Winnie Albin is a smallish pooch with a Big Doganality, cheerful, enthusiastic, super frenly, with the Cool Kibbles-est coat EVER: gold with some white, a liddle long an wiss-py an sticky-uppy like a rock star. She also has a Very Fluffy Tail, an Seriously Pawsome pointy ears: one sticks up an the other flops over. TRAY stylish!
Soon as my assistant rang the bell, Winnie appeared, doing some Serious Barkin’, which, comin’ outta such an adorable-lookin’ liddle poocheroo, was a bit unexpected.
But soon as two frenly humans came to the door, she stopped barkin’ an started waggin’ happily.
“HI! Mr. Bonzo! I’m Winnie Albin! I bark whenever anyone comes to the door, cuz I’m Very Serious about protecting my Famly, an you can’t be too careful. It’s my DOODY. This is my Mommy Diane an my Daddy Edward. My sister Chloe’s on the porch. She’s a CAT. I love her, even tho she thinks I’m a Goof! Come’on, we’ll go sit! Oooo, I smell TREATS! Did you bring TREATS? I LOVE TREATS!”
Winnie had obviously sniffed the duhlishus snacks my assistant was now extractin’ from The Satchel an presentin’ to Winnie, who nibbled enthusiastically. “Ooo, dees are yubby. Thag you.”
Treats dispatched, I opened my notebook, Winnie’s Mommy settled into a big, comfy chair, an Winnie jumped into her lap. “This is MY chair,” she said. “But I let Mommy sit in it.”
“So, Miss Winnie. How’d you find your Furever Famly?”
She looked at me earnestly with her big brown eyes, One-Ear-Up, One-Ear-Down, hair goin’ every which way.
“Well, Mr. Bonzo, it started when Mommy an Daddy lost their buh-loved Charlie, a rescue Yorkie mixture, in 2022. They were gloomy an dogless for a year, till Mommy anna fren, Miss Nancy, went up to someplace called South Care-uh-LINE-uh to dog-sit for some other frens.
Miss Nancy told Mommy it was TIME. ‘You need another DOG,’ she said. Mommy ree-lized Miss Nancy was right, an said it hadda ab-so-LOOTLY be NO MORE THAN 25 pouns! An, it CAN’T SHED!
“So they went to the Shelter. In the Meet-an-Greet room, the Shelter people brought in two pooches: Bella an ME. I was a new arrival, just picked up off the street, maybe a stray, I’m not sure, an kinda a mess: scruffy an majorly buh-draggled. Plus, I was a little stand-offish. Bella was all kissy an bouncy an adorable, like, ‘Here I am. Look how cute I am!’ An I’m like, ‘I’m doomed.’
“Well, Mommy immediately fell in love. With ME! I couldn’t buh-LEEVE it! Even tho I’m more than 25 pouns. AN I shed. A LOT! She says I CAP-chured her HEART. Plus, she liked my goofy ears. AN we have the same birthday – April 2.”
“Woof, Miss Winnie,” I exclaimed, “What a wonderful tail. It was meant to be.”
“I KNOW! Right? Anyway, I was Very Well Buh-haved on the drive back to here; I had had the No-Puppies pruh-SEE-jure; an I was crate trained. But I wasn’t what humans call House Broken, which means I didn’t know where to (an espeshully where to NOT) Do My Dooty. But I was, Mommy calls it, umm, Trainable. AN in-thuzzy-astic, once I ree-lized I’d found my Furever Famly.
“I’ve learned not to DIG, but bein’ part Sheltie an Terrier an some other stuff, I LOVE DIGGIN’.
An I love mostly all Fellow Dogs. An I REALLY love runnin’ all over the Dog Park with my pooch pals. Not to brag, but I can run like the wind. I also enjoy grabbin’ other pooches’ balls when they’re playin’ fetch, an runnin’ off. I’m still workin’ on Leash Walkin’, tho, cuz I get so excited I PULL.
“Ooo, an I have another Important Job: Inspectin’ the Mail. Cuz you can’t be too careful. I rush to the mailbox with Dad an thoroughly check out every single letter an pack-udge. Well, unless a random squirrel appears. Then, if Daddy can’t stop me first, I’m off like the wind! It’s IN-stinks.”
“Any speshull pooch or human pals?” I asked.
“There’s Dawn an Rosie, they’re haff-an-haff Jack Russell an Cocker Spaniel. An my boyfren’s Gus, he’s a Big Mini Schnauzer. I call him Mr. Cool. He always greets me at the Dog Park. I like to get my hair spiked buh-fore I go to the Dog Park so I’ll look extra Cool Kibbles, ya know?”
“Totally, Miss Winnie. I really do like your hair! It suits you. Who’s your stylist?”
“Thank you, Mr. Bonzo! Miss Bonnie’s my GROO-mer! I go once a month. I also love visitin’ Mr. Dave, an also Miss Millie. They’re my neighbors. I give ’em lotsa kisses.”
“Do you like to swim?” I inquired.
“Oh, yes! I LOVE the wader! But I’m not s’pose to swim in the lake near our house cuzza GATORS, which Mommy says like havin’ liddle dogs like me for SNACKS. I go in the pool at PAW Prints, and sometimes Mommy lets me splash around in the Kiddie Pool. But that gets boring preddy quick, ya know.”
“I can imagine,” I commented, bein’ a pool lover myself. Then, “Any fave toys?”
“Totally! I have 14 fave toys. Here, look!” she zipped over to an overflowing basket of stuffies, an returned with an obviously well-loved pink pig. “My human sister Julie got this for me. An, last year, she got me a stuffy unicorn. Me an Daddy play Fetch an Keep Away with it!”
“Pawsome! What sorta foodstuffs do you like, Miss Winnie?”
“Well, I enjoy my usual Farmer’s Dog chiggen or beef! But I must admit, I really, really like eatin’, so I hafta be careful. Mommy says I’d be big as a House if I ate as much as I wanted to, plus, I hafta maintain my Girlish Figure!”
She delicately licked her paw an tossed her head.
“Well, Miss Winnie,” I ventured. “You’re certainly doin’ a good job of that!”
“Why, thank you, Mr. Bonz!” she replied.
Headin’ home, I was picturin’ charming Winnie an her stylish spikey hairdo, jaunty one-up-one-down ears, an happy, outgoin’ doganality. Am thinkin’ maybe I’d invite her over to swim in my pool.
Till next time,
