Introducing: Zuzu

At this point, I'd like to take the time to introduce the other half of my life: Zuzu. She is a Golden Retriever/Lab mix and she will turn two on Halloween. Her favorite things, in no particular order, are as follows:

1. Breakfast

2. Dinner

3. Snacks

4. Work (she is an office dog)

5. Barn

6. Other dogs

7. Hiking

8. Swimming

She is an amazing dog and I'm completely obsessed with her. I am a crazy dog lady as you are about to find out, and I own that title thankyouverymuch.

I imagine that most people prep and plan for getting a dog. Find the right breeder or rescue, make sure you have everything on hand and that everyone in the household is okay with getting a little furball of joy. Well, in case you haven't picked this up already from the way I haphazardly acquired Goose, that's not exactly how I roll. 

I should first lead off by saying that we already had a dog (I was living at home in NJ at this time). Maggie was nearing nine, and the absolute best dog anyone could ask for. We lost Maggie this past May, right after her tenth birthday, and I am still utterly shattered and can't manage to write anything more about her right now. 

My favorite picture of my girls

It was a week or two before Christmas 2015, and my brother Zach and I were talking one night. Out of nowhere, he said, "Let's get a puppy." and I responded, "Okay! Let's do it." Now, I had wanted a second dog ever since we lost Bristol (our very first Golden who we had when we got Maggie) years earlier when I was still in high school. Maggie was amazing and I was grateful we had her, but when I moved out (which I was trying to do within the next year, and I did!) I wanted to have a dog with me and I wanted to get a puppy while I still lived at home and had the support of my family's schedule to help. I also wanted my puppy to grow up with Beans (Maggie. Sorry, there are a lot of nicknames for my animals). We talked it over, started looking at puppies online, and argued over what breed. First, we had to reach an agreement that this was MY dog. I was very happy to share while living at home, however, when I go, the dog comes with me. Then, we had to choose what kind of puppy. I couldn't afford a Golden from a quality breeder, so we looked at some mixes, argued about why were most certainly were NOT getting a Husky (even though I love them, they're not for me!), and found some Golden Labs. I did a lot of house sitting at the time, and one of my absolute favorite dogs was a Golden/Lab mix called Kobalt. He's a great dog and basically looked like a shorter haired Golden. That I could do. 

Ultimately, we found Zuzu, or rather her sister, Chloe. They were a litter of farm puppies, and I sent Zach with a check for a deposit to go pick one out exactly a week before Christmas. Rather than picking out Chloe, he and his girlfriend, Shannon, settled on Tasha, an adorable, chubby, tiny black puppy with a fuzzy head and a great personality. That's right, Zuzu's name was Tasha. I know you're wondering why I didn't keep such a fantastic name, but let's continue. 

At this point, we had my dad on board with our plan and finally let my mom know what we were up to. She was less than thrilled (sorry mom!). We decided that Zach would go pick her up the day after Christmas while I was in Vermont with Mom, and I would be home a few days later to meet the little munchkin. It was the perfect, irrational, ridiculous plan. From start to finish, this whole thing happened in two weeks. We had not previously discussed getting a puppy, but damnit, we were going for it. 

I wanted to have a name picked out before she got home. Tasha just wasn't going to cut it. I liked Ember, Zach liked Holly. We tried to come up with either a Halloween or Christmas themed name since she was born on Halloween and we were getting her at Christmas. Nothing stuck. My dad and I have a Christmas Eve tradition of watching It's A Wonderful Life and drinking. When it got to the point of Zuzu's petals, I shouted "ZUZU!! THAT'S HER NAME!" and it stuck. 

