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!"

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

Loved this blog, but then I always love your blogs, Laurie.  Seda now has a GPS tracking device on her collar so that she can have Joie de Vivre and I can still find her while she is having it in the woods.  I think Webber may have given some of his up with his early neuter; he is such a velcro dog that it hasn't occurred to him to be wild and crazy.  He does have a sparkle in his eye when we travel and he gets to ride shot gun, but he is never naughty.  I like having one that is obedient and the other one that likes to run like the wind, chasing critters, jumping over logs, flying through the air  and chasing squirrels up the trees and off the deck.  They are so much fun.

[Lori, Rooney & Zuzu]

Without a doubt your household is bursting with Joie de Vivre!!

I love your perspective on your dog's unique personalities and antics.  You help me recognize the free spirit in my own dogs and to love them all the more for it.  It has taken us 8 years but the whole family has finally embraced Reagan's obnoxiously food obsessed behavior (not food aggressive, just obsessed) and have accepted that if you are eating at the breakfast counter you will have one, large Golden Retriever seated right next to you, breathing heavily. waiting patiently for the off chance that you might drop a morsel of food on the floor.  He's annoying... but he's all ours! ;)

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

It's raining cats and dogs here too so thanks Laurie for brightening up a very dreary day in Ireland!  I like the idea of 'free spirits' and whenever Riley gets excited I tend to think along those lines too.. or that's what I tell myself anyway.  Part of your wondrful story reminded me of my very naughty Labrador Elsa.   When I was a teenager (think along the lines of Marley in 'Marley and me and you're about half way there)  Apart from eating my bed (yes, she eat the mattress) we had an incident at the park when she spotted a Swan and with a giant leap I let go of her leash and she headed into the pond while the Swan turned and started to attack her.   I of course leapt into the water in order to save Elsa and suffice to say we came out wet but unharmed.  That 'joie de vivre' gave the onlookers some laughs and a little concern considering Swans can break a mans leg with one swipe of a wing. My ever forgiving mother was ready with a hot bath for me and a shower for Elsa when we arrived home....   If it happened today no doubt it would be a Youtube sensation!

[Carol and Banjo]

Laurie!   You TEASE you!   I had to speed read through this to see if you had actually made the "plunge"!    Loved this blog!    I've always had the distinct impression that you and your family (including Fudge and Vern) were the essence of Joie de Vivre!

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

Laurie - well done!!!  Just make a rainy day so much brighter! 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I would have loved to see Fudge chasing the geese. That would have been something!

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

Laurie, you are so great. Thanks for this wonderful read. Your blogs always make my day. :o) I bet Fudge and Vern would be great role models for "Joie de Vivre" and I bet that they are much better mannered than you let on.  :o)

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

Good blog again (of course!)  I can only imagine the blogs if you were to add a third dog to the family.  lol