Raising Arizona

I had a really good Petal story I remembered at about 6am this morning and thought "no problem" I'll remember it. But now it's 12 hours later and I can't recall what it was. I do know I haven't mentioned a major part of Petal's past ... actually a friend of hers that I still think of now and then.

When I lived in Canyon Meadows in Calgary I had just moved back to town from Saskatchewan and had also just started dating Phil. The Primordial Soup roommate I had at the time was (unbeknownst to me when I moved in) bi-polar and medicated. I had Petal with me of course and Backward Moron got it into her head she also wanted a dog. So of course she put virtually no thought into the process and one day came home with a free puppy named Arizona but was too lazy to actually call her that so she became Zoe.

This little black dog was what my mom likes to call a village dog; no discernible breed, about 30 pounds, maybe 20 inches at the shoulder, pretty foxy face with partially pricked ears. Black all over except a white strip on her chest. Smart as a whip and about 5 or 6 months old based on her teeth.

I lent The Single Celled Organism a crate to house train Zoe which went terribly, she destroyed some of Ho-Bag's hideous slut shoes and generally behaved like a puppy that was pretty much ignored by her owner til she did something wrong. Normally I'd get home before Mattress Girl and let Zoe out to pee and we'd all go for a walk. Gradually this also began to occur on weekends until Phil and I were pretty much caring for her dog exclusively.

An example of the Knicker Nancy's psychosis was when she bought one of those roll-a-treat balls but took it away after a couple days because Zoe would crash it into the wall while rolling it. Nice. She would also let Zoe out of the the crate after 12 hours of containment and scream at her because the puppy peed on the floor 'out of spite'. Trailer Trash had two kids that didn't live with us so they'd come over on weekends and she'd lay on the couch all day with a hangover while the kids played my Playstation. Zoe was living a half life until one day she allegedly nipped one of the kids. Slutface Sally threatened the Humane Society.

Phil and I intervened and told Redneck Skank we'd take responsibility. Basically Zoe considered us her owners anyway so it wasn't much of a leap. In the time that Zoe lived with me we did all kinds of things together; we lounged on weekends, went camping, walks at the park and river, visited Phil's friends and parents. Basically everyone knew and loved Zoe.

Now we had to find her a good home. In the interim one of Phil's friends kept Zoe temporarily so she was not under The Tramp's roof while we found a forever family. We never told McSlutbag where Zoe ended up and she never asked.

So Zoe went to live with Phil's parents and now at about 8 years old she still does. Over the years we spent so many hours walking and camping with those two dogs. I have some really great photos of Petal and Zoe together on camping trips, in the car and at the park. I'll have to scan them in one day. Zoe loves water and retrieving to the point that finds her own stick and puts it at your feet. Her body shakes and she whines, quivering with excitement. Many a happy afternoon was spent with Zoe and Petal on long walks to the river.

Petal and Zoe were good friends and each life was better for having met. A few years ago Phil's parents moved to the coast of Vancouver Island and I can't imagine a better place for her than to have daily access to a beach and endless sticks. I'm glad in a way that I had that idiotic roommate who brought home a free little black dog - she was one of the best dogs I have ever known.