Suddenly Single and Lovin’ Our Dogs

  We're back talking about our dogs again. Just one thing leads to another. And Alice, you were just telling me how, you were telling me really how you adopted her in your first couple of days, but now go ahead. How she communicates. Yes. She's just more complex in her behavior. Right. So she's, she's stimulated my mind to, so that I can figure out what she needs what she wants you know so that she can have it yeah yeah and so it's it's been so interesting because I’ve never had a dog like this she you know navigates her day so differently my other dogs were just more um well quiet relaxed and hung out right I didn't want to say anything because i almost said dogs i might have to edit that i think i lost you um I'll keep yammering. You'll probably come back. Oh, I'm here. I'm here. Well, because I think what you're saying, like you said, they have different personalities, and you're a sensitive person, so you are willing to learn their personality and adapt to it. I swear, that's why I said this. It's a negotiation. Zeke has gone to bed. He went to bed. Now, when we started this conversation, which is probably about an hour ago, he was right here in my face sitting there. He wanted something, wanted something. I was eating chicken. He wanted something. Then, you know, I was giving him the dog treat. But my point is to say, but then when he was done, he was done. And he went to bed. Now, anybody else listening to this might say, well, he's a fucking dog. He went to bed. What's the big deal? But for us... For me, and I think for you, it's like Zeke went to bed. He decided to go to bed. He's a big boy now. And Viza, she got to realize, well, she's in a, not a threesome, but she was in a family now where she had you, but she also had a dog playmate too, right? Yes. And how old is Peter's dog? Um, he will be three. Oh, he's still a puppy. April 11th. And Eliza turns three, July 1st. Wow. Wow. So, so you got, I'm sorry. I kind of talked over those ages, but what they're about two, two years apart, three years apart. Um, Let's see. They're about five months apart. Oh, my. Oh. Oh, okay. He turns three April 11th, and she turns three July 1st. Oh, okay. All right. So that's like... Now, did you influence Peter? They're four months apart. They're four months apart. Did you influence Peter in getting his dog? No, it was the opposite. Okay. He got... Spartacus first and then I liked Spartacus' personality so much, I decided to get a Bernadoodle. But, you know, that was the confusing part of this whole journey. His is a multi-generational because, like I said before, both of the parents were Bernadoodles. Eliza was an F1B. because her mother was a Bernese Mountain Dog and her father was a poodle. So they're tracking their lineage. Yes. Yeah, this is very, believe me, they're working towards the day when they're pedigrees. It's just, it was so interesting to be, well, we were doing it, you know, it wasn't full-blown COVID. It was, let's see. It doesn't matter. It was like 2021. We got Spartacus in 2022, so it was more the end of 2021. Well, no, probably 2022. But, you know, you looked at the dogs online, and then you go pick them up. Instead of them choosing you, you're purchasing them, and it felt kind of... different for us because I'd never done that before, but both of us were very happy with the dogs we came home with. So that's what mattered. That's a very interesting thought right there. That just tiny little sentence of purchasing them and, Wow, you know, it's really very interesting because we've invested so many, so much feelings, so many feelings into these creatures, animals, dogs. And to think that it started with a purchase, with a financial transaction, you know, it's pretty weird. It is. It makes it very... It was different. And my friend... that I want to see tonight, her dog came from Wake Forest, which isn't far from us. And that was interesting because that breeder did it another different way. You know, it's just, it's a very, it's an individual's plan how they're going to breed and then sell the puppies. And yeah, it's very interesting. Well, it is. And I'm sitting here observing myself thinking, my gosh, you know, when you say the words of, you know, sell, buy, sell. I know. I swear to God, it's almost like, sorry, but almost like slavery. You can buy and sell a creature with these feelings? Yes. You know? And, you know, you don't introduce or find each other like you do in just meeting each other in a bar. You know what I mean? Like we met, oh, yeah, I met Eliza when I was on the subway. You know, whatever. