This week’s innerview was unusual, kinda almost magical inna way. An I learned stuff about fellow pooches I totally never even thought about before.
First off, Blue Arway is a very hansome, purebred (but totally not snobnose) 3-year-old American Staffordshire Terrier.
Blue’s a big sturdy poocheroo – 85 pounds – an he has this amazin’ coat: short shiny fur, mostly white, with black places (for example, it looks like he’s wearin’ black gym shorts: super Crispy Biscuits!). His skin is pink with black spots showin’ through all over (like a doll-MAY-shun, I thought). And he has icy blue eyes rimmed with dramatic black eyeliner.
Before the innerview, I learned that Blue is deff, an that he communicates with his Momma usin’ Sign Language. So I pruh-pared a buncha of liddle signs with questions on ’em, and placed them neatly in my notebook. He was my first deff innerview-ee an I was a liddle nervous.
When me an my assistant arrived, a frenly lady opened the door, an there was Blue lookin’ back and forth, at us, then up to her. She didn’t seem to be holdin’ any signs, which puzzled me. She did a flat hand down gesture to him and he sat, then she did a wiggly two-finger thingy an he wagged his tail at me. I wagged back and held up my “Hello, I’m Bonzo” sign.
He gave me the biggest, frenliest smile I’ve EVER seen on a fellow poocheroo, an approached for the Wag-an-Sniff.
The lady led us into the dining room an we all got situated, with Blue right in front of me an his Momma, who innerduced herself as Rose.
I held up my “It’s a pleasure to meet you!” sign. Blue smiled, leaned forward an said, slowly and clearly. “I have speaking ability. Your signs are great. Also I can read pooch lips if you speak slowly. I do hand signs with Momma.”
We shared a spontaneous High Paw and I held up the “How did you find your Furever Famly?” sign an said the words, moving my lips slowly and inna more ex-aggerated way.
Blue replied in the same manner, an I began to ree-lize he couldn’t hear himSELF. It probly felt sorta like a vibration or something, in his mouth, I figured. It was kinda amazin’ to me.
“Momma always wish to help speshull need pooches,” he began, mouthing each word carefully. “When her pooch went to Dog Heaven, Momma only wanted to foster, not to make a forever commitment, but once we were together, she knew it was Meant To Be. I was born in Wess Pahm Beach. My owner threw me to street when he ree-lized I was deff. I was 6 months old when Momma rescued me. It was New Years Eve. I was SO happy. I jumped into her car. Cuz I was deff, I wasn’t scared of the firecrackers an I couldn’t understand why the other pooches I saw were going nuts.”
“That is a wonderful tail!” I said spontaneously, looking into Blue’s face and using Big Lips.
He smiled his wonderful, big smile. Then I held up my next sign while slowly Big Lipping the words, and continuing the same throughout the innerview.
Sign 3: “What is your life like now?”
“Pawsome! I just had Day Care Birthday Party! Speshull Hat! Bubble Machine! Peanut Budder! Frens! I have a TOY chest! I have my own Dog Door an fenced yard for endless sniffin’. Momma says I’m a Sniffin’ Mush-een. An says I’m Stealthy. I love TUG with my Tug Rope. I have two leash walks a day.”
Sign 4: “Speshull pooch/human frens?”
“Grampa Art an Rufus, he is a mini-Schnauzer; Baby an Daisy, they are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels; an the horses in the barn, who are all in Pine Island, George-ja; here there is Bentley, a German Shepherd, Ovi, a German Shepherd/Rottweiler mixture, an Whistle, who is a Golden Retriever an Spokespooch at Day Care. We mostly stare at each other; an Grandma Christine’s Shihtzu Aunt Coco (we get Pup Cups for a treat!). I spechully love to play with liddle puppers. Cats a solid NO.”
Time-to-time during the innerview, Blue’s Momma would bend her arm and curl her hand up with a treat in it, then give it to Blue as a reward for his very good behave-your. My assistant would, then, unobtrusively, produce a treat from The Satchel for me, as well, which I felt was very thoughtful. Unnecessary, as I AM a professional, but thoughtful nonetheless.
Sign 5: “Favorite Foodstuffs?”
“Peanut butter, as previously mentioned. Watermelon! Chiggen! I am a liddle picky. Not really into healthy eating. No veg-tubbles. I am Meat-an-Puh-tay-does Guy.”
Sign 6: “What do you do for fun an adven-chur?”
“I love car rides. Always go somewhere fun! Have my own harness an buckles for safety. I get very wiggly an eager. At Cravings I get to see many human an pooch frens. Exciting.
“I also very much love leash running with Momma when she roller skates. I am also Stealthy Master Lizard Investigator.”
Sign 7: “Do you like The Beach?”
“I like smellin’ the air but I do not care for that fluffy water that sneaks up on you. That’s scary.”
Sign 8: “Where do you sleep usually?”
“I have my own bed. I snuggle with Momma for a while to be sure she is OK, then go to my own bed. Then I wake Momma up in the morning. My most important duty is to protect my Momma. After all, she saved me. We are each other’s Best Buds.”
Heading home, I was thinking about all the totally new stuff I’d learned, and, ’SPESHLY how important it is for pooches (and humans, too) to always be willin’ an able to communicate, one way or another.
Oh, an here’s an Important Safety Tip from a pooch fren: In all this hot weather, whenever you are enjoying a lovely water cookie (which are a lot like ice cubes), be sure they’re broken into liddle bits so they don’t hurt your teeth.)
Till next time,
