DOOBY

Hi Elizabeth,

I mostly have goofy pictures. Because she is, Ms. Doobs, a.k.a. Widget, a.k.a. Monster, and is just ridiculously funny. The name Doobie is derivative of dubious, which I was a teeny bit about raising a puppy, and it turns out she is about everything. Not so much that she’s uncertain about things but that she questions it, like a new kind of food, or a new toy. As to food, I swear she’d prefer a taste-tester.

So the pictures are just a little snippet of the Bird’s life with the best, funniest, sweetest, dog…ever.

LIFE WITH MS. DOOBIE BIRD

I put in a picture of her first day home so you could place her in your crew and yes, her mom was Cocoa.

The Boyfriend picture is my favorite. She adopted that ceramic dog on her third day with us. Each morning I’d open the front door and watch her. She did some normal puppy things, piddled, attacked a plant or two, but then she would sit next to that glazed dog, almost as if to learn the secrets of her new universe.

YETI Doobie at 6 months. She had taken a bite out of my new BMW (it’s only a car), so we put red duct tape over it until the day she was mature enough not to eat it again. (It’s not fixed yet-but she no longer eats cars) I ran in the house to get my keys and came out and the duct tape was no longer covering the damaged area of the arm rest. Busted…that’s not a red mustache on her chin.

Also at six months she took her first real road trip-and we spent three days at our favorite place in Pacific Grove- The Andril Fireplace Cottages- Long time family owned and operated, the establishment loves dogs. Each cabin has a fenced yard and full kitchen and it’s just a walk through the Asilomar facility/park to the beach–which she loves. Did you know that these dogs are sand magnets? I imagine the answer to that is yes.

She can swim, but apparently prefers to keep terra firma beneath her feet.

However, she will bound into the waves and stand neck deep in water, awaiting her more avid water-dog friends (several Golden Retrievers, two yellow Labs and a variety of black and chocolate Labs that visit Mother’s Beach by the Channel Islands Monument in Ventura). When these swim-crazy dogs get into shore, she tries to herd them all up onto the beach, and if they don’t play, she barks at their heads. (Okay, that part is a little annoying, and we are working on it).

At 8 months, I took her to my favorite place on earth, Lake Tahoe. The lake was too far out for any further experimentation with swimming(in addition to freezing air temperatures), but she was tempted by the possibility of a goose dinner.(That spot on the Lake at which she stares is a goose she chased from the beach).

At 20 months: Testament to her silliness- she let me wrap this towel around her and sat still long enough to pose as Obie Juan Kenobi Doobie. It is that shot which is the model for the holiday greetings on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve.

One of her funniest traits is the fact that she loves to get up on the couch or one of the chairs and watch T.V. She seriously watches. Some shows she is more attentive to, such as football and ice skating. I’m curious how she will do with the Olympics. (And taking her to the snow is on my list). Also, she gets a big thrill out of conquering inanimate objects, most toys are toast fairly quickly and she is particularly fond of being King of the Hill with the sofa. [Some people might consider this behavior as poor parenting, sorry…she does no harm and we get caught up in her exuberance].

Another trait neither of us has ever experienced with a dog, is her love of sleeping outside on the patio, no cover, no bed, nothing. (She eats beds so we gave up on that). Additionally, she has a penchant for pouting if she doesn’t get her way. She will exit through the dog door, sit on the patio and give us stink eye through the kitchen window. Or as captured in one of the above photos, she will stare at me hauntingly. (The slipper incident).

At about 8 months of age she became a serious guard dog. I see her tail wagging, but her presence makes it unlikely that any hoodlums or no good-nicks are coming through the front gate; EVER.

Now, she is two. And still a puppy, although she’s learned some important things, like sitting at every curb edge instead of stepping into the street, and returning to hand signals, but pure puppy behaviors remain abundant, and that’s fine with the Bird family.

I’ve never had a more enthusiastic greeting from anyone, not children, grandchildren, parents or friends. The “you’re home” dance the Doobster dishes out every night, (or anytime) I come home just makes me love her more. Her entire body is wrapped up in the greeting.

The day the Thomas Fire broke out was her second birthday and so her birthday was spent with us in our two cars parked at the Ventura Fair Grounds all night long. (The shelter was not equipped to take animals, which is a story for another day.) It was so comforting to have her at my side, even if she did bark at every person that walked by, every dog etc.

Thank you, Elizabeth. She is the most gregarious, brilliant, stubborn, stand-up comic on four-legs we’ve ever known. Rest assured we love her to pieces.

PS She mostly kept her green eyes, although now, I see more gold around the edges. Also she has a deeper Apricot stripe down her back, which is fading somewhat, and her ears are also streaked with Apricot highlights, otherwise she has remained true to the cream color. She also has ginormous feet.

JOAN

Ventura, CA