Last year, my friend crafted a masterpiece of dog headgear for Primo (your dog wants one too, so ) and I was and remain impressed by her talent. Now it turns out her husband, Dan, has his own special skill and that is naming a new dog perfectly without even seeing a picture first. Last week, when we’d adopted the new girl but were waiting for her spaying, I didn’t have a photo because the shelter had taken her online listing down and I’d forgotten to take pics myself, so I described her to my knitting friends (Stacy is one of them) and asked for help in picking out a name, mentioning that I liked the name pumpkin but that Rupert had vetoed it because it was too “cute”.
Dan said, simply, “Zucca”, which is the Italian word for pumpkin. Ah-hah! Perfect! But then I am a spaz and talked myself out of it after saying it loud several times, thinking that it was too sharp or something. Possibly my problem was that I was pronouncing it with the correct Italian accent because that’s how I learned the word. Zook-kuh. Hard Z, both c’s enunciated, all of it in the front of my mouth. So I thought, no, it’s not the name.
Then I spent the last 8 straight days trying every single other name that has ever existed in English or any other language. She has been Gemma, Ginger, Sweetie, Alice, Caramella, and, most recently, Lugnut. That’s right, Lugnut happened for a whole day until I woke up this morning and realized it sounds like we’re cursing her in German.
Anyway, all this time, as my frustration and annoyance at my own self grew and grew, I kept rolling back around to Zucca, first once a day then once an hour. I tried softening it and pronouncing it like an American since I am in fact an American, and even found myself cuddling her and mumbling, oh sweet girl Zuzu and then while eating lunch today I actually called her a zucchini for reasons nobody will ever understand. The point is that I realized her name is Zucca.
Primo continues to be adorable and sweet with her. She gets in his face and is an attention hog in the extreme, but he’s patient and only grunted at her once, when she tried to steal his chew stick. They’re starting to cuddle a little when they sleep; this morning I found them with Primo’s arm draped over her. They moved when I tried to creep out of the room to get the camera because they don’t want to break my blog with their winsome charm.
It turns out that Zucca hates the vacuum as much as Primo does, which is tough for them because now with two shedding dogs, I’m having to bust out that machine every afternoon. The other day they fled together to the staircase landing for safety:
I convinced them the vacuum was gone so they rassled each other for a minute and then Primo decided he’d rather lay down and get his belly scratched, but Zucca wasn’t finished so he got stalked real good. This one is titled “SOON“.
SOON
Man, it’s fun having two dogs again.
Now we know you are really home.
Zuzu! Perfection.
Also, Primo’s almond eyes slay me every time – such a gaze!
Oh, and re Zucca’s wild look, I have to confess to a facepalm moment. Earlier, people kept saying she looks like a hyena, and I kept thinking, “No way!” But I was imagining only the hideous, spotted monsters. In moment of epiphany, I looked up the striped species and must now agree – except that Zuzu ‘resembles’ them in much the way that a porcelain demitasse resembles a soup mug. ;) Other than that, practically identical!
Well named. Congrats!
And BTW thanks for posting more often ;)
Yes, yes, YES!!!!! Zucca! In my head, it also sounds close to the French “sucre,” which means sugar, making it PERFECT because she is so sweet!!
Sweet little zucchini-dog!!!
Nice choice. And I love the painting, too.
Yep, Zucca. It seems to fit well.
But, Lugnut?? You must have been getting to the point of desperation to even think of that one. Sounds like a name a mechanic would have given her, and it would been an Aussie mechanic too! I know two mechanics here in Perth, and yes, they *both* named their dogs Lugnut. Bahahaha!
It’s great to see these two dogs together though. Just seems meant to be.
That ‘headgear’ is a Jayne hat!!! (watch Firefly, you’ll see what I mean.)
Cute name. Hope she gets those stitches out soon, they must itch by now… Major surgery (Major Surgery, getting her guts dug out). A human would be laying around in bed for several days whimpering and whining… It hurts, but dogs get on with life. It hurts, but they are the original stoics. But it hurts.
Great pictures of your newest little pal, long may she grace your home!
Cap’n
Zucca. Very dignified and sweet. Plus I love pumpkins and their seeds.
Aaaand more tears! (Of happiness, again. I always get mushy over animals finding their forever home.) Lovely name for a lovely girl. You know what’s the best part? The expressions on their faces. Primo is always so dignified, but he’s clearly so calm & secure in his life now. Even sweet Zucca is already showing a relaxed face. They definitely know they’re in doggie heaven. Good for you, & I can’t wait for more pics!
Welcome to the family, Zucca! We hope to laugh with you (definitely not at you) when Rachl puts you through the time-honored traditions that we’ve observed with her other former housemates, all of whom we loved dearly.
As we love you and your cousin (hey, I’m stuck with Spanish, Greek and Arabic, I’m sorry if I don’t have much Eyetalian in my vocab!) already, which will surely grow even more with time.
Psst! Green beans are awesome! We have it on good authority, trust us.
She looks like chupacabra in the first photo. Primo still looks like he needs a starring role in a movie.
Congratulations again! Welcome home Zucca!
Perfetto!!
I absolutely ADORE that name! It fits her perfectly! & MORE MORE MORE pics! I swear I am addicted to them! LOL
You will let us know when you are ready to accept ‘props’ for ‘photo shoots’, right? ;)
Perfect! And that cuteness melted my monitor.
@Cap’n Jan: LOL, yes, I know :) See here.
@felicity: Ah, his almond eyes! They slay me, too. I don’t know why they ALWAYS seem half-closed in photos though. I don’t use direct flash so it’s not that he’s protecting himself. Maybe he just knows it makes him look even more dignified.
@gatorgirl4325: Ha! Yes! I’m ready annnny time. None of the stuff I have fits little Zucca. Not even the Jayne hat, it just falls right off of her. Might have to buy another, smaller one from Stacy. One “problem” with photographing this dog is that she’s such a lap dog that the minute I get near her and crouch down, she wants to get on me and won’t stay far enough away from me to get the picture. Unless she’s in her bed or lounging with Primo, which is why almost all the pics so far are those poses. Ha! I need to train her with treats to stay back from the camera. Green beans, baby!
Zucca…an unusual name for an unusual dog. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a dog like her. Looks like Primo gets along really well with her. I’m sure she will perk up under the Rachel treatments…funny hats and all.
Yes, dogs really hate mechanical things that move, vibrate, and make noise, like vacuum cleaners. My neighbor has two German Shepherds and they hate motorcycles, loud car stereos, and skateboards. Last weekend, I got out my chainsaw to cut off branches of a tree that grew wild in my yard and then hung over the fence into their yard. The dogs went nuts. I’d pull the rope and they would bark and bare their teeth. Then, I’d shut it off and talk to them in soft voice while I used a limb pruner to cut up the mess. They would cock their heads this way and that then go lie down. Then, I’d pull the rope again and back they would come ready to fight. If they were my dogs, I would have put them inside.
But then, dogs even hate singing Reindeer
Zucca is perfect. It’s a good, feminine opposite for Primo, with its two syllables ending in A. Plus it fits her exoticness.
“Her name is Zucca”
She lives on the second floor? :-)
re: having 2 dogs
Over Christmas break, our daughter ended pretty much every conversation, regardless of nominal topic, with this Cato-the-Censor-style phrase: “And in conclusion, you should get a puppy.”
We may yet, who knows. I’m an experienced dog person, but I confess to being intimidated by the dog person perfection of our Gracious Hostess.
Zucca is adorable! I’m so glad they have each other.
It’s a little hard to tell if Primo looks “dignified” or stoned though.