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I first met Zoe when her owners, Jeff and Andie, rented my pasture in July, 2004 for a home for their rescue horse, Kate. (There's a story about Kate on this webpage, also.)
Little Zoe would have nothing to do with me whenever she tagged along with her owners when they came daily to feed and care for Kate, and the times they'd load her up in the horse trailer to take her out for dressage training or for trailrides.
Zoe looked like a little ball of black and white fluff, way out there scampering along the pasture
fence lines, and she's just small enough to slip underneath them and go visiting
horses on the other side. There's big black Dublin in the pasture to the north, and Sadie
and her painted pal on the other side of the east fence. All the horses and the neighbor's
dogs got pretty used to Zoe and her little escapades around their property.
Once, Jeff held Zoe up to me and tried to get her to make friends, and I did get a little
lick on my outstretched fingers, but that was all. They have had her since she was 8
weeks old, and Zoe has always been very shy and withdrawn, even to her owners. She will be three on December 8, 2005.
One day, Jeff and Andie asked if I'd like to dog-sit this little ball of fluff for a weekend when they'd be off to attend a wedding. I said, "Sure! I'd love to!" and so it was set. They dropped her off a couple days later, with food, her collar and leash, and drove away.
Needless to say, Zoe put up quite a commotion for at least four hours. A girlfriend of mine was spending the weekend with me, and between the two of us, we just talked to her
and tried to calm her down. My girlfriend's little dog, Howie, was here as well, and he perked
up when he discovered he had a playmate for a couple of days.
When it came time to go to bed, and Zoe was getting quieter and quieter, I went in and turned down the bed, slipped into my nightclothes, and just as I was sitting on the edge of the bed, I felt something soft and fluffy beside me. It was Zoe! She let me pet her as I soothingly talked to her, and telling her everything was going to be alright. I slipped under the covers and Zoe walked around until she could find a comfortable spot to lie down.
When I woke up the next morning, she was fast asleep, right beside me.
I got up to use the bathroom, asked her if she wanted to go "pee" and
off the bed she jumped, accompanied me to the bathroom, then headed for the back door to go outside. It didn't take
her long, and when I called her back in, she turned and came running
with a bound, leaped over the step, into the house, nearly tripping me on the way!
The rest of the weekend was spent with her getting acquainted with the three of us. I kept Zoe through the
following week, when her owners said they'd be out of town the next weekend as well,
and is it okey that she stay with me. By then, the two of us were becoming
fast friends and I willingly kept her to help them out. She and I drove to the store and I
picked up some doggie treats and a couple squeaky toys for her to play with.
Well, that's all it took! Zoey became my friend for life! When her owners
came back, they insisted upon leaving her with me, saying she is my
dog for as long as I want her! They buy her food, take care of her grooming, shots and vet bills, but tell me that she is mine! I was elated, however, I still insist she is their dog, and I am her
"Auntie Liz", but you can't tell that to them, or to Zoie!
She loves it here, and loves going out to check up on Katie every day.
She gets the attention Jeff and Andie didn't have left to give her.
They have two horses to care for, one here, and one stabled elsewhere. They have another cute dog, Buckie, part Corgie, who teasingly dominates little Zoe, eats up all of her toys, and she didn't
like that! With a darling 5-month-old baby, Aidan, added, all these
responsibilities became overwhelming, and with Andie not back to work, yet, somehow there wasn't much individual time left for little Zoe. They figured this was better for her, great for me,
and they'd always see her when they'd come here daily to take care
of Kate.
So here she is in picture and in story. Zoey is a very smart little Pom.
She has had some training in "stay", "sit", and "come", for which I
seldom have to call her twice if she strays too far away. She plays by the hour with her toys. I throw them, and she brings them back and drops them right within my reach. She loves to watch TV with
me, especially The Animal Channel. I have the time to give her that
she's desperately needed since her owners' lives got so complicated. She is
well house-broken, loves to go for rides in the car, and lets me know when she needs "comfort stops" along the way.
I've often wondered lately what life was like without this cute
"Little Button" around. That's the name that fits her when I can't think of "Zoey". We seem to fill each other's cup.....
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