This week I found myself in the company of a charming an venerable liddle lady, Lucy Lou Ligon, a dainty almost-16-year-old Imperial Shih Tzu. Though descended from royalty, namely Tibetan Lion Dogs, she is NOT a Snob Nose. She later explained that those royal pooches would sit around the palace lookin’ fabulous, inna place called tuh-BET, which is REALLY far from here, an it was, she noted, “a really, really long time ago.”
When a nice man opened the door, Lucy Lou didn’t approach or bark, but she was alert an wigglin’ inna frenly way. If I hadn’t known her age, I wudda thought she was a lot younger, from the way she wiggled about. She was very liddle, an had black, wavy hair, with some silver an white, long fluffy ears, anna beautiful, long, fluffy tail.
“Good morning!” I said. “I’m Bonzo an this is my assistant.”
Lucy Lou look right at me, an her eyes seemed magical, sorta glowy, I thought.
“Good morning, Young Man,” she said inna soft liddle voice. “Welcome to my home. This is my Dad, Ken. My Mom Kim is away at the moment. Come along now. We’ll sit.”
She led us into a sunny room, arranged herself gracefully on the floor buh-tween her Dad an me and began nibbling delicately on bits of Duhlishus Bacon Snack my assistant had produced from The Satchel. After obtaining one final snack, she said, “If I may ask that you kindly speak a liddle slowly, an move a bit closer so I can see your face. You see, I am mostly deaf. An mostly blind.”
“OH. LUCY. LOU,” I said, speaking up, an wrapping my mouth carefully around each word. “I. HAD. NO. IDEA.”
“Not to worry, Young Man,” she smiled. “I’m use to it. Now I shall begin my Tail.”
I opened my notebook, an Lucy Lou began.
“I was born right here in Vero. I have been Queen of my family ever since Mom an Dad acquired me when I was only 8 weeks old.
“We were all happy with one another right away an, although I by no means wish to boast, even as a tiny, irresistubbly adorable pupper, I was always very smart and quick to learn: leash walking, Sit, Down, an other tricks Dad taught me. I don’t eat till I get the go-ahead, an I so quickly caught on to where to Do My Duty an where to Not. An I only become stubborn should the situation require it.”
“Totally reasonable,” I nodded. “Do you have any speshul human or pet frens?”
“Oh, my, I have so many frens! I LOVE humans, an I get along with fellow dogs – as long as I’m Boss, of course.”
“Of course,” I quickly agreed.
“Let me see, there’s Aunt Laurie an her pooch, Honey Bun, an Honey Bun’s pupper Weston. We hang out a lot. Then there’s Uncle Mark, an Aleeza, she’s 10. She wears these pawsome human things called glasses. Totally On Trend; an Aleeza’s sister Ranya, she’s 8. My human step-brother Blake has a doggo named Bailey, a Black Mouth Cur who Blake an his fren Taylor rescued after she ran into the side of a car an bounced off!”
“Oh, Woof!”
“She’s fine now, Thank Lassie. An Woof is she FAST! Gallops like a horse! We hang out when she comes to visit. She always wants to play an play, an I do as well, but, alas, I get pooped much faster: I’m collapsed inna pile an she’s still flyin’ around.
“I still very much enjoy my Leash Walks, greetin’ fellow pooches, smellin’ all the duh-lushus smells. That never gets old. And I’m still Great at Fetch. The return just takes a bit longer.
However, overall, I continue to fulfill my Job Description as a Faithful Companion: I do not HUNT, I do not WORK. Shih Tzus are bred to Recline and Look Pawsome. Which I still do Very Well, if I say so myself. But I digress.”
“I’ve been meaning to ask,” I innerjected. “How’d you get your name? It’s catchy.”
“Thank you, Young Man. Dad an Mom named me Lucy after a funny lady who use to be on TV, then added the Lou. We also had a cat for a while. Mom an Dad named him Desi, who was with Lucy on TV. We got along quite well, although Desi was lots bigger than me an he’d chase me around, but it was all in fun. Then, alas, he had to go to Cat Heaven. I miss him still.”
“I understand,” I replied, then segued, “Do you travel much?”
“Not so much. I’ve been on car rides to North Caro-LINE-uh, where there are nice woods to explore, an also to PAN-uh-ma City Beach: basically 28 Miles of Seafood. However, I DO NOT SWIM! Mostly because you have to do it in WATER. It gets up my NOSE! I don’t like baths either, although I tolerate them because I’m all clean an sweet smelling AFTER one. I also enjoy going to my Groomer.”
“How about favrite foodstuffs? Any speshull toys?”
“My goodness, I must have about a zillion toys by now. No speshul favrites. However, I consider them MINE and I do get what Dad calls ‘Territorial’ should a fellow dog attempt to grab one.
Obviously, THAT Doesn’t Happen.”
“I expect not,” I mumbled.
“As to foodstuffs, these days, I don’t chew as vigorously as when I was younger, as I have a few mouth issues, so I now get speshull soft, fresh food inna roll, which is, ackshully, delightful.”
I had noticed a beautiful dog bed in the corner, which looked like purple silk. “Where do you sleep?” I asked.
“Mostly snuggled under the covers on Mom an Dad’s feet. I always feel happiest with them. I would haff to say, these days my favrite things are peace an cuddles with my famly.”
Headin’ home I was thinkin’ how what’s important does seem to change when we get what humans call Up There, an I had to agree with Miss Lucy Lou, whose favrite things are peace an famly cuddles.
