Romeo and Emma
Hi! I’m Romeo! I’ve been living with my mom, Emma, in Isla Vista for a year and a half now. She adopted me from a shelter in Chicago because #adoptnotshop. And I’m so glad she did. We drove from Chicago all the way to Isla Vista and it’s been a wild ride ever since!
We have done a lot of moving around Isla Vista the last two years but my mom has never left me behind. The first place we lived last year had a cat and that was so so so fun. I guess I might have had more fun than the cat because whenever we were playing the cat would get mad that I was better at playing, and it would try and scratch me! My mom had to get us out of that situation very quickly because I was always the one being blamed for making the cat mad. The next place we lived was just me and my mom and I loved it, but sometimes when she would leave for the day I would get pretty lonely because there was no one to play with. Not even the cat. After the summer we moved into a house right on the ocean! I love to look at the waves but I guess the other humans in the house didn’t really like me. They wouldn’t even call me by my name! They just called me “dog” which made me feel ashamed. Oh well, haters gonna hate. My mom moved us out of there in about a month and we moved into a new house with new people which was so exciting! My favortie thing about the new place is laying on her roommate’s bed. It is so comfy.
I normally wake up around 7am everyday and lick my mom’s face until she wakes up so she can feed me and take me outside to go for a walk. I’m so lucky my mom takes me on three walks a day! One in the morning, one in the middle of the day, and one right before bed. I think she does this because I’m not allowed to go outside on my own because she’s afraid I’ll get lost and she loves me too much to lose me. On these walks I always stop to greet people and other dogs. Sometimes my mom will talk to the other dog parents for a really long time. I think she likes to use me to make friends but I don’t mind! Sometimes she’ll take me to go see the dog and their owners again to play and that’s always really fun! On our walks I always like to go to the cliff and watch the waves from up above. The ocean is really weird and I’m kind of afraid of it, but I do like to look at it. After we get home from our walks I normally need a little rest because of all of the excitement and my mom normally gets ready for her day. I get so sad when she leaves for the day and I always watch her leave from the window. Luckily at our new places there’s almost always a human around to hangout with so I’m not sad for too long.
Some pets in Isla Vista aren't as lucky as Romeo and have had to be re-homed.
Luckily, Romeo has been treated generally well for the most part, aside from some past roommates. Unfortunately mistreatment of pets is commonly seen in Isla Vista
"I’m so lucky my mom takes me on three walks a day"
Unlike Romeo, some furry friends in Isla Vista do end up lost.
I always want the humans to play tug of war with me. I go nuts when that thing squeaks. Seriously, what is in there squeaking! I’m also a serious foodie. Whenever people come home with food I always think it’s for me, even though it normally isn’t. My mom says it’s not polite that I try to eat what isn’t mine, but sometimes if I’m luckly they’ll drop some on the floor for me to lick up. They always refer to me as a “vacuum”. I’m not really sure what that means but I’m pretty sure it’s a good thing. I mean my mom always feeds me some apparently “healthy” food for dogs but I deserve to treat myself with human food when given the opprotunity!
My favorite part of the day is when my mom and I cuddle up to go to bed! I’m so lucky she always lets me sleep on her bed. She’s constantly telling me how lucky she is to have me in her life and always lets me give her lots of kisses. I have no clue what I would do without my mom and she always says she has no idea what she would do without me.
"I always stop to greet people and other dogs"
"I always watch her leave from the window"