Zigginess

First I would like to thank all of your for your kind words and support. Spot and Trickster are hanging in there, and if we can get through the next few days, they have a good chance of recovery. Your friendship and well wishes really mean a lot to me - thank you!

Now today I'd like to talk more about Ziggy. He intrigues me. Ziggy is unlike any dog I have ever fostered. In the past three years, I've fostered 96 dogs or puppies. And none of them have even come close to matching Ziggy in terms of, well, Zigginess. Yep, that's a real word - if you look it up in the Dog Foster Mom dictionary, you'll find this entry:

 Zig'gi-ness n.

1. Exhibiting a lack of wisdom or good sense; foolish. See Synonyms at silliness.

2. Ludicrously or whimsically comical; clownish.

3. An indefatigable chewer.

Its hard to pinpoint what exactly it is about Ziggy that makes him special. When we first got him, my husband claimed Ziggy was mentally challenged. But I knew that Ziggy was intelligent - he quickly learned some basic commands. However I am still considering the possibility that he has a learning disability. And possibly a nutritional deficiency - something to explain why he has to constantly have something to chew on. I've fostered a lot of puppies, and almost all puppies chew quite a bit- but Ziggy is by far the worst of them. He is either sleeping, eating, or chewing. Even when we go on long walks and he is very tired, he still can't resist picking up a stick to chew on as he walks by. I have never seen anything like it. But even that is not what makes him so special. It's more to do with his strange behavior. For example, a few days ago as we walked around the neighborhood, I was walking Ziggy, Casey and Noelle together. When we passed a couple walking by, Noelle tried to head over to them to say hello and become their best friend. Casey wagged his tail in greeting and waited to see if they would acknowledge him. Ziggy glanced at them, saw they had nothing to chew on, and kept going right on by. That's not so strange - a lot of dogs will mostly ignore strangers. But then we passed a man mowing his grass. And Ziggy got so excited, I had to physically drag him away. In fact, at one point when I wouldn't let him go toward the guy, he just laid down on the ground and refused to move or look away from the man and the lawnmower. Even as I dragged him down the street, he continued to look over his shoulder at the man mowing his grass for almost an entire block, until the man was out of sight. This wasn't a single occurrence. The scenario has repeated itself several times since then. We also have some maintenance being done to our subdivision street, and Ziggy will sit in the yard as close as he can get to them and just watch them for hours.  If kids are out playing in the street, or people are walking by, he ignores them.  But the people working on the street have some heavy machinery they are using to tear up the concrete.  So I think I've figured this much out about what Ziggy is thinking.... People alone - ignore them. People with power machinery - JACKPOT!! I just don't understand why. It's one more clue in the puzzle that is Ziggy.

Although Ziggy doesn't usually behave like a normal dog, I love his little quirks. He is almost ten months old already. I've had him since last December, and even though I joke about his lack of prospective adopters, I do think he'll get a home other than mine eventually. He has actually been showing a lot of improvement in the past couple of weeks in regard to not chewing on people. If he keeps this up, he may be adopted sooner rather than later. I'm trying to prepare myself for that eventuality. I'm not sure what I'll do when he finds a home. Cry? Throw a Party? Probably both.