I spent a wonderful Labor Day weekend at Deep Creek Lake with some college friends. We water sported, bonfired, and reminisced. I am finally home and exhausted, typing this in front of the UMD game (go Terps!). Something is missing from this relaxing Sunday evening, though, and that something is the wobbly little pup that always greets me at the door with an enthusiastic tail wag.

Like I briefly mentioned in a previous post, Zabora is with her other foster family right now going on really fun adventures.  Like I also mentioned in a previous post, it’s weird missing a dog that has been in your life for a mere few weeks. So I got to thinking, what is so special about this Little Miss Zabora?

I’ve made a list of the good-dog traits that Zabora exemplifies which make her so special, and I’m going to share them with you over the next few weeks. Some are random, some are relevant – but they are all adorable.

#1: She is a really good sleeper.

As most dog people know, a tired dog is a happy dog. A sleepy dog is usually calmer and more manageable, meaning also a happy owner! In Zabora’s case, she is always calm and manageable.  She doesn’t need to hike the entire Appalachian Trail to relax a little in the evening.

She is the kind of dog who has the ability to what I like to call “insta-relax”. She bounces around the house or around the yard with you, then as soon as it’s time for some wind down? There she is, snoozing up a storm.

She also is a great night sleeper. Some of the previous dogs I’ve had like to get up and pace or readjust in the middle of the night. Me, being the paranoid fostermom I am, take that as the cue that “OH MY GOSH I NEED TO GO OUT AND USE THE BATHROOM MOM! PLEASE TAKE ME OUT RIGHT NOW! I AM SO UNCOMFORTABLE.” So I hop out of bed and let them out, ditching a solid nights sleep. Not little Z, though. 10 pm rolls around and she is out like a light, only to begrudgingly get out of bed when I wake her up in the morning.

The other morning I woke up to her sleeping like this.

That stuffed animal is not hers, it’s not a dog toy, and I’m pretty sure it was nowhere close to her when she went to bed. She is just a snugglebunny by nature (this is also my absolute favorite picture of her).

So we hope everyone can take a little lesson from Z: it’s never a bad time to take a nap!