This post means a great deal more to me than just a fun picture with 4 of my zoo. If you look closely, it shows the personalities of each animal.
Louise: Always pawing at me. She knows she can’t be on the couch but she finds ways to get as close as she can by having a paw on me. She seems to be saying ‘Please, Mommy, I was here first. Pet me!,’ and I do. She is the quiet leader of the pack.
Sofie: The bundle of anxiety that is always at my feet. Through it all, she seems to have that mischievous smile whenever you snap a picture. She is loving that Mommy is home all the time now, but, as you can assume, it has made any separation all the harder for her.
Mini Cooper: On my lap 24/7 these days. When she isn’t on my lap, she is meowing for me to sit down, so she can be on my lap, or my hip, or my keyboard…
Charles: Next to you but not on you. Wanting to be the center of attention, but knowing he is small and has to share with all these big animals. He has gotten very vocally demanding these days and that little yip can go right through you. He is pouting in this shot, as he is prone to do because he wants his 3rd supper (he is the most food demanding mugwump ever).
And then, of course, there is me. Currently hiding from the world so that I don’t catch this horrible COVID-19 virus. The animals are my social distancing, especially when I am out walking them. I am one of those ‘vulnerable’ people they keep talking about. I am one of the ones that, if this thing hits, the potential is that it will take me down hard.
Please STAY HOME if you can. If you can’t, follow the rules about washing your hands and keeping your distance. And, for my sake, if you have not been isolated for 14 days with no symptoms, please stay away. That is how we show love and respect in the age of COVID-19.
Thank you to all the first responders, the front line medical workers, the animal caretakers, the grocery store and essential services clerks, the people that keep the warehouses stocked so that things get shipped, and the transportation crews that keep the supply chain going. We will get through this, even though we have to do it #separatelytogether.
I am used to Nine stealing Louise’s bed. He does it often. And Lulu usually doesn’t mind. She sleeps on the carpet instead.
But for some reason, Lulu decided she wanted to be in her bed even if Nine was there. This is something I have never seen before at the DogDaz Zoo. Especially because there is another dog bed right next to that one that Louise could have settled into. They never cease to amaze me.
When Mom was a kid, she got both Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays off separately as school holidays. It is not fair that someone in the government decided to combine them into one holiday instead of two. We want both days off!!!!
Well, if we can’t get both days off can we get every other Friday?
Happy birthday, George and Abe! We appreciate the February break. Mom gets a 3 day weekend which means: EXTRA WALKS! Yahoo!!
Louise before seeing MoJo – Louise when she sees MoJo
Louise’s love is the boy next door, his name is Mojo Rising (he is a big handsome black lab). Louise has loved Mo since she first laid eyes on him: he was 2 she was a puppy. So many years later they still have a thing for each other, except now it is a familiar sniff and a little extra wag in the tail. Louise doesn’t warm up to many dogs, but he is the wind in her sails.
Here is yet another in the series of ‘this cannot be comfortable!’ I really don’t try to overthink why the animals do what they do but, this just can’t be comfortable, Sofie.
Feel free to add your pictures to the series of ‘this cannot be comfortable’ in the comments.
Oh my, how exhausting to be a dog at the DogDaz Zoo! Today, Charles got a haircut (and a pedicure). Sonya really knows how to make him look beautiful. Little dogs seem to get scruffy looking so quickly. Anyway, what an event it must have been because he came home, had dinner, and immediately went to sleep in Mini Cooper’s spot on the couch (up on a bunch of pillows).
When I get a haircut and pedicure, I usually want to get dressed up and go out to dinner. How about you?
So far this year the snow events have been very light to non-existent. The wind, however, is another story. Sofie, and now Charles, are barking at the slightest rustling of the trees. Today it actually sounds like a small freight train coming through the yard. I am not sure when real winter is coming to the Mid-Atlantic this year, but February and March are usually our worst months, so time will tell.
“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.
Mom! Louise has all the toys and she isn’t sharing.
This picture is from 2013. It cracks me up. Sofie still does this 7 years later. Steps are a great vantage point, and also, it seems her body fits perfectly. I have found over the years, especially because I document almost everything, that behaviors don’t change much. Louise never lies on the steps. Maybe because she is too big? Charles will sit on the steps but I have never seen him lie down. Maybe because he is too small and it would be vulnerable. Sofie’s stair is ‘Just Right.’ Now I know why I named her ‘Sofie Bear,’ because she is just like Goldilocks in the story of the Three Bears.
DogDaz Zoo 