The Rip Van Wrinkler, Volume XIII, Issue 4, November 2009
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Happy Girl by Marcia Woodard
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We had four short years to learn from Zoey’s positive attitude: Before Zoey died, we had made plans to pick up our new puppy. We delayed the pup’s arrival for a few days but had to bring Chloe home just five days after Zoey passed. We weren’t ready. Still grieving, we felt a new pup would seem like an insult to Zoey’s memory, and we feared resentment. I think you know what happened: puppy Chloe delights us. Below is a happy column about Zoey that was originally published in the February 2006 issue of the AKC Gazette. Zoey: What’s Old is New
Last September, my husband George drove from our home in Seattle to the Basenji specialty dog show outside of St. Louis. On the return, he had company: a five-year-old, black-and-white Basenji bitch, Zoey. George was the next-to-the-last leg in returning Zoey to her breeder, Kathy, in Oregon. A few months before the dog show, Kathy saw a picture of a Basenji for sale on the internet: “She looks familiar.” Kathy had been searching for Zoey for 3 years. A breeder in St. Louis provided a foster home until George could furnish transportation to the West Coast. I received a phone call as the travellers crossed from Nebraska into Wyoming. “She’s such a nice dog.” “Uh-oh.” “She’s so quiet.” I’m thinking that if we can barely manage four dogs, then why not five? “She’s really soft—like bunny fur.” I bought another dog dish at PetSmart that afternoon. The adoption of an older dog is like having a relative come to visit: you either click with them or you don’t. A five year old arrives with the suitcase of their personality already packed, and Zoey’s bulged at the zippers. She’s an enthusiastic Basenji; on her, the sensory characteristics of the breed stand out in comic relief. She reminds me why I fell in love with these dogs. Basenjis worship at the altar of any heat source—their bodies slack with pleasure—and a warm human body elicits moans of contentment. On Zoey’s first night, I didn’t sleep much because of her serious commitment to this gratification. When she circled, seemingly to curl up next to me in bed, her goal was to get half her body on top of me. She pushed against me constantly. When I pushed back, she settled in like a Mastiff. She also hogged the comforter. And each time she rearranged herself, she added a cat-like, turbo thrust of her legs against my back (which woke me up so I could hear her sigh with satisfaction). In the morning, I was hanging onto the side of the mattress like some bad falling-off-a-cliff dream and freezing. Zoey was snoring. Goats and pigs may be more selective eaters than Basenjis. All our dogs are scarf-down, snorkel feeders; even so, Zoey finished her dinner first from the get-go, and she maintains her blue ribbon standing. George has clocked her at 12.5 seconds for a half cup of kibble. Basenjis also have a “no pain, no gain” attitude towards food. Zoey waited a week before displaying her embrace of this philosophy so as not to overstep her boundaries as the newest arrival. When George boiled sugar and water to make food for the hummingbirds, he left the mixture on the stove to cool—with the lid off. By the time I caught Zoey standing on the burners with her head in the saucepan, lapping double time, the hummers had lost two cups. Zoey scrambled, did a gymnastics-style dismount off the counter, and wagged her tail. Basenjis’ admiration of odors is evidenced by their attempt to “wear” the smell: to roll in it thoroughly so the scent fits like a glove that’s one size too small. One morning, I tossed a used washcloth on the floor, and Zoey bounded over and dove head first on the small square. The tags on her collar tinkled as she twisted onto her back and wriggled forward while simultaneously grinding into the floor. She was like a cat high on catnip, a horse rolling in the dust, and the whites of her eyes were in high relief against her black coat—her mind transported to the planet of pleasurable smell. I’m thankful Zoey arrived to renew my appreciation for a breed that embraces sensory stimulation at the highest level.
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