Written by her very doting and funny mom, Deborah:
Brinnie (AKA: Principessa Brinessa De Muttvilla; Tr: Princess Brinessa of Muttville) is darling; with the exception of a rare warning to me when her old joints are hurting, she is tolerant, gentle, patient, willing and too beautiful! She has made fast friends with the staff at our wonderful Vet’s, and children are drawn to the oversized eyes that make her look like an illustration in a children’s storybook.
She has some very strong preferences, too! Loves her carrots and bananas, and I have found that smearing an air-thin layer of P-nut Butter inside of a recycled pudding cup is distraction for hours; and that she has a very definite love of laying on the cool hardwood floor, though after this week’s “salon” trip, at which I decided we’d go “summer” and shave out her belly, she doesn’t seem to need the cool floor as much.
Apparently she LOVES books, too… Not so much reading them actually, as snacking on them.
I am not sure how long she had been browsing the Art section of my bookcase; but she became very fond of (the taste of) two of my very collectable Art books; One, a primarily Black and White collection of stunning nature photography, printed in 1942, my mother’s book in High School- I love that book; and the other, a long out-of-print compilation of the etchings, lithographs and sketches by the highly respected Israeli landscape artist, Anna Ticho.
You see, Brinessa IS a Princess and royalty KNOWS about things of taste. Especially, it seems, Bookbinders glue! VERY Tasty.
“Why??????” I couldn’t figure OUT why, with over 250 books on that shelf, she had ferreted just two and stuck with them. (“Stuck,” it turns out, being the key term.) As I looked at their “enhanced’ bindings, and all the tooth marks along the spines of those two books, I asked myself, “what would make her choose just those 2 books?”
Thoughtful time passed, and then, “OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” I bet it has to do with the glue! (Horse Glue, Maybe?)” I ran to the internet, typed in “Bookbinding Glue” and sure enough, Horse and Rabbit renderings were the primary ingredient in older binding adhesives. No big deal (other than the sad ‘YUK’ factor). I went through all the old books and moved them onto higher shelves, and got the two she had coveted out of harm’s way (they will need to be rebound of course, but that will have to wait until the oil well comes in!) and she has not gone near the bookcase since.
Which brings me to Brinnie’s NOSE. She can smell things eons away. I will find her, her nose to something that the other two dogs have NEVER paid attention to. And I have to think very hard (OUCH!) until I remember when I spilt some soup in the kitchen 3 months before, or one of the other dogs had enjoyed a cookie on the corner of the carpet in June of 2005, or “Why is she scratching the dog booster seat in the car?” -the long-ago-forgotten treats I had zipped into the front pocket, THAT’S why! I have learned not to doubt her; she is never wrong. If her nose is there, something edible is close by. I just have to make sure what she decides is edible is not also READABLE! How convenient for her that as great as her nose is, her near-deafness allows her to pretend she isn’t making “bad decisions” as I loudly try to point them out to her!
I felt the need to provide you readers some evidence, and so, here is Brinnie, unwilling to face the camera, alongside the results of her relatively short-lived foray into the world of fine art!
The wonder of all of this is that somehow, I don’t really care. This dog is such a complete vision of loveliness, and such a lovable creature, that “…really; a few books? Never mind.” She makes me smile, and laugh, and is delicious to the touch, with a coat of fur as soft as cotton candy. She is so good about everything else, so MUCH better than my two other beloved pups- on walks, about the furniture, with visitors, at going outside to take care of business no matter the weather, at mealtimes… that I guess a few old book spines is a mighty small price to pay for so much enrichment and entertainment!
I did not go to Muttville on January 6th 2011 to adopt Brinnie; I went on the trail of a little guy I had seen posted closer to home here in the Central Valley, who had since been taken to Muttville. I was wise enough to bring the two “Boys” with me so they could help select their new pal. And they chose Brinnie. And she stopped wandering around Sherri’s garden where she was busy sniffing out long-forgotten food for a while, and came over to stand with us. And that was it. “When it’s right it’s right!”
Decision made.
No looking back.
Wouldn’t want to!
7/24/11
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