Six Month Interview

It was on this day, two years ago, that the world welcomed eight new yellow packages of puppy goodness.

And our hearts melted at the sight of them.

Remember this? We spent the next eight weeks watching them on the Eukanuba Livestream as the tiny critters opened their eyes and ears to brand new experiences. Then in a blink, they were off to their puppy raisers for socialization and training for the next eighteen months.

This past May, our Extraordinary E's - Emma, Everett, Ella, Elmo, Euka II, Emily, Ethan, and Eliza - returned to Canine Companions for Independence to enter the Advanced Training program to learn the ways of being highly trained Assistance Dogs.

Euka II ready for
Advanced Training at CCI

When we were nearing the end of our volunteer puppy adventures with Miss Euka, I sat her down for a James Lipton-esque interview. Using those familiar ten interview questions offered up by Mr. Lipton, we got a inside view of our little polar bear celebrity.

Of course we know that Miss Euka needs to focus on her education and so is not available for a follow-up interview on today, her second birthday. There'll be time for all that later after training has been completed and her destiny determined.

No worries, y'all. Holly has stepped up and said she'd be glad to talk about herself with you instead. You see, she has a birthday coming as well.

The Hero litter, born on March 18 this year, will be six months old on Thursday.

So lessee here ... in dog years, the Heros are something around seven years old.


What's that, you say? How do I figure this? Oh sure, it's a total WAG, not gonna lie. But here's what I'm using as my resource. This is from the post The Seven Year Myth.

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There's a plethora of opinions and resources out there on calculating dog age.  Here's an article from the Mental Floss website that puts the logic back into my argument. From their story on Fuzzy Math: How do "dog years" work? . . . 

The folks at The Dog Guide suggest that when we think about “dog years,” we have to consider the breed and calculate accordingly. Across the board, they say, you can consider the first year of a dog’s life as equivalent to 15 or so human years. By that time, dogs and humans are approaching their adult size and have reached sexual maturity. On their 2nd birthday, you should add about 3-8 more years to your dogs “human age,” depending on size, and value each dog year as being worth 4-5 human years from that point on.

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What is that for our hooman kids, do you think? Seven years old is first grade or something, right? Primary school, anyway.

So how about some interview questions designed for the young mind. Nothing scandalous that James Lipton would dare to delve into (what's your favorite curse word), but instead a more whimsical look into the psyche of the delicate creature that is Miss Holly.

When I say delicate, that's not really what I mean, of course. I don't have a sarcasm font here.

And we'll have to toss aside certain other queries that could otherwise be made of a seven year old child. A six month old puppy would be limited in her response to "what's your favorite season" ... um, Summer? Or favorite color ... anything not grey?

With that in mind, here's what we got out of the pup today.

Holly's Six Month Interview

Food Lady:     Alrighty, kiddo. Let's get started. That's right, just sit right there and get comfy. Ok, we know your name is Holly VII, given to you by Canine Companions for Independence. But now that you've been living at Sword House for the past four months, have you picked up any nicknames?

Holly:             You mean like, Kiddo? You call everybody that. I think it's the same reason you call us all Dog. It's because you forget our names sometimes, isn't it? But you also call me Holly Polly and Halle Berry.  I like those. There's the times you call me that other thing, too. 

FL:  What other thing?

H:    Holy-[bleep]-what-is-in-your-mouth-now-spit-it-out-drop-it-drop-it-drop-it-oh-that-is-not-good-why-would-you-even-put-that-in-your-mouth. There's Hawaiian volcanoes with fewer vowels, you know.

FL:  Right. We'll cover this more offline, Holly Polly. Ok, next question. Ready? How would you describe yourself?

H:    I love to run! I'm a runner! I need to exercise my legs a lot because when my brains get tired, they leak all the way into my feet. I have to run to get my brains back in my head. And afterwards, I like sleeping in the middle of the room so I can wake up real fast if something interesting is gonna happen. Oh! And eat! Three meals a day! Food is the best stuff ever, I just can't get it in my belly fast enough. Love, love, love to eat. It could be anything, too. I'm not picky. Bodine says that makes me a cheap date. Food Lady? What's a cheap date?

Harvest & Holly at five months

FL:  Don't listen to the cat. We've talked about that. And what? You have to run to get your brains back into your head?

H:    Don't you?

FL:  I think that's just a puppy thing. Speaking of .. I wanted to talk to you about your face time with a food bowl. This three meals a day thing is just for Little Puppies, you know. Your mealtimes are going to be upgraded to Big Puppy times later this week.

H:    Serious? Four meals? 

FL:  Um, no. But let's add that topic to the Talk-Later list. Let's move onto the next question for now, ok? Holly, my love, describe a perfect day.

H:    Duh. I just did. Four meals. Wait, no. Five. Five meals would be perfection plus infinity.

FL:  Don't say Duh. It's rude. But really, what else do you like to do? Besides eat all day and burn those calories by running around like your tail's on fire, I mean.

H:    You know what else is fun? When Micron brings the newspaper in and he's all [lowers voice] Lookit everybody, I'm a "working" dog and everything. And then I grab the newspaper from him and I run circles around the sofa with it and Micron drops to the floor with a huff-y sound and Jager jumps on the sofa and starts barking and I laugh and laugh and run circles until I get dizzy. Or until you yell at me to stop. Ha! That's good times.

FL:  Good times. Copy that. Next question ... what is your greatest talent as a six month old puppy? Please don't say eating, running or sleeping. Pick something else, please.

H:    Eating isn't a talent, Food Lady. Duh ... um, duh dee dum dum la lee la. That's a song. I just made it up. See, that's talent. My power of eating is a gift.  Anyhow, I'm real good at learning stuff. Right? You said so. I can do Visit and Lap now. And I can Shake paws like a boss. You said that, too.

FL:  That is true, Holly. You're picking up the CCI commands like you knew them already. Good job, little girl. Now, think about this next one a second. What is your favorite joke?

H:    I don't have to think!  I got one. Knock knock.

FL:  Who's there?

H:    Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

FL:  A food joke. Nice. And so efficient, condensing a knock-knock joke into a three-liner. Add a couple more lines and maybe it will actually make sense. Ok, last question, Holly. If you could say anything to your half-sisters and brothers, the Extraordinary E's, what would it be?

H:    Thanks for saving all the good looks for me, you guys.

FL: Try again.

H:    All the brains? What? You’re making that meanie face again.

FL:  Stop it. Really, kiddo. Seriously. The E's are doing wonderfully and I know you wish them good luck as we all do. Now, what did I tell you to say to them today?

H:    Ok, ok. I'll be all seriously and for real. Happy Second Birthday to the Extraordinary E's! Rock the world, my sisters and brothers!

FL:  Good job, Holly. Thank you.

H:    You're welcome. Are we done here? It’s hungry o’clock.