Walking my "gods" (there's a reason for the anagram) is the only time during the day when everything else just stops, my brain stops spinning, the 83 different trains of thought hammering through my head slow down and it just gets real quiet, and my soul smiles because the girls just love existing so much with so little to show for it. Give them a field to stretch their legs in and their favorite company and they are simply and completely happy.
Jara's story (the one with the Yoda ears) is that she was born in a shelter to a rescued farm dog, along with 9 siblings, it was the cutest to go visit the lot of them and see 10 puppies of all different colors and fur lengths lined up along the fence of their puppy playground to see what was happening and who was visiting! She was reserved for another family which ended up taking a dog home from vacation in Italy, so I got her. She was such an attached sweetheart from the first day, walked on the leash as if she'd being doing it all her life and she stuck to me like glue from then on. Hates being alone and doesn't like strangers at all at first. She was scared to death of children even as a pup, so I don't know what happened there exactly, it hasn't changed much although once she gets to know a kid they become her best friend, just like everyone else :·) She's the kind of dog that wants "her" people around her at all times, she hates it when people come and go, and is happiest ruling the roost so to speak. She's a very good guard dog, despite being a total wuss when it comes to actually defending anything or anyone, with one exception: If a rival dog is running after her adopted sister Camina, she'll chase the sucker down til he's done for ;·P. She obeys instinctively and intuitively, and will do any trick in the book for a tennis ball. She'll also jump into your arms with all of her 40+ pounds if you open them into a hug and call her name. Great agility dog, cause she's so focused on you when she's with you and trusts you, so even when she's scared she'll jump through a tire or crawl through a tunnel for me. Gotta love her and her eagerness to please, what a daaawwwg!
Floppy-eared Camina was a street puppy until she was 3 and a half months old, and her mother must not have had a good immune system because she's got all kinds of funky stuff going on body-wise. She's such a clutz that the vets not only checked her eyes over and over again, but actually checked her brain fluid for neurological dysfunction! She's alright, though, just a little different, which is why we love her! At first she tried to growl or even bite when I took food away from her, but I gave her something tastier in return each time, so she soon learned that no one was going to make her go hungry or steal from her again. She spends her walks scouring the ground for food, like a cow grazing, in true Labrador fashion, and will eat all kinds of crrrrap if I don't pay close attention and let out a scary holler when she tries it! She's a little aloof in general but once you're at home and on that couch, watch out! She loves to curl up half on your lap and half plastered all over any remaining space. She also grabs her water bowl in her mouth when it's empty and tosses it at my feel with a disgusted look! At first she was with a family that had a small child, but they brought her back to the shelter because she wasn't trained at all (and she's the stubborn kind, mind you!), so Jara and I got to take her home :·) She was the only puppy Jara would play with when she was little, Jara was very shy, but Camina just put a big clumsy puppy paw on her in slow motion and they both fell over and have been friends ever since. 5 years down the line they still race each other across an open field, ears flying… one low and straight as a pistol, the other galloping like a loopy horse, tongues hanging out and those old puppy grins as good as new again!
My goal in life is to be the kind of person those two already think I am. They are both total mutts off the streets, shelter puppies, and I'll take that over purebred any day (though I admit I did always want a Lassie in my life). It usually means more work and higher vet bills, but there you go. I feel like an abandoned dog myself too often... I guess I just love the little bastards ;·D no matter how ugly or weird they are.
Here's to doggies!
