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| Koko Acrylic Painting by Sara Baicker-McKee |
I was never a dog person.
Except for a neurotic collie that my parents gave away when we moved from California to Virginia when I was a year old, my family always had cats, not dogs. Thanks to Diddle, Mittens, Lucy, and Jelly Bean, to this day, I am sucker for purring, sandpaper tongues, and the way a cat rubs against your legs. (Okay, this is completely off topic, but that reminded me. Let's say you're working on an illustration and you need a photo reference of a "kitten rubbing against someone's leg" - let me give you a tip. Do NOT do an internet search for that phrase. The images that come up do not bear much resemblance to young felines.)
Anyway, I always figured I'd have a cat someday, but when my oldest son turned out to be allergic, we opted instead for a series of little caged critters: mice, a hamster, a guinea pig, a chinchilla, a whole mess of roly poly bugs.
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| Mini-beaded Koko. By Sara, age 10 or so. |
Life was good, right? Only not for my youngest, my daughter Sara. Almost from the moment she was born, she had A Thing for dogs. As a tiny infant, her eyes widened and her whole body quivered whenever she spied a dog. "Woof" was one of her first words. By the time she was a preschooler, she preferred her cousins' threadbare hand-me-down doggy costume to even the sparkliest princess getup, knew the distinguishing characteristics of dozens of dog breeds, and she and her best buddy got in trouble at preschool for only speaking in dog and preferring to consume their graham crackers and milk doggy- style. (By that I mean no hands! And don't do an internet search for that term either!) When Christmas and her birthday rolled around, every year Sara's wish list contained just one item: a real, live dog. If she couldn't have that, then nothing, thank you.
Despite this pressure, I did a pretty good job of remaining canine-free. I had three closely-spaced kids, a menagerie of critters in cages, and the occasional uncaged "visitor." Plenty of mess and noise and walks and poop to deal with already. And despite the promises of my daughter and other family members, I knew who would end up taking care of any dog that entered the household.
4 Comments on Pug Love: A Birthday and Books for Koko, My Faithful Fuzzy Friend, last added: 2/24/2012
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awesome pictures.
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Happy birthday, Koko! I'm a pug lover myself, and my pug's 11th birthday is coming up on April 14. I've even devoted a blog (Confessions of a Pugophile) to the snuffly creature (who isn't nearly as talented as Koko; he sits on command (sometimes) and that's it).
I have all the books you mentioned. Another great (albeit strange) picture book is Tomi Ungerer's Flix. In it a pug falls in love and marries a cat.
Thanks!
Catherine your blog is wonderful, as is the adorable Pablo. I'd never guess he was almost 11! And even if the vet says he needs to lose some weight, he looks pretty svelte for his age.
(And Miss Rita is mighty cute too.)
For anyone else reading the comments here is the link to Catherine's pug blog: http://pugofmyheart.wordpress.com
Thanks for the book recommendation too. I haven't read Flix! And I love Tomi Ungerer too. Off to the library.
There is something so sweet and quirky about pugs! One of my son's roomates has a funny little black pug named "Olive" who is one of the most lovable creatures I've ever met.
Koko's birthday portrait by the fire is a-d-o-r-a-b-l-e!!!! (so is all the artwork - your daughter inherited her Mom's talent, for sure!)