A Certain Joie de Vivre!

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I watch the adoptable dogs scrolling by on the front page almost every day.  From time to time, I dream about getting a third dog and I’m always on the look out for the perfect dog for our family.  Recently, when I asked family members to “guess what we got?” after we got our pontoon boat, every single one guessed first, “another dog.” Usually, we don’t meet the requirements.  We don’t have young kids and we do have a physical fence, but almost always the ad says, “would do great in a home with another well behaved dog to show him/her the ropes.”  Since the only two dogs we have are Fudge and Vern, this is the deal breaker.  I just don’t know if my husband and I can survive another dog that has been “shown the ropes” by Fudge and Vern.  We are outsmarted almost daily by the two we have and three dogs would tip the scale further in their favor and then we have a gang of ruffians on our hands. It was the same reasoning we used when we stopped after two daughters.

 

There have been so many great dogs scrolling down the front page lately and little Carter, or mini Vern as I call him, just warms my heart when I look at him.  Unfortunately, they want to place him in a home with a well mannered dog, so as usual, we are disqualified.  I have thought about running down to Texas and getting him.  I figured it wouldn’t be that hard to trick Doris.  I could tell her I just saw Knox throw up and when she runs in the house to find a can of pumpkin, hightail it out of there with Carter in tow.  By the time she could say, “That darn Laurie just bested me,” we would be out of there. 

Linda just wrote a blog about her foster, Baxter, and he is another adorable Doodle.  He sounds perfect and I thought about asking Linda if I could exchange one of my dogs for him, but the problem is I can’t decide which dog.  Fudge is the obvious choice with her recent escaping escapades, but after walking Vern the other day and ending up looking like a tangled up Maypole as he chased the swooping Martins around me, I am not so sure. 

I have never heard of the DRC agreeing to an exchange, so I am probably stuck with my two StinkerDoodles.

 

Today, however, I saw Jax go by and I loved his write up and the fact that they said they wanted to find a home for him with a family that appreciates and embraces his lovable nature and his joie de vivre.  I took two years of German in High School and I can speak enough German and English fluently that some would consider me to be bipartisan, so for those of you who do not know what joie de vivre means, allow me to share my knowledge with you. 

It means a love of life, a “seize the day” kind of attitude, and what better quality could a dog have, or for that matter, anyone?  When I told my husband about Jax and his joie de vivre last night over dinner, we both laughed, because reading between the lines, you just know that dog is going to give you a run for your money and a whole lot of laughs.  He is my kind of dog and if we weren’t so full up in our house with two dogs that have joie de vivre to spare, I would be all over that like white on rice.  Isn’t that what we love about puppies and young kids…the way they see the world as an amazing, comical, and wondrous place?  Fudge and Vern have this quality.  Vern will spend hours with a new Kong squeaky ball in his mouth just squeaking away with a silly, glorious, look on his face. Fudge will bounce by Vern and me with a stick in her mouth and a “come and get me” happy look on her face.  Wouldn’t the world be a better place if a squeaky ball and stick were enough for some people?  It just takes so little to make a dog happy.

 

Just the other day, we went walking with the dogs up at the park and a group of geese waddled by just as we were letting the dogs in for a swim.  I was at a bad angle to hold Fudge so I passed the leash to my husband who I thought said, “I’ve got it,” but after Fudge leaped into the water with the leash dragging behind her, I realized I might have been mistaken with what I heard.  Off she went like a bat out of hell and came pretty close to capturing for herself the makings for goose pate or getting herself pecked by Mother Goose and taught a lesson.  Fudge is not our swimmer, but on that day as she tried to close in on a family of geese, she swam for all she was worth.  My husband was yelling her name (or something that sounded like her name) and telling her to come loud enough that we drew a little crowd.  I couldn’t help smiling at her little head bobbing up and down in the water, and I could just feel her thinking, “this is my moment to seize the day,” right up until the moment she ran out of gas and realized she had better turn around or the geese would soon be high fiving each other over the demise of an annoying Doodle.

 

Vern makes me smile every single day.  He gets so excited when he thinks we are going somewhere in the car that as soon as he hears my locks open, Fudge runs for cover.  She knows that in his excitement, she is going to get chased or worse.  Sometimes, she just stands in our doorway weighing her options as Vern crouches, ready to make his move and I can just hear him thinking, “go ahead, make my day!”  He also likes to delay his exit from the van on the off chance that Fudge will walk by unawares and he can surprise her with his presence.  He would sit in that van all day in our driveway, if I would let him, just crouching and leaping, never catching on to the fact that Fudge stopped walking by the van after his first onslaught. We may have to outfit her with a helmet while she is out and about in the yard or trying to get in our van.

