This week I had the BEST time yapping with a coupla terriers, Arthur an Morrigan Lougheed. They were from different litters, born the same time an place. Arthur’s a white Westie and Morrigan’s a black Scottie, an, ’cept for the color, they looked just like each other, with short liddle legs, mustaches, an floppy eyebrows, an those stick-uppy ears. Their personalities, though, were TOTALLY different.
Arthur
Arthur welcomed me an my assistant with enthusiastic bouncin’ an waggin.’ Everything he said seemed like it had an exclamation mark after it.
“O-boy, o-boy, o-boy! We’re so excited to get our own innerview! With a PICK-shur! I’m Arthur, this is my sister, Morrigan, an our Daddy an Mommy, David an Sheila.”
Following the Wag-an-Sniff, Morrigan said, “My silly brother tends to get very excited about pretty much everything. He’s right, though: We ARE excited about our innerview. You’ve no doubt noticed my lovely necklace. I think it goes nicely with my luxurious black hair, don’t you agree?”
She sat up very straight and cocked her head.
“Absolutely, Miss Morrigan,” I said. “I’m duhlighted to meet you both, an eager to hear your story whenever you’re ready.”
Morrigan
They sat side by side. Morrigan began. “It all started up in Cuh-netty-cut, when Mommy an Daddy lost their third Westie. It was so uh-MOTION-ull, Daddy said they should take a Dog Break for a while. Then, like, two days later, Daddy came bounding down the stairs all excited. He told Mommy he was just casually lookin’ On Line, an found a kennel, Fox Creek Farm in Pencil-vain-yuh, that had a lidder of Scotties (mine) an a lidder of Westies (Arthur’s).”
“So much for the Dog Break,” Arthur said. “Mommy an Daddy wanted a girl anna boy, black or white, Westie or Scottie, didn’t matter.”
“If you can buhLEEVE it,” said Morrigan, “I was the ONLY girl of both lidders. So it was gonna be ME an one of the boys.”
“Cuz we were all the same age, the kennel humans had put us together in one big, wiggly puppy bunch right away,” said Arthur.
“The humans decided to let ME pick the boy, cuz we hadda be com-PAT-tubble,” Morrigan explained. “It wasn’t hard. Me an Arthur got along right away. I’m sophisticated. I always know what the Woof is. (I’m pretty sure I’m descended from royalty.) Obviously, Arthur needed someone like me cuz he’s such a, well (an I say this with the greatest respect an affection), a Knucklehead. For example, at the kennel, when Mommy came over to pick us up, he bounced up an down yapping, ‘Are you my Mommy? Are you my Mommy? Are you my Mommy?’ I thought he was gonna wag his tail right off.”
Arthur laughed. “Well, YOU sat wa-ay over in the farthest corner with your back to everybody. Then you checked Mommy an Daddy out over one shoulder, and gave this Big Sigh. You’re lucky Mommy an Daddy didn’t hand you right back. Plus, if you recall, during the ride home, I happily explored the car. YOU threw up on Mommy.”
“Did you have to mention that?” Morrigan huffed. “It was a new experience, an I have delicate sensibiIities.” She turned to me. “We really get along just fine. He’s a Goofball. I’m the Queen.”
“Tell me about your life now,” I suggested.
“I do occasionally get In Trouble an get put on Probation,” Arthur admitted. “I’m adventurous. It’s the Call of the Wild. I’m an expert at diggin,’ rollin’ and investigatin.’”
Morrigan interrupted. “The last time he was pure white was when Mommy an Daddy first brought us home. It only took him a week to figure out he could crawl under the porch. An that was that. Now he comes home from all that silly diggin,’ rollin’ and investigatin’ with mud knee sox, burrs stickin’ his eyebrows together an sticks tangled in his mustache.”
Ignoring his sister, Arthur continued, “We love the dog parks an the Fort Pierce leash-free dog beach. I run back an forth for miles, wind in my ears, sand in my paws.”
“Yuck,” Morrigan sniffed. “I prefer to remain on my blanket by the cooler, in the shade of Daddy. I choose not to exhaust myself. Arthur gets totally covered with sand, nose to caboose. He looks like an Ewok.”
“She’s had her share of adventures,” Arthur winked at me. “Tell Bonzo about that time Daddy was getting’ ready to get Mommy at the airport an couldn’t find me.”
Morrigan rolled her eyes. “I was right there by the stairs. Arthur was missing. Daddy searched the neighborhood, then called the pleece. Turns out they had Arthur down at the station. Daddy hadda bail him out.”
“This is the best part,” Arthur interjected. “Daddy was getting the bail money out, an he said, ‘At least Morrigan is a good girl.’ The pleeceman said, ‘Oh, the liddle black one? She ran away before we could catch her.’ Morrigan thought she had Daddy fooled, cuz she snuck back home before he knew she was gone.”
I couldn’t help myself, I laughed. With a twinkle in her eye, Morrigan said, “Yes, I can be pretty speedy if I need to.”
“Me an Arthur always know when our parents need us. When Mommy used to have a lotta surgery, we’d sit with her an gently put our head or paw over the spot. We can really help Mommy an Daddy feel much better when they’re sad or sick.”
With a liddle lump in my throat, I said, “I know. I used to do that for my Mom, too.”
Till next time,
The Bonz