This week I hadda fun innerview with a coupla “brothers,” Bear and Boss McNamee. Bear’s a 9-year-old, 80-pound Chocolate Lab – an easygoing dude. Boss, on the other paw, is a joyful, bounce-y, leap-y Toy Fox Terrier, weighing in at 3 pounds. An those EARS! If he didn’t have something to hold him down, I’m preddy sure a big gust of wind would just blow him right down the street.
As Official Spokespooch, Bear innerduced himself an Boss an their Mom, Dionne an Dad, Pat. “It’s great meeting you, Bonz. Love your work. There sure are some innersting pooches down here. We just moved from Vur-GIN-yuh last fall, an we’ve already made a buncha cool poocheroo frens.”
“Thanks, Bear,” I replied. “You’re right about that. The dogs around here are tops! So, how’d you an Boss an your Forever Mom an Dad find each other?”
“Well, back in Vur-GIN-yuh, Mom an Dad hadda sweet Black Lab named Glory, an they decided to get her a liddle brother, which ended up bein’ ME. I joined the famly in 2010, when I was just an 8-week-old fluffball. Right from the start, Glory was a great Big Sister. Taught me lotsa Basic Pooch Stuff. Sorta like another Mama. Then, three years ago, she went to Dog Heaven. I missed her So Much.
“During my Only Dog Years, me an Mom an Dad did a lotta TRAVlin.’ I’ve seen the Brooklyn Bridge; Chicago; Washington, D.C. (I think that stands for Dog City); Bourbon Street; an North Carolina, to visit my human sister, Beth. She’s Cool Kibbles!
“Then me an Mom an Dad moved to a condo. They’d been thinkin’ about getting’ another pooch to help me feel bedder, but the condo had an Only One Dog rool. Since we’d spent some winters down her an liked it, Mom an Dad decided ‘What the woof, we’ll just move down PERM-uh-nutly.’ So we DID. Last October.”
Boss started bouncin’ around. “Oooo, oooo, we’re getting’ to the part about ME. Be sure to write all this down, Mr. Bonzo! Okay?”
“Absolutely, Boss,” I assured him. “K-9’s Honor!”
“Anyhow, Mom an Dad read up on what kinda liddle dog’d be best for me. An they found out that Toy Fox Terriers are sorta modified regular Smooth Fox Terriers, mixed with a liddle Chihuahua an a liddle Italian Greyhound.”
“I wanna tell this part,” innerupted Boss. “See, so, us Toy Fox Terriers usta keep rats outta farmers’ barns. I don’t like to talk about how, though. Uck! An some of us are also circus dogs, cuzza bein’ so smart. But the main reason Mom an Dad decided on my breed is cuzza us bein’ loyal, loving, devoted, playful and really good lap sitters. PLUS, we are happy in any in-VIRE-mutt.
“So they found a place in North Carolina with a litter coming any minute. They got to pick out their puppy from online video an they picked the smallest pooch with the biggest personality – ME – the runt of the litter.”
“So,” Bear took up the tail, “last Christmas Mom an Dad gave me the Best. Present. Ever.”
“ME! I was Bear’s present!” said Boss, bouncing up-an-down.
“At first, though,” Bear said, “I was like ‘Seriously? What IS this scrawny liddle tidbit?’ I didn’t know whether to play with it or have it for lunch. So I did some Initial Grrring. But the liddle fluffmuffin just kept puppyin’ all over the place. Truth be told, Bonz, he was just so goofy an likeable, an I had been a liddle lonely.”
Boss punk-chew-waited Bear’s words by bouncing right on top of him. They rolled around on the floor, making playful, rollin’-around noises, Bear, amazingly, not squashing his tiny liddle brother.
“I’m all grown up now,” Boss said, pulling Bear’s ear.
“If you call 3 pounds grown up,” Bear replied, nose-bumping his liddle bro.
“Three anna HALF,” corrected Boss firmly. “Three anna HALF pounds!”
“Oops! Sorry!” said Bear with a grin anna wink, wrapping his mouth gently around Boss’ entire head.
Boss kicked his legs gleefully. “Cool, huh?” he said, popping up an nibblin’ Bear’s nose.
“Woof!” I exclaimed. Then, “So, how do you poocheroos like it down her so far?”
“We love it,” said Bear. “’Specially the beach. An the pool. I love swimming.’ Boss, not so much.”
“I love baths, though,” declared Boss. “I get SINK baths cuz I’m Sink Size.”
“We’ve got lotsa pooch pals,” Bear continued. “On Christmas I played with our human brother Mike’s Cavachon, Holly. Boss didn’t cuz Holly’s Very Energetic. We see Costa an Oakley (they’re Yellow Labs), Reggie (he’s a Wheaton Terrier), and Smedley, a black puppy, on our walks. An I play in the back yard, but Boss doesn’t.
“Since I’m the Handy Snack Size, I can’t play in the yard with Bear, cuzza Hawks, Owls an Bobcats,” said Boss. “So I stay on the pool deck.”
“I guess I should admit,” admitted Bear, “I am a Chewer. You know, The Usual: sunglasses, shoes, the remote. An, um, also, I might, on occasion, nab Mom an Dad’s food, like, last year, I ate Dad’s birthday cake. It was Carrot Cake. Delicious! An healthy! (Carrots are veg-tubbles, you know.) An then there was the Pork Loin Adventure.”
“Oooo, I remember that one!” Boss added helpfully.
I was smilin’ all the way home, thinking of those two brothers an Best Frens: a gentle, patient, 80-pound Big Brother, anna bouncy, 3-(anna HALF)-pound liddle brother.
Till next time,
The Bonz
