Harvey, Hadley an Nora Banack live in the country, down this loooong, winding lane, kinda woodsy, with lotsa cool places to run around. Super Crispy Dog Biscuits! If I wasn’t workin,’ I coulda hung out an just played an played.
Anyhow, after the wag-n-sniffs, we got settled in the livin’ room an Nora did the intros. She was a compact liddle black-an-white pooch, super frenly, with alert ears, great POSS-chur an one of those bushy, flip-over-the-back tails. I thought she was a Husky puppy.
“Didja find our place OK, Mr. Bonzo? It can be a liddle confusin.’ So, this is Harvey Forrest Banack, he’s a Chocolate Lab. He’s 8. He got his middle name cuz we all think he’s a lot like that the guy in the MOO-vee, Forrest Gump.
“This is Hadley, she’s the oldest, 13 in human. She’s a mixture of Chihuahua an Pekingese. Humans call them Cheeks, which is kinda funny, in my opinion. She’s the MAY-tree-ark of the famly. An me, I’m Nora, I’m almost 7. I’m always gettin’ mistaken for a small Husky but I’m NOT.”
“I thought so, too,” I admitted, scratching out my Husky puppy note.
“I’m ackshully an Alaskan Klee Kai.”
“I’ve never heard of that. It’s a great name!”
“Yes, I KNOW!” she smiled. “It means ‘small dog’ in Eskimo. The AKC calls us Husky Lite. This is our Gramma Michelle. Grampa Rusty’s workin.’ This is Harvey’s an my Mom, Sydney. Hadley’s Mom is Brittany. She’s elsewhere. So, I guess you wanna know how we all got here, right? I’ll start.”
“Ready when you are,” I said, pencil poised.
“My breed’s still pretty new. My Mom an our liddle sister Natalie saw one of my fellow Klee Kai’s in a wedding. She was ackshully the Flower Girl Dog. Obviously, Mom couldn’t resist. I mean, not to brag, but check me out: looks, class, talent, personality. So, here I am. I enjoy socializing. Harvey an Hadley are pretty much home bodies. But I gotta MOVE! I ’specially LOVE going to the dog park. Gramma says I’m the def-uh-NITION of ‘Runnin’ With The Big Dogs,’ cuz that’s zackly what I do. The Liddle Dog Section is too boring for me.”
Harvey, who’d been dozing on the couch next to my assistant, raised his big, handsome head. “This liddle lady pretty much does whatever she wants. Like hiding shoes. An one Christmas (remember this, Nora?) she sniffed all the presents under the tree, an unwapped ’em till she found hers.”
“Hey, you’re ’SPOSE to unwrap presents, right?” Nora said. “I was HELPING!”
We laughed. “Nice to meet you, Bonz!” Harvey said.
“Likewise, Harvey. What’s your story?”
“I’m from the Midwest. I was too young to remember, but I found out I was taken from my owners as a puppy, for some reason, an went to live on a beautiful farm in Indiana, where my pickshur an story were put on The Line so I could find a Forever Famly. Gramma an Mom saw it, an filled out this really long apple-cation to see if they qualified to adopt me. Finally, they got approved, an I was flown down here (with a Nanny, to make sure I was OK).
“Dog, was I EVER! I ackshully went to college. Well, Mom did, atta school called Eff. Ess. You. Woof, that was SO FUN! Mom’s a Horse Person, so, in between studyin’ I went to lotsa horse shows, did a lotta tail-gaitin’; met a buncha Cool Kibbles horses an pooches. Myself, I’m a simple, down-to-earth pooch. Now Mom works here, so I swim in the pond, take walks, chase bunnies, hang out with Grampa Rusty or my BFF Hadley. I get along with everybody. All in all, I’m pretty laid back. But, when there’s a Full Moon, I HAVE to sleep outside. I’m not certain why. I’m just drawn to it. Maybe that’s what my pooch ancestors did.”
“Perhaps,” I commented. “It’s miss-TEARY-us!”
Hadley, who had gone to take a short nap, re-entered. She was small an dainty; charming; soft gold color; adorable semi-mushy face; an fluffy ears.
“How do you do, Young Man,” she addressed me. “I hope I look presentable. I have this marvelous stylist!”
“You look enchanting, Miss Hadley,” I told her with great sincerity. “So, tell me a bit about yourself.”
“As you know, I’m a Cheek. I was livin’ at a pet store, when Gramma an my Mom, Brittany, happened to pass by an spotted me inna cage in the window. I Hugely Disliked being there (to put it mildly) an tried to catch their eye. When they looked at me, I gave them my best ‘GET ME OUTTA HERE!!’ look. It worked! They took me home that very day, thank Lassie! Now I have the most excellent life! At first, when Mom was gettin’ me use to the house, she placed me in a cage for a while. However, this reminded me of the pet store: I freaked out, an climbed all the way up the side, like a cat, tryin’ to escape. So that was it for the cage. Truth be told – no offense – I do prefer the company of humans, I expect due to my experience at the pet store.”
“None taken,” I assured her. “Quite understandable. What are your favrite treats?”
“Well, we all like bones. Only the safe kinds, of course. I don’t ackshully eat mine right away. I stash them. An believe me, Nora an Harvey know better than to even try to nab one. I am Very Serious about guarding the perimeter. Oh, an I also love spaghetti.”
Heading home, I was thinking how different Harvey, an Hadley an Nora’s backstories were, an what happy lives they’re living, each bringin’ something a liddle different to the famly. I was also thinking I’d like to try spaghetti. I know other dogs beside Hadley like it, cuz I saw it in a movie once. I think you’re s’pose to slurp it. Maybe Gramma will make me some.
Till next time,
The Bonz
