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!"

[Bonnie and Kona]

Ooops... I have had as many as 4 dogs at once.... not now.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Oh! That's what Owen has... joie de vivre! hahaha

Loved the blog! I have as many as four dogs at once. I find that I do better if I have a hand for each dog when everyone wants scratches at the same time. ;o)

That Carter was irresistible!

[Kaytlin and Cooper]

I just had to go look at Jax... hes only 5 hours away from me! But we currently do not have a fenced yard... so i fail the test. plus DH wouldnt let me get dog number 2....

[Camilla and Darwin]

 I love this blog of course! By the way, I like to scroll down through your posts before reading and try to guess at the context of all the random photos before I read it. It's hilarious and every time  think there can't possibly be a way that they all fit together....

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

Laurie, you are so right about their free spirit and love of life! I think they're on to something! I have to smile everytime Jack looks at me with such joy over a n y t h i n g, they just draw you into their bliss! I too hope all the dogs in need at the bottom of the page find their own special homes!

[F, Calla & Luca]

Not sure there was exactly such a mistake but you know Laurie and her sense of humor......

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

umm, Did I miss an inside joke in which Laurie routinely mistakens French for German on purpose?? Just checking...

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

F, I see you know German, too :) I have plenty of those days when I swear two is my limit. I hope I stick to my guns. LOL. Please hurry up and write that blog!!

Donna, What makes you think I don't already wear that outfit on the open water?? I have that same outfit in blue :) MY husband had the nerve to tell me I wasn't in good enough shape to rescue Fudge....WTD. She was pretty far out and he said I could not swim that far. Hey, I could float, couldn't I?? Vern does the same legs in the air...jabbing thing...that Quincy does.  I love that. I loved Carter, too.

Linda, We have a plan for Fudge and I did look into that GPS and have not ruled the possibility out. Vern is our dog that stays put, just like Webber. He never chases after Fudge and I hope it stays like that for all time. I agree...they make me smile every day :) Thank you!!

Lori, Our Hershey sounds like she was just like your Reagan. If you opened the refrigerator for anything, she was right there...begging and drooling. Even when she was sick and old, she never missed the opportunity for free food :) Thank you for your nice comment.

Nicky, Wow....ate a mattress....that is some feat. Loved the swan story and your mom's sweet reaction :) Too bad you didn't beat Marley's dad to the punch and write the book first!

Carol, It was a teaser....LOL...but, no third dog. I think I am too old :) Thank you for your sweet comment...I like how we sound :)

Jane, Thank you!

Sherri, Don't bet any large sum of money.....LOL!! Thank you!

Amy, I wouldn't have any time to write with three dogs!!  Is that why you want me to get a third? LOL

[F, Calla & Luca]

Ce blog est merveileux. But since Luca is now one or two small steps from a bath, after much heroic work on my part, leaving Calla the impossible to be groomed, there is no way, even if a red haired,  rose nosed, green eyed doodle showed up on my doorstep, that I would have a third. There is too much of a good thing as my body's ample curves attest. And look at John Paul Getty getting his grandson's ear sent to him. Someday I'll write a blog about the ear in my pocketbook but I assure you it wasn't because I was so rich : ) So enjoy the joie de vivre but keep it within reason. Mania is no fun : )

[Donna K & Quincy]

Laurie, Once again I love your blogs. I have to say though that I was a little disappointed that you didn't go charging into the water after Fudge. I love to read about the antics of F&V and they never fail to make me smile. I think you may have to start dressing like this when you walk Fudge any where near open water.

 

This one got me thinking about the Joie de Vivre and what a wonderful thing it can be in dogs or humans. So many of us strive for the perfectly behaved dog but I think that while sometimes it would make life easier it would also make it a little boring. I have a well behaved dog when we are the only ones at home, when we have company he turns into a naughty toddler. He makes me smile every day especially when he channels his inner puppy and lays on his back, legs jabbing in the air, squeaking away on his toys.

I fell in love with Carter and would have him in a heartbeat if he wasn't thousands of miles and an ocean away. I want to reach in through the screen, lift him out and hold him in my arms so bad that I can almost feel him.