It’s always fun doin’ an innerview at the Dogs for Life dog park – kinda brings me back to my puppyhood, you know? Miss Maya Sussman and her Mom, Susan, were already hangin’ out in the Little Dog Section when me an my assistant arrived.
Maya – a Malti-Poo – was busy flyin’ back an forth along the fenceline between the Liddle Dog an the Big Dog Sections: a puh-teet, black, 7.8-pound tornado totally keepin’ up with a pooch running along the fence on the other side – Scout – who was at least 4 times her size.
As my assistant and Maya’s Mom got comftubble under the shady tree canopy, Maya, not the teeniest bit shy or aa-pree-HEN-sive, trotted up for the Wag-an-Sniff. She was perky an frenly, with a confident, bouncy prance. An she wasn’t even out of breath, far as I could tell.
“Ah, youth,” I thought to myself, a liddle wistfully. “Good morning, Miss Maya. You we’re sure givin’ that big pooch a run for his Pupperoni!”
She laughed. “Hello, Mr. Bonzo! I LOVE runnin’ with the Big Dogs! Keeps me on my game. One time I squiggled through the gate into the Big Dog section. So they hadda make the gap smaller. Oh, an you can call me MyMy like Mommy does. An I’ll call you Bonz, if that’s OK.”
“Totally,” I replied. “Absolutely! We can sit here in the shade while you tell me your tail, how ’bout?”
She jumped onto her Mom’s lap. “Perfect! Well, I’ve been very FOR-chu-nut. No drama.
Mommy found me On line. I was her Very First Dog, She was lookin’ for a pooch in the cinnamon color range but, soon as she saw my pickshur, she decided on black. I mean, I was totally irresistubble: looked like a fluffy Beanie Baby, only 3 pounds.
“At first, I was calm anna a liddle ree-ZERVED, if you can buh-leeve it. I didn’t bark for the longest time. I mean, I didn’t have anything to bark about. Everything was grrreat. Mommy was grrreat. I was just checkin’ stuff out. I was so teeny, Mommy fed me By Hand. I slept with her right away, of course, an she was always afraid she was gonna smush me or step on me.
“I learned about Doing my Duty very quickly. Mommy got me those PP pads. (But sometimes at first, I used a spot that only looked like one but wasn’t.) PLUS, I’m very fass-TIDDY-us so now, when I hafta do No. 1, I stand on my front paws only, so I don’t get my back paws all, you know, damp. It’s like what humans call a handstand, Mommy says.”
I was speechless.
“Anyway, one morning, I was snuggled under the covers still, dreamin’ about bunnies or something, an there was this Big Noise. It startled me. Then I ree-lized it was ME. I had barked.
I tried it a few more times. I’m not barky like some of those annoyin’ liddle pooches who yap from dawn to dust. I only perform on request. So, wanna hear me sing?”
“Sure,” I replied. “Whaddya sing?”
“Happy Birthday, mostly. Ready? Here goes.”
MyMy’s Mommy stood in front of her like a cun-DUCK-ter and MyMy began. It was uh-MAY-zing. All the humans in the Dog Park turned to look. Some of the other dogs joined in on the high notes. MyMy had a Very Big Voice, with a truly memorable “ahhh-ROOOOO!”
“Woof, MyMy, that was Totally Crispy Biscuits!”
“I KNOW! Right?” she replied, then, “Oh, I see some of my pals. I’ll be right back.”
And off she flew. After Wag-an-Sniffs and lotsa runnin’ around, she came zoomin’ back. “I have a coupla boyfrens here. Piper an Sammy. They’re way cute. I also hang out with Lola an Muffin. An Palmer, Lucy an Haus at Sunshine Fur-nuh-chur. Hey, there’s Muffin now! HI, MUFFIN!!!”
“Hi, Maya! ’Sup?”
A black-an-white Australian Shepherd ran over for a Wag-N-Sniff; MyMy introduced us, then Muffin zipped off to play, an MyMy hopped back onto her Mommy’s lap.
“I did meet a cat once,” she mused. “ME-uh. She buh-longs to my stepdad Daryl. Since my name’s MY-uh, it got liddle confusing. I was just liddle, an ME-uh was bigger than me, PLUS she had claws. I was scared of her. I guess you could call us Fren-uh-mees.”
Suddenly she jumped down again, all alert. “Ooooh. Look!” she pointed across the field. A gold-colored poo-mix-lookin’ pooch had grabbed a hat from one of the humans an was racin’ all over the place, leapin’ around, shakin’ the hat, havin’ a grreat time. The humans were mostly laffin’, even the hatless man. Finally, the hat was retrieved, the excitement subsided, an MyMy returned to her Mommy’s lap to continue her tail.
“Where was I? Oh, yes, I love playin’ with my frens! Dogs AN humans. ’Specially human kids. My human Besties are Gracyn an Grady; an Callie an Parker. Mommy’s their Nanny. An guess what? Me an Gracyn have the Same Birthday – Dec. 6! Isn’t that SO Cool Kibbles? I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the kids. I’m always kissin’ ’em an lickin’ ’em. I’m a Big Kisser. I’m also good at sharin’. Like, if I hadda big bone right now, I’d totally share it with you.”
“Aww, that’s so thoughtful, MyMy,” I said. “Any favrite foodstuffs?”
“Weell, I’d hafta say fil-LAY min-YON. Daryl made one for Mommy an one for him and one for me one time an, I woof you not, it was the most duh-LISHUS thing I EVER put in my mouth.
Now Mommy cooks for me. All in all, I have The Best Life! Just us grrrls. I’m a lucky poocheroo.”
The hour had zipped by. I closed my notebook.
“Come back when you’re not workin’ an we can play!” she called, flyin’ off into the field to run with the Big Dogs.
Heading home I was thinkin’ about MyMy, the fearless social budderfly. And about fil-LAY min-YON. I wonder what my chances would be …
Till next time,
