Persons: Marshall Whitley (retired Superior Court Judge, now private mediator-arbitrator) and Christina Nalchajian (trusts and estates attorney)
Pets: Argos and Zeus
Ages: 9 and 7.5, respectively
Breeds: Standard Poodle and Toy Poodle, respectively
Adoption story: Our kids were 9, 8, and 6 and we wanted a non-shedding family dog. After much book and internet research we narrowed the focus to the various “Oodle” breeds. They are hypoallergenic, very smart, and have a great family temperament. We started looking and came upon a breeder of Standard Poodles in Marin. A new litter had just been born and we immediately selected a little chocolate colored one. We named him Argos after Odysseus’ faithful dog from Homer’s The Oddysey.
About 18 months later our two daughters really wanted a second dog and when they saw a new litter of Toy Poodles at Argos’ groomer’s shop they fell in love with two of them. They wanted both. We decided that two more was one too many so we had to make a choice. It was not easy but the little black one was our choice. In selecting a name we decided to stick with the Greek theme (Argos) and since this one was so small we gave him a powerful name – ZEUS.
Likes: Argos is very social and very alert. He loves running and playing with other dogs and chasing birds at the beach. Zeus is a mama’s boy whose favorite things are food of any kind and lap sitting. He loves chasing squirrels and though he has come close, so far they have all successfully eluded him.
Dislikes: Argos: sunny hot walks with no shade, and making loud inhaling sounds. Zeus: anyone eating in front of him and offering him nothing.
Interesting Facts: Argos howls in tune when Happy Birthday song is sung. Zeus will not walk up hardwood stairs at home but will walk down.
Anything else we should know: Despite their size difference they have always played and tussled wonderfully together and Zeus always wins.