Everything about Zoopy was special, starting from the moment she was born. Her mother, Lilu, and her father, Jeck, lived on a big cattle ranch in Texas called the Desert Dog Ranch where they were able to run free and play wherever and whenever they wanted. Sometimes they liked to chase around a few of the chickens that lived in the henhouse next to the stables, and on hot summer days they sometimes liked to swim in the many fish ponds on the ranch. Lilu and Jeck especially liked to help out the cowboys who worked at the ranch. They waited and looked forward to helping round up the cattle that would stray away from the herd. That was their specialty. Lilu and Jeck were two very happy Jack Russell terriers.

On a cold winter’s night, as she was bundled comfortably next to the crackling fireplace in the ranch house, Lilu gave birth to four beautiful Jack Russell puppies, two male and two female. Right away Lilu noticed that one of her newborn puppies was different from the other three. She noticed her smallest puppy was born with fur so white, it glowed like the brightest cloud she had ever seen. The pup had several distinct patch-like marks of radiant brown, a color that looked like milk chocolate covered with lots of gold sparkles. One of the markings covered her entire face and ears, and the other markings covered parts of her back, making her look like she was the smallest miniature pinto pony that had ever lived.

Lilu also noticed, unlike the others, that this female pup was born with her eyes wide open, and they were the biggest crystal-blue eyes she had ever seen. She thought her eyes looked just like the sky does on a clear day. It was as if the puppy had been ready and waiting to see the new world she was born into. The pup also showed signs of vast intelligence as she first gazed around the large living room, as if she knew what was going on around her and was trying to utter the words to explain everything she was seeing for the first time.

Lilu was happy that all her puppies were born healthy and strong and now were warm and fed, but she was still amazed at how unique the little one was. With her last breath of the day and after such a long and exhausting afternoon, Lilu barked out “Wuff, rrr, wof,” which means “Zoopy” in canine, or “The Special One.”

From that day forward, Zoopy grew faster and smarter than any dog Lilu and Jeck had ever known; even her owners noticed. They had attached a small piece of twine to all the doors and locks, and within her first year, Zoopy could open and close all the doors in the ranch house, including the refrigerator, and all the doors in and around the stables, including the barn double door. She could open and close all the desk and kitchen drawers. Zoopy could also fetch anything within her reach, and she could recognize over two hundred words and commands in the human language. She was so smart that she could add numbers up to ten and subtract down to zero. She was not so good at multiplication and long division; in fact, she was terrible. After all, by this time she wasn’t even two years old.

Whenever there were human guests at the ranch, it seemed as though Zoopy spoke to them like they were engaged in a full-blown conversation. Every time they asked her questions such as, “What is it?” or “What are you barking at?,” Zoopy always told them more than they could decipher.

She was so smart that she began to develop and perfect her most favorite thing in the whole world. Zoopy loved to figure out all kinds of questions. She liked direct questions such as, “What would you like for dinner?” That was easy; she always wanted BBQ ribs. But she also liked to figure out difficult questions, ones that were not always clear or had a double meaning, like when Tom asked Beth, “Do I look dumb to you or what?” Zoopy mostly loved questions that made her think really hard for the right answer, and she never quit looking for the right answer until she discovered and understood it herself. It was Zoopy’s strongest character trait; it was her passion, and it was her greatest gift. Zoopy loved a good mystery, and to her everything was a question that needed solving.

CHAPTER 2

By the time Zoopy had her second birthday, she was the happiest Jack Russell terrier on the face of the earth. Everything at the ranch was “dog heaven” for her. She figured out quickly that life gave the most benefits to those who worked at being the smartest and to those who cared the most about others. She was a kind and thoughtful dog. Zoopy also knew that she was by far the Head Canine in Charge. She was the HCIC. In fact, it was clear to all the animals at the ranch, including her parents; all seven of the chickens; the two goats, Betsy and Popo, whose entire job was to hang around the stables to keep the three horses, Remo, Lightning, and Bosco, company; the hundreds of cows who didn’t know much about anything but still did everything she wanted them to; and last but not least, it was also clear to Sammy the cat, who for some reason lived on the roof of the barn and would never come down. Not during the day anyway.

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