This week’s innerview-ee, Vedo Scott, is a very, very frenly an puh-lite white-with-gold-spots rescue pooch from Arlington, Virginia, right up near the Seat of Govern-mutt. He answered the doorbell with Welcoming Woofs, a nice lady not far buh-hind. I noticed he was wearing a very spiffy black necktie.
“Good morning, Mr. Bonzo Sir,” he said, approaching for the Wag-an-Sniff. “I’m Vedo Scott. I’m very pleased to meet you an your assistant. This is my Mom, Linda. Can I offer you anything? A liddle snack? Some wadder?”
“Good morning, Vedo. I’m good, thank you,” I replied, impressed with his manners. “An, I must say, you look exceptionally Cool Kibbles with your very shiny coat and that elegant necktie.”
“Thank you, sir. I wanted to make a good impression. I’ve never woofed with an ackshul noos-paper writer before, so I’m a liddle nervous.”
“No worries, Vedo. Just start your story whenever you’re ready an I’ll write it down in my notebook.” I opened it an he sniffed it, then began his tail.
“I was 9 in August. (Mom made me a rice cake with peanut budder.) But way back when I was about 1, I got tied to a park bench in Arlington an uh-BAN-dunned. I dunno why. I was scared. Then a lady came by leash-walkin’ some other pooches, an spotted me. She looked around to see if my human was anywhere, but couldn’t find anyone. Then she called the number on my dog tag an found my human, who didn’t want me back, an told the dog-walker lady to keep me. Then I was really scared. An sad. I didn’t think I’d been bad or anything.
“Well, Thank Lassie, the lady found a fren who took me in. I had a good home for a long time, till that owner got sick an couldn’t take care of me anymore. Her fren knew my Furever Mom, who usta live up there too, doin’ a very Important Job with the Govern-mutt in that great big building called, ummm, the CAP-pittle, until she ruh-tired to here.
“Cuzza that human duh-zeeze, my Mom’d been all alone in this big house for a long time. Her fren thought she needed cump-nee, so she sent her my pick-shur. Well, Mom hadn’t hadda dog since she was, like, 10, an didn’t plan to, but she said she’d give me a try.
“WELL, the minute we met, In The Fur, she KNEW I was Her Dog, an I knew she was my Furever Mom. I’ve been here a year now an, Mr. Bonzo Sir, we have So Much Fun. I LOVE it here.”
“Woof, Vedo, that is a Very Moving, Crispy Biscuits story! So, tell me, how’d you get that unusual name?”
“My name USTA be Pupper, which I always thought was kinda like just callin’ me ‘Dog,’ you know? But my Furever Mom decided my name should be Vedo, which I really love, cuz it’s speshull. See, her Mom, Virginia, an her sisters, Emma an Dorothy, were amazin’ humans who Mom learned a lot from. They’re all in Heaven now. So Mom made my name from theirs: V-E-DO. Cool Kibbles, doncha think?”
“Totally, Vedo!” I was moved.
“Ooooh, here’s another Cool Kibbles thing, Mr. Bonzo Sir. My Mom had my DogNA checked an, guess what? I’m mostly Basset Hound an Shetland Sheepdog, with a liddle bit of Parsons Russell added. So I’m a good famly pooch, calm, sorta lazy, an have tracking in-stincks.”
“Fascinating!” I exclaimed.
“Mom gives me healthy food: lotsa veg-tubbles, cuz I’m a liddle, well, fluffy around the edges. I speshully like string beans. An carruts. An smushed up sweet puh-tadoes an pumm-kin. I’m uh-LERR-gic to chiggen. I’ve lost 8 whole pounds already!
“Me an Mom exercise a LOT. We play hide-an-seek in the house; an do two leashwalks a day.
I’m tryin’ to remember to not pull. I also chase squirrels an lizards. I wait stealthily till they get real close creepin’ along the fence, then I shoot into action. I think that’s the Parsons Russell comin’ out. Those liddle fluffballs are FAST. An lookee here!” He grabbed a bright green ball with holes in it. It bounced like crazy an made funny noises when he grabbed it.
“Izzut thiff SO FUD?” He bopped it around the room a coupla times. Then he petooied it out an headed to the back yard, “Come on, Mr. Bonzo Sir. Watch THIS!”
His Mom picked up a big orange tube with ‘NERF’ written on the side, an started stuffing squishy balls into the end.
“Are you ready, Vedo?” she said. “ARE YOU READY???”
The question was obviously ruh-TOR-ickle, since Vedo was standing in front of her waggin’, wigglin’ an woofin’ like crazy.
Then she pulled a knob on the orange tube and blammo! A ball shot outta it an sailed over to the fence. Vedo flew off in pursuit, grabbed the ball, an flew back.
They repeated this a few times. Woof, Was Vedo Ever Speedy!
“Do you wanna try, Mr .Bonzo Sir?”
I puh-litely declined, an asked whether he had any Besties.
“My human frens are Miss Marianne, an Miss Kate an Miss Maureen. My pooch frens, well, I don’t socialize that much, but my sorta grrrlfren is Lucy. She’s just 1, an she’s a liddle poocheroo (but I would NEVER tell her that). She wants to play-play-play ALL the time, so sometimes I hafta shoo her away and retreat to under the sofa.
“My BFF is Totally Mom. We take care of each other. I can always tell when she’s feeling kinda poopy, so I snuggle right up an give her liddle kisses. But most of the time, we just play or relax on the couch.”
Headin’ home, I was thinkin’ about how obviously perfect sweet, loving Vedo an his furever Mom are for each other. An how amazin’ it was that Vedo was stranded at just the right park bench at just the right time to make his Happily Ever After happen.