Zippety DoDah was
rescued from a farmer’s market in Girdwood, Alaska in 2004. I was driving home
from Anchorage when my beloved VW called VeVe insisted on turning off at the
Girdwood exit. I had no control, VeVe merely turned toward the mountain. The
farmer’s market was closing as we pulled up but I decided to take the three
spaniels for a quick walk about since we were already there. We immediately
noticed a little Basset Hound with mournful eyes tied to a tree behind one of
the booths. “What a beautiful dog,” I commented to the vendor. “She’s free if
you want her,” was her reply.
“FREE?” Apparently
Zippy was causing two elderly cats a problem so it was determined that she had
to go. She was passed on to this vendor to find her a home at the market that
day and if not, she was headed to the local shelter.
“Sorry” I said, “but I already have
three dogs and getting another one is out of the question.” Zippy had picked up
her toy and dropped it directly in front of OgDog, my pack leader just as I finished
my sentence. We walked back to VeVe, I put the dogs in the car and
automatically looked back over my shoulder. Zippy sat looking at us with the
saddest look ever – Bassets are good at this. That’s all it took. I immediately
turned around, walked back to the booth and said, “We’ll take her” and placed
her in the back of the VW with the others. And that’s how it came to be that my
spaniel pack adopted a Basset Hound. Apparently exhausted from a long day at
the market, Zippy slept the entire drive home.
DoDog has proved
to be the most stubborn, exasperating, endearing, and funny character in the
pack. A friend once described her as a dog “marching to her own drum,” an
accurate description. She has brought people together from near and far, is the
mascot in a neighborhood where she is mostly adored - well except for her
occasional trash rooting expeditions that her nose cannot resist, and her habit
of eating frozen poopsicles in the winter. We are all grossed out with this
one, but she loves it!
Zippy has never
known a stranger, will get in the car with anyone, loves the sun in Mexico and is scared to death of
cats. I had a client drop off his dog one day and while driving away he nearly
had a heart attack when DoDog put her head on his shoulder from behind.
She had crawled in the backseat of his car when no one was looking to go for a ride. Another time she saw
an opportunity to run in the neighbor’s house to find the dog food bowl
when she came face-to-face with Charlie, the cat. He merely backed her in a
corner in the bathroom and without even touching her you could hear her howls
and moans throughout the neighborhood. I thought she was in real trouble but
Charlie merely had her cornered and was pacing back in forth in front of her
nose and she was doing what she knows best, howling like only hound dogs can
do.
She has slept in
various beds in the neighborhood, swiped dog kibble in available bowls, grabbed
steaks out of grocery bags, eaten a bottle of Vitamin C’s causing her to puke
and poop bright yellow for days, and generally been a pain in the butt, albeit an adorable one. The DoDog
tales are endless - living with her I usually have a good story at least once a
week. One day she will have a children’s book written in her honor.
Yesterday I saw
her meandering her way up to the house across the street and noticed two cars
in the driveway. The house is for sale so the neighbors have been leaving while
potential buyers have a look. I took a leash and walked up the driveway asking a man and woman if they had seen a Basset Hound. They said yes, they
thought she lived there! She had walked right into the empty house and
proceeded to go through every room with them. She was merely showing them
around since she is familiar with this particular house because. . .
One summer day she
went to visit and found the house empty but the sliding glass door was slightly
cracked open. She proceeded to push it open and go to the master bedroom where
she climbed into bed and under the covers for a nap. For hours we were looking
everywhere for her! When the neighbors got home they thought their cat was in
the bed until DoDog crawled out and walked to the door to be let outside! She
had not touched a thing in the house, just needed a nap. . .
I assured the
couple she did not live there but she was the welcoming committee in the
neighborhood. I put a leash on her and walked her back to our house where she
crashed for a nap in the sun. Being the social butterfly on Katie Jean Circle
can be exhausting!
In 2004 she was
called Zippety DoDah and over the years we have given her many other pet names
(no pun intended). My three-year old grandson insisted on calling her Zippety
DoDog which we shortened to just DoDog, ZipDog, Zippy, Doodle Bug, and when I’m
mad at her at least once a day? Well, I won’t mention those names. . .
Woof! Woof!
