Nephesh, the Airedale Canine Companion of Jadie, learned at a young age to carry his own pooper-scooper:
"Just trying to help, Mom!"
Spring 1991
I asked Jadie where her Canine Companion's name came from:
"Before I had ever set eyes on Neph, I thought long and hard about what to name the puppy ADT that I would be selecting in a couple of months. A neat insight I had is that in the Genesis account of creation, both animals and Adam are referred to as 'nephesh' which means 'living soul' . . .
. . . . they [animals] have living souls (mind, emotions, and will) just like humans -- IMHO, dogs especially! Neph's name reminds me every day that he has a beautiful soul."
Jadie's Mom, Joan, has an Airedale Canine Companion of her own, by the name of Zak.
"His name means 'one to be remembered'. His entrance into the Davis household was rocky to say the least. He had decided stubbornly that he should be the Alpha. Thanks to an ADT expert called in for support, we made it through Zak's teen years."
Zak snoozin'
Neph leanin'
"Nephi & Zak are six-year-old Stone Ridge littermates. Different as salt & pepper, night & day. Zak is the straight man to Neph's comedy routine. Neph is 72 pounds to Zak's 93!! Nephi's favorite pastime is chasing flashlights and light reflections from mirrors, kitchen utensils, etc." Looks like Zak's favorite pastime is lying in the sun, melting.
Neph, the well-accessoried Airedale:
"Where does a 72-pound Airedale sit?"
"Anywhere he wants to!"
Neph: "Sometimes I like to lie
". . . and sometimes I like to lie
(Who says Airedales don't like baths?)
Dogs display reluctance and wrath
Zak: "My stalking instinct is strong."
"At age four-and-a-half, Zak was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma and given a fifty-percent chance of surviving the golf-ball-sized tumor on the roof of his mouth. He's our 'miracle boy' as he has survived the odds to date. Whenever he nuzzles close to the dinner table looking for scraps, our excuse is, 'He almost died.'"
Here's the real ruler of the household - Essie Marie. "It was love at first sight for Joan, my mom, when she found this cute puppy, wandering a store parking lot . . . she's been a member of our family now for 14 years." (And protecting them from that noisy, marauding vacuum cleaner, too!)
"Nothing's funnier than seeing this 20-pound white wonder lose her temper because Zak and Neph gang up to tease her; when she nips at their heels, they flee!'
CONTINUE WITH THE SAGA OF THE DAVIS PACK HERE
THE DAVIS PACK
(& SUSHI, TOO)
"I wonder if I left enough treats
for the tip?"
(But Neph thinks that Dad's
lap is the best place)
in the flowers . . .
in the bathtub!"
If you try to give them a bath.
-- Ogden Nash
