda be there, too, to make sure we’d all get along. At first I was real shy an app-ree-HEN-sive, but Capt. Dad an Mom an Jack an Flint all unnerstood, an they were real patient. So, finally, the Florida Lab Rescue people decided we were com-PAT-ubble, and I got a Forever Famly.”
“That’s a wonderful story, Jazz!” I exclaimed.
“When I first got home, I didn’t know how to play. (I KNOW! How weird is that?) But then Jack started nosin’ a tennis ball around, an pretty soon I was Playin’! With him.”
“That’s true,” Jack interjected. “After a while, your personality totally changed, didn’t it, Jazz?”
“Sure did. That’s when I became Leader of the Crew. Jack an Flint told me us Labs LOVE to play in the water. I couldn’t see the fun in splashin’ around in my water dish, makin’ a mess, but then – they showed me the POOL. Capt. Dad gently coaxed me off the stairs into the water, an I tried to do what Jack an Flint were doin.’ It looked easy, but the more I paddled like crazy with my front paws, the more my caboose sunk like a rock. Finally, after a few snoot-fulls of water, I learned how to balance. Now I LOVE swimming.’
“Almost every day, at 4:30 On The Nose, we’re at the door, waitin’ for Capt. Dad to get home in the Jeep, so we can go to the Dog Park. Flint’s the Mayor of the Dog Park. He greets every single pooch, an, if there’s a con-frun-TAY-shun, he tries to get everybody to chill. I think he’s runnin’ for office.
“Me an Jack love playin’ in the ocean, too! Jack’s great at body surfin’! Flint mostly hangs out on the beach. We wish there was a Dog Beach here, though. We go to Walton Rocks Beach, down in Martin County. It’s very popular, tons of dogs. The pooches are Well Behaved. Everybody picks up their own Poop.”
“Got any pooch pals?”
“Sure! Maggie Johnson, she’s a Chocolate Lab. She gets to come with her Mom an Dad when we have a party. Mom an Capt. Dad call it a Cock Tail Party, but Me an Maggie haven’t EVER seen any chiggens around. Probly cuz we’re too busy playin.’ Up in Vermont, we play with Bear, a Golden Retriever. An sometimes she comes down to visit us. An I’m pretty sure Handsome Capt. Flint is crushin’ on Lexie, a cool mix we see at the Dog Park.”
Flint, who’d been snoozing,’ raised his head, winked at me and said “Humpff!”
“I know you all came from different places. Do you enjoy travelin’?”
“We LOVE ridin’ in the way back seat of Capt. Dad’s big ol’ Jeep. But when him an Mom go onna big trip, WE get to go to a reSORT!”
“Say what?”
“It’s Maximum Cool Dog Biscuits! It’s wa-ay out in the Boonies on the Adams Ranch. We get our own 3-bed suite so we can be together. There’s a TV and a pickshur window so we can look out at the horses an stuff, an a dog door so we can go outside an play. It’s totally PAWSOME isn’t it, guys?”
“Totally!” said Jack.
“Pooch Perfect!” agreed Flint.
Heading home, I was pickshuring Jazz, Jack an Flint hanging out at Walton Rocks Beach, an imagining how nice it is to have a dog-frenly beach close to home.
Till next time,
The Bonz