Woof, did I have a blast zooming around with, err, INNERviewing BFFs Ellie Mae VanHest, 3, and Stella Leveton, not 3 yet, aka The Doodlebugs. Don’t ask. It’s a MISS-tree.
We met at their Favrite Place on the Planet, a suh-cluded beach. From the pathway, we could see Stella an Ellie Mae leapin’ an rollin’ in the sand.
Soon as they spotted us, they rushed up for Wag-an-Sniffs, their medium short coats in soggy liddle ringlets, very pretty, even when wet. Ellie Mae’s a brown-eyed Mini-Golden Doodle with a golden coat an cream trim. Stella, an Aussie-Doodle, has ice-blue eyes, anna striking cocoa-an-gray coat.
“Good afternoon, ladies! Great day for the beach!”
“It’s ALWAYS a great day for the beach, mate,” Stella said, dashing into the surf in pursuit of a well-munched tennis ball her Mom had thrown. Her bounding, leaping hop reminded me of a kangaroo, probly cuzza her Australian Shepherd jeans.
“Stella’s always doin’ that,” said Ellie Mae. “She’s not bein’ rude, she’s just ram-BUNK-shus. PLUS, with those Big Blue Eyes, she gets away with lots more stuff than me. But I don’t mind.
I’m more of a laid back grrrl, anyway. I love runnin’ on the beach an buryin’ stuff in the sand, but I also like hangin’ out an chillin’. So, this is my Mom, BJ. (My Dad’s Glenn-With-Two-N’s.) An this is Stella’s Mom, Liz. (Her Dad’s Hal.) An Guess What? (This is SO Cool Kibbles.) Mine an Stella’s Moms are BFFs just like us!”
“Woof! That IS Cool Kibbles!”
Stella, dripping wet and obviously havin’ The Best Time Ever, had skidded back and was busy digging up the tennis ball Ellie Mae had buried, sand flyin’ everywhere.
I brushed it off my notebook. “So, how’d you meet your Furever Famlies? An get your names?”
“Both our Moms were talkin’ about gettin’ another dog,” Stella began. “Ellie Mae’s Mom-an-Dad’s pree-vee-us Golden Doodle, Dixie, had gone to Dog Heaven, so, before I got my Furever Famly, they got her from a breeder in Boca.
“My Mom-an-Dad got me from a breeder in Miami. I got my name cuz Mom figured, since I have tons of energy, she’d probly be hollering for me a lot and she thought it’d be Cool to holler ‘STELL-AAAAAAA!’ (Don’t know why.)”
Having successfully re-buried the soggy ball, Ellie Mae shook the sand off her muzzle an said, “Mom and her sister-in-law made this long list of dog names, but they couldn’t decide. So, while they’re drivin’ home after pickin’ me up (I was in Mom’s lap in the back seat), they decided to say each name, an whichever one I responded to, that’d be it. I was sorta dozing but when they got to Ellie Mae I perked right up. Full disclosure, I buh-leeve I was just changing puh-ZISH-un, but I think it’s a Cool Kibbles name.”
“Totally! They both are!”
“From the first time we met, on the beach,” Stella continued, “we knew we’d be BFFs. We enjoy The Lagoon Greenway, an swimmin’ in the river. When we have sleepovers at my house, we hang out an talk about Secret Doodlebug Stuff. We LOVE sunrise beach walks with our Moms, about 9 miles a week. It’s just us an some fisherpeople. Anna buncha birds.”
“We’re outdoor grrrls!” interjected Ellie Mae. “Mom has this thingy called a Chuck-It, which can fling my ball real far. I ALWAYS bring it back. People tell Mom I’m So Well Trained. But she suspects it’s probly cuzza the liddle treat I get each time I bring the ball back.”
I nodded.
“When we get home we’re wet an sandy, nose to tail, so we get shampoozles,” said Stella. “My Mom takes, like, a haff hour to blow dry me!”
“Good grooming is SO important,” added Ellie Mae. “We LOVE spa day at Blue Ribbon. We both get a mani-pedi, cut, an blow dry.”
“An Crikey do we look pawsome!” Stella said.
“I have no doubt! So, any favrite foodstuffs? Do you travel?”
“I get Royal Canin topped with Magical Dinner Dust!” said Stella. “I also love budder. An this morning I accidently got into the gummy bears but don’t tell, OK?”
Before I could ask what the woof Dinner Dust is, Ellie Mae said, “Mom makes me a casserole with Magical Dinner Dust on it, topped with cheddar cheese. It’s PAWsome! I can hear the cheese package bein’ opened from anywhere in the house.
“Speaking of travel: Stella, tell Mr. Bonzo about that scary trip a liddle while back,” Ellie Mae urged.
“OK, so, we were drivin’ home from Vir-GIN-yuh in JAN-you-wary an got stranded on a big road with like a zillion other cars in that TERRIBLE WINTER STORM. It was on TV an everything. We were stuck there for 9 hours. It was Very Cold an Scary but I remained CAHM an helped keep Mom-an-Dad cahm, too. I’m ackshully a CER-duh-fied Uh-MOTION-ull Suh-PORT Dog. I wear a vest when we travel. Even tho I love playin’ an bein’ goofy, I am Totally Serious when I’m wearin’ my vest.”
“Just like Wonder Dog!” said Ellie Mae with admiration.
Just then a man approached with a very eager red lab onna leash. To be puh-lite the Doodlebugs got their leashes back on, also. “HI!” said Ellie Mae.
“We’re the Doodlebugs! What’s your name?” said Stella.
“I’m Willy,” said the Lab. “Wanna play?” An just like that, the grrrls had made a new fren.
“I bet you have lotsa pooch pals,” I commented, as Willy an his human continued their walk.
“YES!” they chorused.
“There’s George, Lily, Grella, an Coco,” said Ellie Mae.
“An lotsa other blokes and sheilas,” added Stella.
“An we have famlies that LOVE us, an we love ’em back,” said Ellie Mae. Stella nodded.
“They PAM-pur us an we snuggle an hug them. We’re Lucky Dogs!”
I smiled the whole way home, pickshurin’ my charming new frens: playful BFFs happily sharing The Beach Life. I was also makin’ a mental note to Google Magical Dinner Dust.
Till next time,
