a dog's life

It must be so tough to be a dog. Especially JoJo.

On the positive side, she is a strong, agile, energetic, determined, curious creature, blessed with amazing senses of smell and hearing, keen eyesight, and quick reflexes.

Those are the very traits that get her in trouble. She is so strong, she sometimes pulls things apart before she even knows it. Her agility usually keeps her from knocking over small children, while her energy keeps her going far beyond the level of energy of those same small children.

Her determination is already legendary. You've probably heard the saying, "You can move a mountain, but you can't budge a big dog." JoJo isn't really a big dog. But you can't move her if she doesn't want to go. And she will wait for hours, on the ready, for someone to throw the ball that she has dropped into that person's lap.

Luckily, she is curious, and it is often her curiosity that can be used to move her in the direction you want her to go. Curiosity is not a good thing when boredom sets in, e.g., holes dug in the back yard, furniture and rugs chewed up, etc. I've seen and halted the stop of that process--she's laying there, minding her own business, begins sniffing the grass or the corner of a chair or the edge of the rug, and before she knows it, she's dug or chewed up a mess.

I'm certain her sense of smell plays a huge part of the curiosity/boredom dilemma and is very likely a major factor with her energy/determination issues. I think most of her brain must be devoted to sorting out all of the scents her cute black nose picks up. Sometimes, those scents lead her to the garbage can with its assortment of doggie delights/trash. Sometimes, the scents are in the soil or the bushes or under the cushions of a chair. But once the nose picks up the scent, the brain will not calm down until the source of the scent is identified, even if it means using the strong front paws to dig through the soil or bush or cushion, whatever it takes to uncover that source.

Jo's eyesight is amazing. Her eyes were the first thing about her that I noticed and were the reason I fell in love with her. Deep brown, soulful, and aware of every little bit of movement within her range of hearing or smell, and of course, linked to the nose and ears so every movement must be identified.

It must be tough to live with all of the input she gets and then control all of the output she gives.

And speaking of output, some of her best traits are her output. JoJo doesn't just hear and see and smell. She processes all of that and connects it to her duty to protect her people. Whenever she hears a noise, even if it frightens her, she goes to investigate, and then promptly returns to protect me, or maybe to let me know if there's something I need to check out. She recognizes the sounds of each of her people when they return to the house. She is delighted when anybody comes to visit and shares that delight with jumping leaping kisses all around.

JoJo includes the grandbabies as her people. Most of the time, if I'm home, she is with me. If Jack is in his shop or the study and I'm in the bedroom or kitchen, she is torn between whether she should stay with me or go to him, so she either runs from one of us to the other or she lays midway between us in the hallway. When the darlings are visiting though, she stays by them. Or nearly on top of them. Or right beside them. She moves when they move. Sometimes the curiosity or strength factors are a bit overwhelming for the girlies--like when she starts sniffing a doll and ends up chewing off its toes or when her excitement to see the girls causes her to knock one of them over after she steps on the darling's toes. But most of the time, it seems clear that she is quite simply devoted to them and their safety.

JoJo forgives and forgets quickly. She trusts that you mean well. And she is always happy when someone comes home. In fact, she is pretty much happy all of the time. If she has a ball to chase, a little bit of food and water, and a person nearby, her life is good. Toss in some soft pillows on Jack's side of the bed, and she's in paradise.