Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Zebbie's Christmas Adventure

Most of you know that Zebbie spent his Christmas vacation in West Virginia with friends of ours. K picked him up on Monday evening and chauffeured him back to WV in style.

When he arrived at The Farm, K unpacked the car and brought Zeb in. Zeb looked around and took it all in. 9 cats... cool... 2 other dogs... no big deal... He watched B unpack his stuff and set up his bed. Then he promptly went in and relaxed. You know... the drive is long and lying down in the back seat is tough.

Now, I'm not a crazy dog owner, but it was Christmas and I wanted Zeb to have a good one. I sent a letter detailing his eating and sleeping habits. I sent packages of cookies and treats - all labeled as to when he gets them and that they should be shared with the other dogs in the family. I sent his bowls. I even sent his food in the rolling container I keep in my pantry - heaven forbid the boy should starve!

B and K got the biggest bang out of his froo froo bowls. He has the Southern Living set that I got for free for having a party. (Yes, that was the reason I had the party, but at least I didn't pay $50 for them, right?) So NOW she thinks - okay - knows that I'm a crazy dog person. Her comment to me that night on the phone was, "If I ever get to come back as a dog, I want to be a dog in your house! That dog has better stuff than we do!"

Zebbie won their hearts in a matter of moments. He slept in his crate exactly twice the whole time he was there. The rest of the time he was either on the couch curled up with them or in their bed curled up with them. That is what you call a spoiled rotten dog. B told me that she wasn't sure if he'd ever go back to sleeping in his create. (Trust me... he is back in his bed at night.)

Zebbie spent his days with B visiting the horses, walking the farm, or asleep on her couch. It's a tough life! (According to B, he did miss us. Every time a car went down the road, he stopped to look.) Zeb loves to walk and she walked him everywhere. You would have thought the old boy would have lost a pound or two, but all those treats I sent didn't help that situation.

He did show his quirky side... B was busy in the house and turned to find him missing. She searched high and low and found him curled up around their toilet. It's a good thing I told her that he does that... The next time he turned up missing she found him in her bed curled up under the covers. Now, I consider THAT bad manners, but fortunately she didn't mind.

I'm kind of surprised Zeb actually came home. They loved him. K could be heard in the background of my phone conversations B saying, "You can't have him back! He needs to stay here! He's our dog now!" After I hung up with B the day before everyone was due to arrive home, I told my family that I wouldn't be surprised to get home to find no dog and a ransom note on my counter with a list of demands.

Zeb had a wonderful vacation. He is looking forward the next time he can visit at B and K's. I'm not sure if we'll get him back next time, though...

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