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SHOP DOGS

By guruscottyDecember 26, 2019No Comments

By Babs Rodriguez
Photos by Ron Jenkins

A good day at The Water Closet means greeting customers, napping and talking with the mailman.

Oaklie is new on the job. And while she’s still trying to find her feet on the shiny hardwood floors at The Water Closet, she has definitely found her voice.

Customers arriving at the Fort Worth tile showroom and interior design studio often are greeted by the miniature goldendoodle with a few choice woofs. “The barking is something new,” shop owner Caryn Evans says. But almost immediately the curly-headed girl with the tawny-brown eyes decides to go all flirtatious.

The petite pup — full grown at 9 months old, she still looks like a puppy — is a little bit of a long-legged tease. She wants you to love her, but she might take a minute to decide you are worthy of her affection.

A surprise gift from Evans to her 13-year-old daughter last May, Oaklie has been coming to work “from day one.” She goes to job sites, too, but mostly she enjoys power napping in the Arlington Heights bungalow boutique filled with windows and sunrays.

Snoozing under all desks is possible, but she came to favor a central location with a 360-degree view of the attractive displays of tile and both entrances. That was before she discovered her carpet sample — actually 16 swatches, attached to a thick display board. Her favorite flop pad, the board sits just outside her kennel like her own plush porch. It’s her new spot for awaiting the arrival of her favorite person: the mailman.

“She has a conversation with him every day,” Evans says. Her new outspokenness might be an attempt to take on a few more job responsibilities. Her barks are definitely about saying hello.

Really, there is only one person with whom Oaklie consistently takes issue, a customer who has golden red hair similar to that of the pup. But Oaklie’s locks are shorn to keep her hair out of her eyes. The staff consensus: jealousy.