Ganny: For sure it’s true that my pack was a bunch of characters. There were six of us plus our human person, of course. So if I could count the toes on both my front paws, our pack was one less than all my front toes. Does that make seven? I think it does. We were three big guys, three little fuzzy guys, and one human. Like Bj said, all together we were twenty-four paws and two feet.

I almost left the pack twice when I was a puppy. Two different people wanted to take me to their homes. I can’t remember why, but I didn’t go in the end, and so I ended up staying in the home where I was born. I guess that’s what I was really supposed to do, because now I’m writing a book!

Nobody could have had a better life than we did. It was full of good food, romps in the park, and lots of learning and adventures. And always lots of good cheer. And who could forget the hugs and rubs!

Our human person is the pack alpha. She’s always in motion and very busy, but we can always count on her good care and support. We feel very secure.

You must want to meet all the other four-footers. We three big guys are called Labrador retrievers or Labs for short. There’s my mom Doeska and my sister Gally. Doeska was leader of our four-footed pack for most of my life. She was a good leader, quiet but very aware. Gally was my sister; what a handful she was!

The three little guys are a breed called Coton de Tulear. They’re dressy, prissy-looking little things with long cottony hair. They may only top out at fifteen pounds, but don’t be fooled! They are hunters and herders and don’t miss a thing. Their breed used to fight wild boar in packs, so the legend goes. When Eugie, Kringle, and Lullies speak, we big guys always listen!

There’s something important you need to know about Eugie. First, she is the head Coton. It is also very important to pronounce her name right because it means a lot to her. It’s pronounced “Ou-gin-ee” or “Ou-gee” for short.

Kringle is a nice little guy. At least I can say that now; we didn’t get along well when we first met. Lullies? It’s a shame she’s so small. She’s one sassy little number! Sweet too. She’s also my friend. Now that I’m older and slower, she helps me remember I’m still a guy when she walks over so I can sniff her rear end.

To bring you up to date, Eugie died after her heart wore out, and then Doeska died real suddenly. I was very, very sad for a long time.

Doeska and Eugie

Ganny: In our world, Doeska was the centerpiece because Bj wasn’t always there. I’ve already described Doeska as my mom, but that was just a biological fact. Let me talk about her as leader of the pack.

Doeska

First I’ll tell the family story I heard of how Doeska became leader of the pack. Doeska was the first to arrive in the household. Someone gave Doeska to Bj because she was the runt of a litter and had survived efforts to drown her. A handful of moon cycles later, Eugie tumbled into the household as a wee, fluffy, black and white puppy. She may have been small in size, but her inner stuff was a match for Doeska’s considerable determination.

As they grew up in their home in Africa, the two of them played tug- of-war over who would be the dominant one. It was only after they came to America with Bj that the matter was finally settled. Well, sort of.

As I heard it, Bj announced to them both that she was going to select which of them would be top dog. She also announced that the two of them would just have to accept her decision, like it or not.

They were both equally qualified to take up the role, and Bj knew that. In order to keep it simple, Bj selected Doeska because she had arrived in the household first. I think Bj felt pretty proud of herself for putting that difficult issue to rest so easily in the end. Or so she thought …

Doeska and Eugie loved and respected Bj, and so they went along with the appearance of the announced arrangement. However, Doeska became titular top dog while Eugie slipped effortlessly into the role of real but quiet power. Doeska did not resist. Accepting this state of affairs was her first step through a process that eventually led her to possess a presence of quiet dignity.

Truth be told, my mom and Auntie Eugie were really great buddies. They looked out for each other, kept each other company, and created playful mischief for each other. They were differently packaged but complete equals with enormous loyalty to each other.

Of course, they didn’t go around showing it all the time—how sappy would that have been! But it manifested when necessary, like the pack story I heard about the time Bj took them for a walk in their new neighborhood soon after returning from Africa. All of a sudden, out of nowhere came a big male German shepherd with a bad attitude. For some reason he didn’t like the looks of Doeska and went on the attack. In rapid response, Eugie slipped out of her collar and hurled herself into the face of the attacking German shepherd. It was like she was saying, “Not my friend, you don’t!”