MEASURING UP, WEIGHING IN

 Hi folks, it’s me again, Zeus. It’s been quite a long time and much has happened, so I’ll try to fill you in.

The humans have been acting funny lately. As best as I can understand it, they need to know stuff about us. They need to know how big we are. This doesn’t make sense to me because they only have to look at us, right? They can look at us and see we are actually quite big. Even my little sisters, Zelda and Zoe, are growing a lot although they’re not the same shape as me and Zorba and Zza Zza.

 Zza Zza won’t leave Mythos alone. Mythos is one big cat. He’s a very big cat, and he can be a really grumpy cat, but not with the humans – he loves them a lot and loves to snuggle with them. He’s old, Cathy says, and he doesn’t like to be bothered by irritating youngsters anymore, but try telling that to Zza Zza…Anyway, Mythos isn’t nasty to her. You can see  here that Zza Zza is already quite a bit taller than old Mythako, so you can tell we’re growing fast.

We have lots and lots of fun in this big playground. There’s all kinds of places to chase each other. We can run and hide, but when we’re tired we just fall asleep where we are. The humans never leave us alone when we play. They take pictures of us and tell each other how adorable we are. And how clever. We love to show them all the things we can do, and if our legs are too little to do something, then they help us and stroke us and tickle us.

They worry about us apparently, so when we’re tired they take us back to the big kennel and the fenced area they’ve made so we can sleep. This is so we can’t get out. I did go away up the drive once – it’s a long story – and the humans were very, very worried. I might tell you the story one day, but right now I’m so very happy to be back at my nice home. I was very tired, let me tell you, and very frightened. My humans couldn’t believe that I could go so far, but I’m strong. I really am. “Sturdy” is the word Cathy uses when she talks about me. Ron and Cathy were very upset until they found me. Cathy squeezed me so hard I could hardly breathe.

Zorba brushing up on stuff

 Zorba was having fun, and then Freddie picked him up so that the humans could do what they were calling measuring. Something about how tall we were. Cathy had the bright idea of getting her sewing mat so they could do this. She said it was easier than trying to use a yardstick. I didn’t know what she was talking about – there are lots of sticks in the yard – but it was interesting to watch. Zorba was bored with it and wanted to go play and explore. I can’t blame him – there’s so much to do and see and we love to race around.

Well, the humans seemed happy when they got us to stand still in front of that green thing. Freddie was doing that, Ron was writing stuff down and Cathy was taking photos. After each of us had finished with the green thing, we got put in a bucket and then the bucket got lifted up on the end of a big hook with a sort of clock on it – I think they called it a dial. Then Ron looked at that dial and said words like: “Wow! Zoe’s heavier than I thought,” and “Zorba looks so big, but he’s not much heavier than Zelda.”

Zelda always looks smaller than me and Zorba and Zza Zza, but when Ron had her in that bucket with the weighing thing, he was very surprised and said that Zelda weighed almost the same as us. “Not much difference,” is what he said. “She’s a very solid little girl.”

Zza Zza’s a girl – and I hear the humans saying things about girls being smaller – but apparently she’s much the same on that green thing as me and Zorba. She may be a girl but she’s as strong and lively as we are. The humans love to cuddle her because they say she’s like a big teddy bear. I don’t know much about teddy bears but apparently that’s a nice thing they say about Zza Zza.

Zoe isn’t like me. Her hair is short and silky. I think she’s Cathy’s favorite of all of us, though she doesn’t say so. “She’s a thinker,” Cathy says. That’s good to be, apparently.

“She’s got a lot of Labrador in her,” Ron says, “that’s why she’s calm and steady.” That’s also very good to be.

All that weighing and measuring business seemed important to the humans, though I’m not sure what it was all about. We had fun and the humans were pleased. That’s good.

Can you see how good I was? I went first and I had to set a good example. I’m Zeus, and I’m the leader. I must show the others what to do.

PEEK A BOO!
Does Zoe think she’s the leader?
What is it over there?
Hey! You’re supposed to follow me!
Oops!
I think I’ll stay awhile
I really like this!