Meet the Odd Couple


First posted 2/7/2007, 15:47:09

The Woofus

    Name: Sunny (but answers to anything that begins with “Sun,” “sweet,” “woof,” or “doodle” [as in "doodlebug"])

    Age: 6 years

    Breed: English Cocker Spaniel (Most likely. Both his vets don’t think he’s an American Cocker [one mentioned that he didn't have the "design flaws" of that breed]. His first groomer kept English Cockers, and she thought he was one. Everyone who meets him and has experience with American Cockers comments that he doesn’t look like the cocker spaniels they know.)

    Likes

    • DEAD ANIMALS (as food)

    • LIVE ANIMALS (as playmates—all of them except for members of the VSC. See “Dislikes”)

    • soft doggie treats (He’ll take most treats, but first he’ll play hard to get in the hope that you have a soft one or perhaps even some DEAD ANIMAL.)

    • anything stinky, especially if it will stick to his fur

    • sticks that meet his connoisseurial standards: not too green, not too dry

    • stuffed toys, especially dirty, half-torn-up ones

    • mornings

    • tummy rubs

    • butt scritches

    • Mommy (probably because she is, as far as he can tell, the source of most of those things)

    Dislikes

    • anything associated with hygiene, with the sole exception of having his ears and head brushed

    • getting wet, even when not associated with hygiene

    • members of the Vast Squirrel Conspiracy (If Mommy doesn’t wake up to the danger and let Sunny hunt them all down, they will take over the world!)

    • having his feet touched

    • ucky-dry monkey kisses

    • all those silver objects that Mommy likes to play with, making her ignore Important Things

    Hobbies: WALKIES!!!, frolicking, finding new things to add to his list of likes, rolling in various media (some stinky, some not), ripping apart stuffed dog toys, using the Power of Cuteness to get whatever is at the top of his priority list at the moment, other general BAD (Being A Dog) behavior.

The Aspie

    Name: Anne Aspey (aka Mommy)

    Age: 41

    Likes

    • Soy Delicious Chocolate Obsession Frozen Dessert (unfortunately unshareable with woofi)

    • clean doggie fur

    • solitude (woofi always welcome, however)

    • most nonhumans

    • a few select humans (aka friends) who do understand that Anne is an Aspie

    • a reasonable (as defined by Anne) amount of socializing with friends

    • ucky-wet doggie kisses

    • grunty, snuffly woofy noises

    • Sunny (probably because of his Power of Cuteness, but quite possibly because of general woofiness)

    Dislikes

    • socializing with new humans or known humans who mistakenly insist that Anne is one herself

    • oversocializing with friends

    • physical contact with anyone but nonhumans to whom she is not allergic

    • being lied to and being assumed to be as much of a liar as humans generally are

    • food preparation (Her food allergies make this difficult.)

    • extremes in environmental temperature

    • mornings

    • bright light

    • noise

    Hobbies: Reading (preferably a book in a series she knows she likes), playing with computers, writing e-mail to friends, watching and rewatching videos, avoiding her dislikes and trying to avoid discovering new ones, other general Aspie behavior.