A Lover, Not a Fighter

Dear Friends,

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter holiday.

As usual, it is Feast Day at Mimi’s house. So, Martha and I hosted a family dinner for about fourteen people.

At one time, I thought that was an awful lot of people coming to your house. Not so anymore. Martha is a master at this. She’s amazing. It’s hectic, but everything comes out together, just in time.

I’m sure none of you have done this, but I stopped my diet for one day to sample all the desserts. It was a day well-spent.

I want to share a romance with you today.

Let me tell you about Odie and Zoe, but I must first provide some background.

Odie is my daughter-in-law Liz’s dog. He’s a male miniature silver poodle. The family all agrees that Odie is the cutest of our dog family. Martha’s dog Leo is a male toy red-headed poodle, and Laura’s dog Winnie (Winston) is a male toy silver poodle. So Odie is bigger than Leo and Winnie, but not by much.

Let me give you the pecking order with these dogs. If there is a knock at the door, Leo is the first to react—he runs to the door, ready to tear someone’s leg off. Winnie is right behind Leo and barking, partly because Leo is barking.

On the other hand, Odie takes up station behind Liz and peeks out to see what is happening.

There’s another thing about Odie you should know. He has two siblings, and they’re both cats. I suggest that this is why, when nervous or scared, he goes to the high ground. He can get up onto the back of a chair as fast as any pet I’ve seen.

Hang in there, I’m getting to the point.

Enter Zoe. She’s a large, friendly Golden Retriever, nearly white in color. When she plops down on the floor, it sounds like a human has fallen. She’s a sweet dog and wonderful with kids. She enjoys being around people and roams the room, searching for a scratch behind the ears or, even better, a belly rub.

After dinner, we migrated to the living room for “game night.” This is an excellent time for kids to interact with the adults in a fun way. Our favorite game right now is “Tell Me Without Telling Me.” Check it out if you haven’t already.

Okay, I digressed. Sorry. Back to Zoe and Odie.

Before they arrived, I was a little worried about Odie mixing with Zoe, since Zoe is big, and Odie is somewhat skittish.

I watched as Liz arrived with Odie.

As you probably know, upon meeting, dogs make a beeline to sniff each other’s butt. I believe this is how dogs say “Wha’sup?” or maybe “Whatcha been eating?”

You see, Odie is accustomed to being “sniffed up” by Leo and Winnie. But then, this big dog comes out of nowhere to get a sniff…

I think Odie was intimidated. Whenever Zoe came near, he kept moving away. It was like Grand Central Station in our tiny hallway—watching four dogs try to do the same thing at the same time.

Finally, the traditional doggie greetings concluded, and they settled down. Odie climbed onto the back of a living room chair and watched the other dogs.

When we finally started game night, Odie and Zoe appeared. They began courting, right in front of us.

No, not that! This is a family newsletter.

It was flirtation. They chased each other around the living room, nipping at one another and crashing into each other. They nibbled at each other’s ears and danced back and forth, then chased each other around. I had never seen Odie so assertive.

We humans were at first stunned to silence, but soon, we were all laughing and joking about the two.

Odie, the scaredy-cat, was putting the moves on Zoe.

Odie was so out of character, based on what I have observed.

As I heard Liz and Martha say more than once…

Odie is a lover, not a fighter.

I have a video. You can find it here if you'd like to see it. The quality isn't good, but it was spur-of-the-moment. At least you'll get a sense of the fun.

Below are pictures of the partyers.

Have an outstanding day!

Cheers and Regards,

Kim

PS: I personally read and respond to all messages you send to me.