Zella is the senior animal in our zoo. She is our 10 year old german shepherd. She’s HUGE, weighing in at around 130 lbs (she’s lost weight in the last year). Her jaw is bigger than my head. Captain Sarcastic already had her when we met. Having never been around large animals, it took quite a long while for me to learn to trust her. But once I did learn to trust her, I found I loved her, too. Deep down, she’s a complete sweetie pie. She doesn’t listen very well, but makes up for that by being very well behaved (she doesn’t jump on people or bark at the mailman or chase other dogs) with one general exception, Lucy.

Lucy is our four year old blue heeler. She is a bundle of energy. We got Lucy because I thought Zella would enjoy a little sister. Shows you what I knew about dogs! They DO get along, but Zella is jealous of all things Lucy. So if Lucy has a toy, Zella wants THAT toy. And Lucy KNOWS this. So Lucy will run around with a toy in her mouth and get Zella to chase her. If Zella is lucky enough to capture the toy, she holds it in her mouth for all of 30 seconds then places it on the ground . . . which Lucy promptly steals. Then it starts over. All this time, Zella is whining, er, I mean barking her big ole head off to no avail.

Zella is the laid back dog. Think Joe Cool. Lucy is the guy you want at your party (until you don’t). The lamp shade will end up on her head before the night is over. She’s gregarious and playful, a seeker of approval, and easy to forgive. But, Lucy is not as well behaved as Zella (though she does tend to listen better). She jumps on everyone, barks at all strangers, and whimpers pathetically to get her way. Here’s a picture we took of her at the Bridge Bar Benefit 2005 (it was a costume thingy for dogs benefiting the local SPCA; Lucy didn’t come close to winning. This Willie Nelson, as memory serves, stole the show. He even had a little guitar strapped around him!)

Having been with CS for almost 9 years, we have plenty of pet stories. Some hysterical, some (physically) painful, some sad. I am sure they will find their way to this website.