Charlette, Dog of Destiny - Day Four

Well, here we are at Wednesday, the fourth day Charlotte's been a part of our family.

Elise started calling her "Shar-Shar" the other day, and it's starting to stick. I've called her "Shar" once or twice, without even meaning to, so it looks like that's going to be the nickname. Of course, when she does something naughty, she's "Charlotte Eugenie Isadora Louise Hiatt". What can I say? She has a very regal bearing, and "Charlotte Eugenie Isadora Louise Hiatt" sounds like the name of an English Regency or Victorian princess.

Right now she's laying down in the living room, chewing on her dinosaur thigh-bone (the biggest size rawhide bone I could find at Petsmart). She's very industriously pulling with her teeth at the knot of the end, and wrapping her big paws around the whole thing to hold it still.

Quite a few people now have commented to me that she looks like she has some Irish Wolfhound in her. I guess there's no way to really know for sure without getting her genetic make-up tested. I've found out that the local Banfield vet office offers this service for about $100. I'm dying to know what breeds she has, so we'll probably do that some day in the distant future, when we're flush again.

We wound up not going for a walk yesterday - it was really hot, so I didn't want to go until the sun went down, and then my daughter and her friend decided they would die if they didn't get some Jamba Juice, so I volunteered to drive them. By the time we got home, it was too late, but Charlotte got to come on the car ride. When we got there, Elise wanted to stay in the truck with Charlotte, so her friend Wynter and I went into the Jamba Juice place. The truck was parked really close, and we could see them the whole time, Elise and Charlotte watching us side-by side, with both their heads sticking out the truck window. Wynter was worried that someone would bother Elise, but I took one look at Charlotte, hanging her head and one paw out the window, right next to Elise, who had her arm over Charlotte's back, and I pointed out to Wynter that Charlotte's head was bigger than Elise's. As she was panting at the time and showing a mouthful of sharp white teeth and a mile-wide doggy grin, I asked Wynter if SHE would want to bother Elise with Charlotte there, and she shook her head no.

Okay, so we like to make up songs in my family, and of course, it was only a matter of time before Charlotte had a song of her own, sung to the tune of "Get Along Little Doggies". Here's the original tune, sung, sadly enough, by Alvin and the Chipmunks, as it was the closest correct version of the tune I could find on Youtube...)



Here's the first stanza, which is as far as I've gotten:

"As I was walking one day in a dog park,
A handsome big doggie I happened to spy.
Her jaws were a' grinnin' and her ears were a' flappin'
and I sang this song as she galloped on by:

Yippie Tay Yai Yay, get along Big Charlotte
Go carpe your diem, there's miles left to run.
Yippie Tay Yai Yay, get along Big Charlotte
You know a big doggie needs lots of big fun!"

That's all I've got so far. I'll keep you posted if I have another flash of brilliance.

I'm working on a second song, sung to the tune of "Mirror in the Bathroom, by the English Beat:



This one is going to be called "Doggie in the Bathtub":

"Doggie in the bathtub, please stay there.
I've got to mop up all your hair."

But that's as far as I've gotten on that one.

My husband Jeff and I keep noticing things about Charlotte that remind us of Jake - another example of how God creates these serendipitous little moments to show you you're going in the right direction. She sighs like Jake did, she has a seriously Jake face, and in fact, Jeff calls her the "Anti-Jake", because she has so many of his wonderful characteristics, only she's dark and he was light-colored. >;}~

She's still adjusting to the new kibble - this morning she had to get up about 6am or thereabouts to have a serious poop that just wouldn't wait - she whined to wake me up, and I was so pleased that she's starting to get the concept of telling us when she needs something. She's cleaning her bowl every time she eats, which makes me wonder if I shouldn't be giving her a snack midday.

I started this in the morning. Now it's 11pm, and we just came back from a late walk. She is such a seriously cool dog! The very first time I tried walking her, in the parking lot going to Petsmart, she just about tore my arm off, and it was all I could do to get her into the store. Tonight, she heeled by my side without pulling on the leash AT ALL, she stopped and sat when I asked, and the last time we stopped, she sat automatically! I started her with a new command - you're going to laugh... It's "sniff". This tells her she can go to the end of the leash and sniff the grass and walk essentially "at ease". She didn't give me any problems coming back to heel afterwards.

So we took a long walk, at least half of it in "sniff" mode, as I figured she'd enjoy the chance to learn something about the neighborhood dogs. We walked to the street corner at First St, which is pretty busy, even at this time of night. I thought she'd be freakier about the dark, and the cars, and people going past, and she was a little tense, but other than having to turn her head to look at things, she didn't show any other signs of nervousness.

Charlotte is easily the sweetest, smartest, calmest dog I've ever encountered, and hats off to Eden, her former mommy, for the work she's obviously put in to socialize and care for Charlotte! Thanks, Eden, because I have the feeling Charlotte is going to be one of the really special dogs in my life, like my Jake, and if it wasn't for you, I'd never have met her, or been given the chance to adopt her into my family. Thank you SO MUCH for taking the brave and tough step to let her go - I think one in a hundred people would have put the welfare of their dog before their own feelings...

Okay, gotta go - tomorrow I'm going to walk down to the neighborhood Starbucks, which has a huge outdoor patio and is very busy, to do some writing. I'm going to take Charlotte with me - I want to see how comfortable she can be with crowds of people going past. If nothing else, she's likely to be very happy, as EVERYONE is going to want to stop and pet her.

;}~