Community:

Pet of the Month.

Maple August 2015

Maple

How did you come to live with your current family?

I was born in Birch Bay, and was adopted from there. I grew up in Redding, California, and then came back to Whatcom County a few years ago.

What Silly or Little known facts should we know about you?

My Dad Steve calls me Maple Shark, because I circle the dinner table, and if someone drops a piece of food, I jump up and snap my teeth around it like Jaws! We have a glass top table, so sometimes this backfires a little. I love to eat ice cubes when the freezer accidentally spits them out, and if you sit on the couch, I will back my butt into your foot until you give me a butt rub. Nothing beats a good butt rub!! Before I go to sleep I like to gather the blankets into a big nest and then twirl around a bunch of times before I lie down. It really helps if I make my nest on top of someone’s feet, but if they get out of bed, then it’s best to relocate to their nice warm pillow.

Besides Day Care… what do you love?

Steve! (Steve told me to say that). I love food, a good belly rub, food, snuggles, food, kisses, food, and food. Right after a bath, I love going out in the yard and rolling in the flower garden–being wet really helps the dirt stick, which helps gets rid of that awful shampoo smell. After that, I love to run inside and help Mom make the bed by jumping up and flopping down on the nice clean bedspread. She really appreciates it when I help out around the house. I love my big brother Picasso, but he is very old and mostly sleeps a lot. He doesn’t see very well, so I try to help guide him whenever we’re walking together. When he’s done eating, I help clean his bowl for him. I’m kind of his seeing eye dog.

What are your favorite toys or games?

I love to play “keepaway” with a ball in the yard, although Mom and Dad keep trying to get me to bring the ball back for some weird reason. I don’t see the point since they’re just going to throw it again. I like to shred up tissue from the waste basket, but for some crazy reason Mom replaced all the old trash cans with these weird stainless steel thingies that have lids on them. I absolutely love going to the beach and sniffing all the good fishy smells on the shore. I like chasing bugs a lot, and this one time I caught a giant spider on Mom’s pillow while she was sleeping. He was really crunchy, and once she stopped screaming, Mom kissed me and said I was the best dog ever.

If you had a major in college…what would it be?

Archaeology. I’m really good at digging things up in the yard, and I could spend hours analyzing the soil where the deer hang out. You can learn a lot about a place by giving it the SSRP test–sniff it, scratch it, roll in it, pee on it. Very scientific!

If you wrote a personal ad… what would it say?

Hot blonde seeks messy eater, who lets me eat their scraps. Must love kisses and belly rubs.

Other information we should know about you?

I am a breast cancer survivor!

I was getting a belly rub from my Mom one day, when she found a lump on my chest. I could tell she was really worried. We went to the doctor the next day, and the doctor put a tiny needle in the lump to test it–it didn’t hurt much at all. A week after that I had a big operation, a triple mastectomy. I was pretty scared and uncomfortable, but I got to go back home after just a few hours, and got lots of cuddles and kisses from my family, plus lots of funny treats that made me feel pretty loopy.

Now I know how important it is to do breast examinations, and so my Mom gives me belly rubs all the time to check for lumps. Most people don’t realize that we girls have a higher risk of breast cancer if we aren’t spayed really early in life. Now I go visit the doctor every few months, so she can give me a belly rub too. These days I feel really great, and now that my fur has grown back, I can’t even see my scars. Plus Dad says not to worry, because I still have seven boobs left. Mom just tell me that I’m pretty. She says that whoever thought diamonds are a girls best friend must have never had a dog.

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