Who is in the photo at right?I'm Amber Carlton, an advertising copywriter by day and my dog Mayzie's blog assistant by night.
My two dogs are Mayzie, a 3-year-old female mutt (DNA tests showed 25% Boxer, 12.5% Bull Terrier, 12.5% Dachshund and 50% Heinz 57) and Ranger, a 6-year-old male rat terrier.
What's the occasion for Coffee with a Canine?
We recently took a vacation to the western slope of Colorado and spent some time in a quaint town called Ouray. We decided to stop by Mouse's Coffees and Chocolates for, well, coffee and chocolates!
What's brewing?
I had one of Mouse's specialty coffees, the Dirty Hippie, which is espresso and chai.
Any goodies to go with the coffee?
One of their delicious Scrap Cookies. They make all their own chocolates and all the scraps that are left over are thrown into cookie dough, so you never know what you're going to get with each bite.Any treat for Mayzie and Ranger on this occasion?
They each got a little bite of Scrap Cookie - without the chocolate, of course.
How were you and your dogs united?
After researching numerous breeds for our perfect "first dog," we settled on the rat terrier. We were fortunate to find Ranger through a wonderful rescue called Ratbone Rescues. Mayzie, on the other hand, chose us. We stumbled upon an adoption fair and, while we had no intentions of adopting a second dog, she made it clear that we really had no choice in the matter.
How did the dogs get their names?Ranger was being fostered in Texas so we wanted to give him a name that reflected his "roots." He's a law-and-order kind of dog, so we named him for the famous Texas Rangers lawmen. Mayzie was named for the heroine in "What Maisie Knew" by Henry James. The spelling came from the "Amazing Mayzie" character in "Seussical."
Any aliases?
Ranger's most common aliases are "Doodle" or just plain "Dude." Mayzie is often "Baby Girl" or "Sweetness."
Cat, squirrel, postman...?
Well, they live with two cats so cats are definitely off limits. Ranger is okay with the postman but for some reason, feels that the UPS man is definitely not to be trusted. Mayzie believes squirrels were put on this earth for her to chase.
Tennis ball, squeaky-toy, stick...?Ranger didn't care much for toys before we adopted Mayzie. Now his favorite toy is whatever Mayzie has. Mayzie has a particular love of all things stuffie - although they mysteriously become unstuffed in only a matter of minutes.
Where is Mayzie and Ranger's favorite place for an outing?
Anyplace with wide open spaces.
Who are Mayzie and Ranger's best pet-pals?
Ranger really doesn't have any good pet-pals other than us and Mayzie (and that's just fine with him). But Mayzie loves our cat, Ripley, and has a good buddy in our next door neighbor dog, Hope.
What is each dog's best quality?Ranger is more than happy to do whatever we want to do. If we want to hang on the couch, that's fine. If we want to go hiking, that's great, too! Mayzie had a rough start in life and came to us very fearful of a LOT of things. Yet she has an enormous capacity for love and trust, and has come so far in the 1 1/2 years we've had her.
What is each dog's proudest moment?
Ranger, being a rat terrier, is always very proud when he sends some small animal like a mouse or bird to meet its maker. And he's always very disappointed in us when we unceremoniously take it away from him and throw it in the trash. I'm pretty sure that he'd be thrilled if we would stuff his "trophies" and mount them on the wall. Mayzie's proudest moments are when she can go into a new situation and find out that, "Hey! This isn't so bad after all!"Most embarrassing?
In his beginning obedience class, Ranger wiped out during a recall exercise by stumbling over a ditch that was covered by tall grass. On the next try, he made a wide berth around the ditch to ensure that didn't happen a second time. Mayzie has no embarrassing moments. She's pretty sure that life isn't worth living if you can't make yourself and others laugh.
Visit Mayzie's Dog Blog.
--Marshal Zeringue
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