I have taken to making him sit while I tell Fudge to go get in the car, because if he gets in first, he sits poised in the van ready to continue his assault.  I swear he is smiling.  The funny thing is if I have him in a sit, Fudge will purposely delay her entry into the van and prance around with something in her mouth right at the van entrance, taunting him. Sometimes, I release him from his sit, just to watch Fudge realize taunting someone twice your size is not always wise.  I felt the same way when my oldest daughter used to go with me to take the youngest to the doctor and would say in her most sympathetic voice, “I hate to tell you this, but I think you have to get a shot today,” just to get a reaction, until one day the doctor informed the oldest that she was the one due for a shot. I had to pinch myself and remind myself that I was a mature adult and the mother who needed to set good examples, because what I really wanted to do was stick my tongue out and say, “na-na, na-na, boo boo.” 

My dogs may not be the best-trained dogs, but they certainly know how to embrace life and have a good time. I like to think they are free spirits, but I think you can all read between the lines.  I hope every one of those dogs scrolling down the front page finds a home with a family that embraces their individuality and their joie de vivre, in whatever form that may be, because I am a firm believer that we can never have too much of a good thing.  Here's to you, Jax, and all the other adorable dogs looking for homes.

My mom says I have Joie de Vivre!

Mom says I have it, too!  Vern and I think it means, "the jokes on you!"

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Aw, Doris, hugs to you. I'm feeling a little pang of regret about not grabbing him myself!

[Doris, Knox & Flash]

Well, Laurie, Libby and I just did a "surprise" delivery to the new owners of Carter. In interviewing them, and then their references, we knew how absolutely thrilled they would be to be our "top choice" and we decided to have a surprise puppy-party!!! Libby will be doing a blog in a few days, so be looking for it. Carter will be living the "Good Life" but all I can say right now is that I miss him like crazy and it hurts like you-know-what.

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Janie, Thank you! We should all learn a little something from our dogs :)

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Nancy, Thank you! I know my dogs make my life happier and so much of it is just watching them enjoy life :)

Sandy, Yep...Hattie has joie de vivre :) LOL

Karen, Thank you!!

Stephanie, I love that name, Jellybean...just love it! I laughed at your description of Jellybean's antics. What a stinker :)

Jane, I am glad I could give you a name for what your dogs have :) Poor Murphy...hurting himself in pursuit of sweet Guinness! I think two is my limit, too.

Bonnie, I thought of Owen when I wrote this blog....of course, he has joie de vivre...no doubt in my mind. Thank you!!

Kaytlin, I hope this blog makes the right family run out and adopt Jax. I don't think I could survive my two without a fenced in yard. It has made my life so much easier.

Camilla, I laughed when I read how you read my blogs. I am sure it makes no sense just looking at the pictures...LOL!! Thank you! I showed your cow picture to my friend today and she was VERY impressed!!!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Laurie who has enough time to correct all your blunders : )))

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

Sherri, LOL...I thought for sure F would point out my mistake. I almost said Latin. No inside joke, just amused me :) Go figure...LOL!!

F, I am proud of you for letting that German/French mistake go by :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Laurie, this is one of your best blogs - entertaining to the max, yet with a serious message we can all take to heart.  We often forget to seize the moment and enjoy the moment.  We often forget to enjoy and appreciate that our dogs never forget to live life to its fullest whether we appreciate the results of that enjoyment or not.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Love, love love this blog, Laurie. I think Fudge and Vern get their Joie de Vivre from their mom. :)

[Stephanie and Jellybean]

Love your blog. Funny about you mentioning the "well behaved". My husband is always scrolling through the rescues and is always perplexed by "well behaved". But why should the other dog need to be well behaved Stephanie? Talk about denial.  Jellybean who will be 2 in early September chewed a door frame, took a bite out of a door and ate a scrunchy all in about 48 hours last week. Role model material she is not.  And this is what stops us from applying for one of those beautiful rescues we are constantly scrolling through. My Jelly is no angel, but she has us by the heartstrings all the way.  Smiles are free with Jellybean :)

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Hmmm, now I know what to call it when the boys are being naughty....they're just having an attack of Joie de Vivre.  Big Murph was just "Joie de Vivreing" a few minutes ago....chasing his brother around the house.  As he rounded the corner into the kitchen and hit the hardwood floors he skidded across the room and somehow injured himself.  Now the drama king is limping around the house and Guinness is taunting him with that "small dog smirk" that he gets.  There's a lot of joie de vivre in this house all the time....I guess that's a good thing, right?  Laurie, unlike you I do not look at the "homeless Doodles" and long for a third one.  I will do everything I can to help them, short of adoption.  My plate "runneth over" with joie de vivre already.....it's only right to share.