Zuzu was the most adorable tiny fluffball. Maggie pretty much ignored her existence, but we were obsessed with her. Luckily my Dad and brother's schedule's were such that someone was almost always home with her during the day, and the first year of her life was spent terrorizing Beans, the house, the neighbors, the yard, and anything that moved. She grew up to look like a small, refined lab and isn't nearly as fluffy as I had hoped. However, she's incredibly soft so I forgive her. She came to the barn with me, to friends' houses, sometimes house sat with me and played with other dog friends, and grew up to be smart, obnoxious, and incredibly sweet. Everything a puppy should be. Summer 2016 she swam in the pool every day with Maggie, and those will forever be some of my favorite memories with my girls. 

When it came time for me to move to Charlotte, I had about two weeks to do so. What is it with me and two-week timelines? I knew Zuzu was coming with me IMMEDIATELY. My parents offered to keep her at home for awhile so I could get settled in without worrying about the dog. Who were they kidding? Did they REALLY think I'd leave her behind for any amount of time? Ridiculous. Besides, I already had to leave Beans behind and Goose at home for an unknown amount of time (Thank you, asshat. Did you really have to break yourself right before I moved states?) and I refused to be without at least one of my furballs. 

How could I leave this face?

She's the best exploring buddy, even at Tryon

Who would have helped me decorate?

We adjusted to life quickly down here, and Zuzu has really grown up in the past six months. She comes to work with me every day, and let me tell you, having dogs in the office is everything you hope it would be and more. She has a work husband, Finnley, who she gets to hike and play with on weekends, some other little office friends, and truly knows more people in the office than I do. Not gonna lie, it's fantastic. She is great off leash no matter where we go, has learned a bunch of new tricks lately, and is the best company I could ask for. I'm not really a people person so was ecstatic to be able to afford to live without roommates. I'm never lonely if Zu is around and swear we could go weeks without seeing anyone else and be thrilled about it. She is my adventure buddy and we like to go hiking, swimming at the lake, and obviously get in as much barn time a we can. She has turned into a pretty perfect farm dog, and is super respectful of the horses. We also frequent the breweries down here and are regulars at Lucky Dog Bark and Brew in Charlotte. Yes, there is a bar where you can bring your dogs and let them play while you imbibe in adult beverages. Remember when I said I'm living the dream? 

She works VERY hard. 2pm naptime is a must.

Finnley and Zuzu taking a working lunch stroll. Gotta get those steps in.

Casually lounging on a couch at Lenny Boy 

Her backpack gives her wings!

Such sass about being an adventure dog

While I don't think she particularly enjoys being an only dog, she rarely goes a day without playing with her friends. Our best CLT friends, Kerri (human) and Ellie (dog) just moved on to their next Travel Nurse gig, and we are desperately sad. But, we have lots of other friends both human and canine and are never at a loss for something to do, and look forward to Kerri and Ellie visiting us down the road. Hopefully in the next year or so I can afford to get a second dog, but for now everything is well balanced. 

Ellie looking perfect while Zuzu is "that" friend

Zuzu will probably pop up pretty often in this blog, and surely there will be many, many pictures of her and Goose. They're best buds which melts my heart every day. We get to the barn and she runs out to go get him, and loves coming along on trail rides. I have a few goals for us over the next few months, including getting CGC (Canine Good Citizen) and TDI (Therapy Dogs International) certified so she can go on a few hospital visits once in awhile with her bud Finnley. Also hoping to get into some beginner agility classes to keep her little brain working, and just sent in the paperwork today to sign up for the class. She's been the most fun dog and I really look forward to doing more things with her. 

I didn't know I could turn a simple story of a Christmas puppy into such a long tale, but there you have it. The Story of Susan. She is a dog of many names including, but not limited to, Susan, Susan Beatrice (when she's bad), Zuba, Zoodles, Voodoo, Zubie, and SUSANGETYOURASSBACKHERERIGHTNOW when she's going on an unapproved adventure with her barn boyfriend, Bruno. More than anything, she is my best friend and I am grateful for her every single day.

If you'd like to follow along with her adventures on other social media platforms, her hashtag is #zuzupiddles on Instagram. 

Such sass