By Georgia Osten
I’m not sure I believe in reincarnation? If I did, I’d want to come back as our Pet Dog, Maezy. She’s always had it pretty easy growing up in our household. We got her at Christmastime, it was pretty chilly out, and she was pretty little. She used to have to be carried up and down the stairs a zillion times a day as we were housetraining her. Plus, I thought she was so little she’d attract a hawk.

Our kids were instrumental in finding her for us, she was a Christmas surprise. I remember the lady at the adoption place warned us about raising a dog at the beach. She said, “oh, watch out, they’ll eat strange gross stuff on the beach, they’ll get sick.” True, very true! Nevertheless, she grew up on the beach, she loves the beach. I swear she has a watch that tells her in the morning when it’s time to go to the beach. And, again, in the evening, 4:30, she’s there at your side, nudging your arm to tell you it’s time to go again.

After the morning trip, there’s no stopping her until she’s had her breakfast. Every other day, she gets a scrambled egg with her dog food. We had to change to every other day because Dr. Matak said she was “losing her girlish figure.”

After the evening trip, there’s no stopping her until she gets her dinner, her “ice cream,” and her snack. We found this recipe for doggie frozen treats. The recipe makes approximately a month’s worth of ice cream snacks. It’s 4 bananas, 32 oz. plain “low fat” yogurt and a cup of smooth peanut butter. We freeze it in muffin tins filled with cupcake holders.

For a long time, we’ve supplemented the amount of food with canned green beans or canned carrots. Lately, the price of carrots went through the roof, so I decided to make my own. I’ll peel and boil a gillion carrots and cut them up and bag them.

Oh, we admit we’ve spoiled her, but it’s so cute when I whistle in the morning indicating I’m awake and they both will come back to bed and pile in. Once she hears my whistle, PawPaw has to let her in, she’ll jump into bed uninvited. No telling how long she’d lay there, it’s the ritual and it happens every morning.

I guess we’re all creatures of habit, I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s a dog’s life!

[Feb-1-2021]