At 15 months old, Molly Graham still has a whole lotta puppy in her. She’s a real pretty Maltese/Yorkie mix, a handy, portable-size pooch (8 pounds of fluffy energy) whose Mission in Life is to be soft, cute and irresistibly loveable. And she totally nails it!
Immediately after out knock, there was lotsa yappin’ and toenail clickitys. Molly’d been scooped up by the time the door opened, an a frenly lady greeted us, Molly wiggling in her arms.
“HI, Mr. Bonzo!! It’s ME, MOLLY GRAHAM! I got all brushed just for YOU! SEE?”
“I’m delighted to meet you, Miss Molly!” I knew right away this was gonna be a Totally Crispy Dog Biscuits innerview. The lady placed Molly on the floor, where she began dancin’ around me an my assistant.
“OOPS!,” she said, stopping abruptly. “I keep forgetting the, um, that waggy thing. What is it again?”
“The Wag-an-Sniff,” I prompted her.
“Oh, RIGHT!” She trotted up an executed a quite proper, if wiggly, Dog Greeting.
“This is my MaeMae, Donna. When do I get to tell you about me? Now? Are you gonna write it down? Are you gonna take my pickshur?”
“You can start whenever you’re ready, Miss Molly, an I’ll write it all down in this very notebook.” (I opened it.) “A special fuh-TAH-gruffer is gonna take your pickshur a little later. So just tell me how you found your MaeMae, an how your life’s been going, so far.”
Molly licked the notebook and began her story, which she told without ever ackshully coming to a complete stop. Mostly, she an her MaeMae played fetch with a soggy, munched-on, squeaky leopard. Between the Toss-Zoom-Fetch-Repeats, she bounced about in front of me, talking all the while. Totally fun.
“What happened was, MaeMae hadda pooch named Abbey (liddle, like me) who got to be real old (117 in dog years) an went to Dog Heaven. Then, MaeMae’s huzz-bun also went to Heaven, an MaeMae was all alone. Well, her daughter decided she Totally Needed Another Pooch.” Molly paused in front of me and said earnestly, “Even though I’m real young, Mr. Bonzo, I already know how important us pooches are to humans, ’specially when they’re feeling Very Sad an Lonely.”
“You are absolutely right, Molly,” I agreed.
“MaeMae’s fren, Noel, found my lidder On Line – we were down in my-AM-ee – an MaeMae’s daughter saw our pickshur an said, ‘We’re going to my-AM-ee to get a puppy RIGHT AWAY!’ So she an MaeMae drove down an met the humans an all us puppies in a MacDonald’s parking lot. Soon as MaeMae spotted me (I was the RUNT, which sounds sorta ukky but it ackshully means the cutest an most adorable, I’m pretty sure), she KNEW I was The One.
“I was happy an comftubble with MaeMae right away. We snuggled all the way to my new Forever Home. I slept in a liddle crate on MaeMae’s bed for a while so I’d feel safe an wouldn’t tumble off the bed cuz I was so teeny. I still sleep on the bed but without the crate, an I NEVER try to jump off cuz it’s Very High Up.
“Oooo, come on, you gotta see this!” she said suddenly, and ran out to the bright, sunny screen patio, which had a Molly-sized doggie door out to a pretty green yard/garden with a very nice fence, the perfect size for Molly to run around in.
“It’s my Very Own Yard! Isn’t it great?” She stood looking out.
“Totally Cool Kibbles,” I replied, noting that she didn’t go out the special door. MaeMae sorta scooted her toward it, but Molly put the skids on. Then MaeMae stuffed her gently through by the caboose, but Molly wiggled back in.
“I’m still getting’ used to this door,” she admitted. Then, a coupla little humans walked past laughin’ and talkin,’ on their way home from school, an Molly shot out her liddle door to greet them, then shot back inside the same way. MaeMae was very happy, an Molly was, too. “Hey, I DID it! I guess I just needed a REASON!”
“Congrats, Molly!” I said.
“Oh, LOOKEE!” she called, excited. MaeMae held a big brown-an-white satchel with handles. She placed Molly in it, with only her head pokin’ out. The ends were net and it fit just right over MaeMae’s shoulder. “Whaddya think?”
“You’re the perfect size!”
“I KNOW! I go EVERYwhere with MaeMae. Everybody stops to pat me. Oooo, an you’ve GOTTA see my wardrobe!”
MaeMae brought out a colorful heap, an Molly said excitedly, “This (a pink-an-white plaid vest) is for chilly weather. An this matches!” (It was a stylish pink-an-white plaid harness.) “Here’s my Ugly Christmas Sweater!” (It WAS!) “An THIS is my everyday dress!” (It hadda pink top an black fluffy skirt.) “An THIS,” she said, as MaeMae stuffed her into it, “is my FAVrite! My Christmas dress.” (She twirled. It was beautiful: red satin with gold dots an bow. She looked Totally Adorable.)
“Any special pooch pals?”
Molly had finally plopped down, an was alternately chewing her Ugly Christmas Sweater an MaeMae’s shoelaces. “Oh, YES! Lots! My Bestie’s my niece, Josie, a bull terrier like that Target store mascot. For Halloween, her humans dressed like Target workers, an Josie had that red bullseye. Cool Kibbles! But MaeMae’s my Absolute BFF! We relax on the couch together. An we’re Dinner Companions. I make sure she wakes up, in case she doesn’t hear the alarm. We go to the beach, which I LOVE! And I’m a fan of MUD, which I don’t think MaeMae likes that much. We also visit the nursing home, where I get to cuddle with lotsa nice humans.”
Heading home, I was thinking, once again, what an important job us pets have, even if we’re not K-9’s or show pooches or guide dogs: Being a Faithful, Loving Fren to our humans, ’specially when they’re having a Bad Day, is more important than we might ever understand.
Till next time,
The Bonz