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. No, no. It's actually a transaction. and one creature changing hands with another for money. It's very interesting. And what I'm thinking, I have to spill it out, you know, because I have pictures. Anyway, I have a photographic mind for photographs. I say that to give myself a little credit. But I have a picture of Eric... When we went down to Clinton, he was so intense on everything. And he had studied dogs, studied dogs, studied dogs, knew everything about them. He wanted a golden retriever. And so, you know, we were shopping them. And we went to a breeder in Clinton, South Carolina. And we went down there and there was the litter of puppies. I have a picture of Eric standing, you know, amongst them. And I brought my dad down there, who happened to be visiting that weekend. It was just such an amazing coincidence. But we all went down there, me and Tess and Eric and Daddy. And he chose this dog. Now, I don't know if he actually did this or not, but there was a thing with retrievers that you would take your keys and toss them. And whichever puppy brought them back to you, that would be the retriever that you would get. That you would get. Oh, wow. Yeah, yeah. So I don't know that we actually used that test, but Eric chose his puppy dog, and he named him Keesh. And, you know, like Keesh Hound. It wasn't like Keesh like cheese pie or something, but even so, I always... I was always taken by that. Eric was a very smart kid, very smart person. And he gave everything kind of a lot of thought. And he had memorized and learned all this stuff about dogs and was making a very conscientious decision. He was nine years old. And, you know, now that I have a grandson that's 9 and 10 and 10 and 12, I realize how smart they are. Shoot. Wes has a YouTube channel. I know, isn't that something? But, you know, this irony of how, and I was wanting to dovetail this in somewhere, so I will just try to throw it in there, how these little things turn into big things. Oh, well, she was my first employer. Right. Okay, well, 102 years old. And just imagine all the changes she's seen in the world, you know? I know. And it's just amazing. But, you know, and you've maintained that friendship with her all these years, Alice. Well, we met when I was 18. But, you know, you have known her... all these I’ve only known her one more i've only known her one more year than you so i've known her 56 years okay all right because i worked for her the year before i moved to atlanta okay oh i guess i was thinking of her age anyway bottom line was you're right i was thinking of her age not how many years you've known each other but The point, anyway, there is no point. It's just that it's fascinating. It's amazing. And the fact that you're interacting with her and Alice, this is the thing with my, I'm going to call her my patient. She's just like you. She's just like me. She's just sitting in a different place, a different location right now, a different circumstance in life. But she's just like you and me. That's something I've learned by getting older. You still have the same feelings. You're still a very vulnerable person. Well, you know, I'm saying vulnerable because that's who I feel. But you know what I mean? I used to think old people, I don't know if I had cruel feelings, but I kind of just didn't think old people had feelings. You know, like, well, I'm 17. I'm learning how to drive. I'm going here. I'm going there. I was all busy with myself. I didn't know old people had thoughts and feelings. I just looked at them and thought, oh, there's an old person. And, you know, by God, now that I'm here, holy mackerel, do we have feelings, you know? It's interesting. Yes. Yeah. Yes, it is. It's fascinating. Yeah. And I think each generation is fixated on their own generation. It's not a fault. It's just a kind of reality. I think every generation, you think about it, because I thought about it with you today, how this picture of you and Dave, I'm working on it because I guess I feel like right now, everything I do, I have to do into a YouTube video. So I take this one picture of you, which is beautiful. I mean, this picture of you and Dave could be an album cover for who knows for Donovan. I don't know. It was just a beautiful picture. And so, and I don't know who took it. I think we were with Martha and Bill. Well, and you probably were. You probably were. Because I think we were at Jones Beach. Okay, because I was... Long Island. You're right, because I was looking at it too. And I was seeing you in a field of grass, of like tall wheat-like grass. And so I was doing it to... Sting's Fields of Holly. Oh, yeah. I was working on that, but then when I looked at it, it does look like maybe Sam, like you were on a bank. But anyway, it's a beautiful picture. I forget where I was going with this, but I think what I was saying was you and Dave were, I don't know, let's just say you were in your 20s. You were in love. You saw that infatuation in your eyes. I saw this this sense of, oh my gosh, you know, they just love each other. And you were looking at him with such tenderness. And here they were sitting on this beach, this beautiful scene. And like you said, in reality, I'm just snapping a picture, two kids sitting on the beach. But it just has this aura about it that's just really amazing. And then I thought, there are kids right now, right now today, in that same stage of life. Exactly. I don't know why I found that to be so profound or so, like, kind of hard to believe. But it's true. That was us at that time of our life. And that was you. But, you know, other kids are going through that right now. They're falling in love for the first time. They found the person of their dreams. It's just really part of that makes me feel really good, makes me feel there is hope, you know. I know. You know? Yes.