Annette Vivian & Snoopy

Who is in the photo at right?

My name is Annette Vivian [far right], I was originally from the Isle of Man, but now live in California with my amazing husband, two wonderful step-children and Snoopy, a Bearded Collie puppy (he's 2 in April, but I think they're puppies until at least 3!). I worked for many years as an accountant and travelled extensively, but now I've decided to follow my passion of writing - I help Snoopy with his Dog Blog - this has been way more time consuming than I ever imagined, so my other writing projects have been taking a back seat for a little while - but it's all good fun! Yep, that's Snoopy in the picture....

What's the occasion for Coffee with a Canine?

A coffee is my first port of call once Snoopy's woken us up (nice and early) each morning. I sit at the computer each morning with my coffee while I gather the enthusiasm to go for a run. Snoopy often joins me in the office, he lies on the sofa and has a little snooze, well, he is up early!

What's brewing?

Nescafe instant coffee and Almond Milk, yep, I know, most people hate instant coffee, but I love Nescafe, plus I can pretend it's a latte!

Any treats for you or Snoopy on this occasion?

Too early for me to think about food, I like to have breakfast after my run. Snoopy has the option to eat his breakfast early, but mostly chooses to have his after his run too!

How were you and Snoopy united?

Our son (who was 10 at the time) was afraid of dogs and has allergies, so we wanted a puppy (due to size) and a light shedder. We loved next doors Bearded Collie, Cosmo and walked him often. Beardies are brilliant with kids. We tried to get a rescue, but had no luck, luckily we found a wonderful Breeder in California. Our kids adore him and he’s a local celebrity with all the kids at school and in the neighbourhood. Snoopy loves it when my husband says ‘Koala’ and he jumps up to give him a big Koala hug and wander round the house in his arms! He makes us laugh everyday and is a blessing to us.

How did he get his name? Any nicknames?

One of the kids chose his name, but it is also my favourite Cartoon character. His name reminds me of my brother as he had a Snoopy wooden Dog that he used to drag around on a lead as a child. Snoopy was born 4 days before my wonderful brother was killed in an accident. Snoopy has been the most amazing therapy for me. My husband likes to call him Snoop Dog as it's less girlie, he also goes by Snoops, Snoopidoo, Snoopinator (the little boy next door calls him this) and his official name is Glenwood's Joe Cool - all these names totally suit his fun personality!

Cat, postman, squirrel...?

He would love to have a Cat friend, but so far hasn't been that lucky as they all run away from him! He doesn't care about the postman or the FedEx van, but oh boy, if he hears the UPS van, he starts barking and running around - I guess the good stuff arrives at our house in the UPS van?!

Ball, squeaky-toy, stick...?

He likes all of these - in fact he has virtually all of his toys we've ever given him. He's not a toy destroyer and he burrows his head in his toy basket to find one he hasn't played with in a while, but his all time favourite is his bone - I wedge carrots inside and he loves to spend hours trying to get them out again - somehow he always manages it eventually....

Does Snoopy have a favorite place to go for walk?

As soon as I get his lead he's happy, he really doesn't care where we go! He loves it when he sees I've got my running clothes on as he loves to go running every morning - he even starts nagging me if I'm not showing any signs of getting ready in the morning - he does this great yawn/bark combo sound and starts stretching - very subtle!! If he had running shoes I'm sure he'd put them on!

Who is Snoopy's best pet-pal?

Snoopy's best pal is Cosmo - he's a Bearded Collie who lives next door and who was our inspiration for getting Snoopy. Snoopy's dream would be to have a Dog flap into Cosmo's garden so he could hang out with him all the time! They have lots of play dates and sleep overs, but still, any time Snoopy hears Cosmo bark he gets all excited - he totally doesn't care if he hears any other Dog bark, it's so cute!

What is Snoopy's best quality?

We are hoping he will make it as a Therapy Dog, he has a such a great temperament and makes friends wherever he goes. We've just found a local group that we're signing up with, they do visits to elderly people, children who are ill, helps kids to read, etc.

We're going to work with them as Snoopy matures and hope at some point he'll be ready to be an official Therapy Dog. At the moment we consider him as an un-official Therapy Dog, as he makes us and so many other people smile, either in person, or through his antics that he talks about on his blog.

If Snoopy could change one thing about Californians, what would it be?

He loves everyone, so this is tough, but I think he'd want them to change the laws so he could go absolutely everywhere with us - he hates missing out on anything!

What's Snoopy's proudest moment so far? Most embarrassing?

Proudest is probably being selected as one of the two Bearded Collies to feature in a 300 page All Breed Dog Book being published by Project Dog. Despite being young he was brilliant during his photo session in San Francisco.

Most embarrassing is easy, we were invited to stay at a friends house and Snoopy was a puppy and was invited too, he was house trained, but we didn't realise, he was house trained in our house and of course it was a bit different in their house. We were busy videoing Snoopy and their Dog running around the house saying hello and totally missed Snoopy's attempt to tell us he needed to go out - yep, we caught him on video having to 'go potty' in our friends house as everyone realised our mistake.

If Hollywood made a movie about your life in which Snoopy could talk, who should voice him?

Great question, I'm actually gonna have to say Ricky Gervais - I love his sense of fun and his voice can be so animated, he's always laughing, especially at himself - I think he'd be a perfect fit and I think he'd be in character in no time - Snoopy is always up to things, causing mischief, or just trying to make us laugh - there's never a dull moment ... he's all about 'Just Having Fun'.

Visit Snoopy's Dogblog and Facebook page.

--Marshal Zeringue